Biography of Hunter , Legendary Drag Performer
Hunter , Drag Queen Legend | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hunter Smith March 18, 1968 Escondido , CA |
| Died | July 15, 2007 (aged 39) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Head Injury complications |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| Occupation | Drag performer |
| Years active | 1988 through 2007; |
Hunter Smith (later changed legally to mono-name Hunter) (born 18 March 1968) was a renowned drag performer/queen for over two decades in Southern California’s drag circuit, He performed at several night clubs including the now defunct “Peanuts” and “Horizon”. He was also one of the 3 original performers in the longest running drag show in Los Angeles called Dreamgirls Revue. Chad Michaels was the host of this show up until 2012 when it was taken over by Delta Work (Gabriel Villarreal).
Background
Early life
Born as Hunter Smith in Valley Center, where he grew up and graduated high school. He relocated to Los Angeles, California in approximately 1988.
Career
As Hunter he performed regularly with more current famous drag queens such as Morgan McMichaels, and Raja (Sutan Amrull) as well as Delta Work (Gabriel Villarreal) and Chad Michaels, the current and previous producers of the long standing Dreamgirls Revue show held in mostly West Hollywood, CA. for nearly 35 years. He performed at Dillons(now Richs) in San Diego which is the home and start of the Dreamgirls Revue. It then moved to the Brass Rail in San Diego which is where Chad joined the show and met Hunter. For a two year period, he moved to NYC approximately 1997-99 and did clubs and shows in drag all over Manhattan. He also did a short time in Buloxi Mississippi working at a Casino in a show called La Cage. About 2000 until 2003, along with Miss Kiwi, he traveled to Lake Tahoe at Horizon Casino (run by Dan Gore) and was a regular cast member in “Carnival Cabaret”. He then returned to Dreamgirls in West Hollywood and in others venues around all of Southern California. Everyone wanted to book him and he was working almost full time. According to Chad it was several times per week as he was in great demand for his talent. He is drag mother to Chad Michaels and grandmother to Morgan McMichaels. The staff of Dreamgirls always was teasing him about his secret of not telling his real age. According to Chad, they never actually learned the real year except once when someone was able to grab his driver’s license. So the age above is an estimate and not verified. He was very into his craft and loved being very creative. His comedy was mostly influenced by people like Carol Burnett …simple yet not crude humor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBIJSWY10cI
Personal Life
It is my understanding that his personal life was not a lot outside of the drag persona. Similar to another local queen called Tammie Brown, even though they identify as gay men, they rarely are outside of character. I need to find out if there is more that I am missing when I speak to Chad again. Oh and the history of both of them using real names: some clubs forced a performer to use real names versus a drag name. And like with Chad Michaels, this just stuck and everyone knew him simply as Hunter.
Death
Hunter had a tragic accident during a rehearsal and sustained a very bad head injury. He went through about a two year period of attempts at rehabilitation and surgery to help keep him functional. After a long struggle and what was shall say was terrible conditions for anyone that is very ill, he ended at a hospice called Wealth House in Long Beach which was gay owned and well operated. Due to all of the wounds being just too complex to overcome, Hunter was lost due to the complications of the original head injury. He was dear to many local people in Southern California and we miss him more than a biography can express.
Miss Kiwi Biography
| Miss Kiwi – Legendary Drag Performer | ||
|---|---|---|
 |  | |
| Born | Tony Rice October 18, 1963 Saint Louis, Missouri | |
| Died | July 22, 2007 (aged 43) Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| Cause of death | Respiratory Failure complications | |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California, United States | |
| Ethnicity | African-American | |
| Occupation | Drag performer | |
| Years active | 1987 through 2007; | |
Miss Kiwi (born 18 October 1963) was the female persona of drag performer Tony Rice. A local fixture in Southern California’s drag circuit, Rice performed at several night clubs including the now defunct “Peanuts” , “Catch One” , and “Horizon”. She was also one of the 3 original performers in the longest running drag show in Los Angeles called Dreamgirls Revue. Chad Michaels was the host of this show up until 2012 when it was taken over by Delta Work (Gabriel Villarreal).
Background
Early life
Born as Tony Rice in Saint Louis, he was a cook on cruise ships in the south that allowed gambling. It is unknown if he had siblings and the parent information was not obtained. He relocated to Los Angeles, California in approximately 1987.
Career
As Miss Kiwi she performed regularly at drag shows in the following venues: “Peanuts” (7969 Santa Monica) now closed, “Catch 1” in south city of Los Angeles, also closed, and “Horizon” which was located in south city of Los Angeles as well. She performed regularly with more famous drag queens such as Morgan McMichaels, and Sutan Amrull as well as Delta Work (Gabriel Villarreal), the current producer of the long standing Dreamgirls Revue show held in West Hollywood, CA. She did private parties for celebrities such as Tori Spelling and others. She also went for a short time in the 90s to perform in Lake Tahoe. She was also often found at the Queen Mary (a drag club in Studio City that no longer exists) as well as the Boom Boom room which was located in Laguna Beach. Also really big in the club kid LA Vogue scene. She was a staple on the Los Angeles drag circuit for over two decades. She was one of three original Dreamgirls Revue cast that started in San Diego at Dillons which is now called Rich’s.
Personal Life
Starting in about 1997 for several years Miss Kiwi began surgical procedures to transition to a female. She basically was just a leader in the first over-the-top transsexual performers.
Death
Miss Kiwi died July 22 2007 of complications from Respiratory Failure. She attended all of the previous shows as performer at “Dreamgirls Revue” before her death and actually the last show one week before her death. She is interned in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood.