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Octavia St. Laurent

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Octavia St. Laurent
Born(1964-03-16)March 16, 1964
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 17, 2009(2009-05-17) (aged 45)[1]
Syracuse, New York, U.S.[2]
Other namesHeavenly Angel Octavia Saint Laurent Manolo Blahnik
Octavia Saint Laurent Mizrahi
Years active1982–2009

Octavia St. Laurent Mizrahi (March 16, 1964 – May 17, 2009) was an American model and AIDS educator who was active in New York City's Black and Latino ballroom community and Harlem's luxurious balls.[3][4] She came to public attention after being featured in the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning.[5]

Career

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St. Laurent began walking in the New York City ballroom scene in 1982, with "Swept Away" by Diana Ross as her favorite accompanying music.[4] She rose to prominence with the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning[6] and had a small role in 1993's The Saint of Fort Washington.[7] She was the central character in the short documentary Queen of the Underground (1993, directed by Adam Soch), in which she criticized "big-time celebrities that go around in their cars picking up transvestites, having sex with them, and then getting on TV and making fun of them"--making an explicit reference to Eddie Murphy.[6]

In 2006, she starred in Wolfgang Busch's How Do I Look,[8] dubbed as "the sequel to Paris is Burning", and was using the name Heavenly Angel Octavia St Laurent Manolo Blahnik.[4]

Personal life

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St. Laurent was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 16, 1964. Early in her life, St. Laurent identified as a trans woman, but later identified as intersex and said she had been that since birth.[2] St. Laurent said that growing up, her parents were accepting:[2] "I had wonderful parents that supported me. My sexuality was not an issue with my parents. They were accustomed to that since I was a child. People thought I looked like a little girl, and my mother said: 'This is a boy!'"[4] She said she experienced police harassment and was arrested on several occasions for wearing gender-nonconforming clothing in public.[4]

St. Laurent was diagnosed as HIV positive, and later helped spread awareness about the disease. During her appearance in Wolfgang Busch's LGBT documentary How Do I Look, St. Laurent further discussed her drug use, sex work, and fight with AIDS.[9] In 2000 she delivered a eulogy after the murder of Amanda Milan, at Metropolitan Community Church.[10]

In 2008, St. Laurent was diagnosed with cancer. She moved in with her sister while receiving treatment and started a one-person show at Spirits gay bar in Syracuse, New York, which she described as a quiet place for respite. St. Laurent gave a final interview by phone in March 2009[4] and died after a long battle with cancer on May 17, 2009, in Syracuse, New York, aged 45. St. Laurent is buried in a cemetery in Queens, New York.[2]

Acknowledgements

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St. Laurent's appearance in Paris Is Burning was cited in Judith Butler's book Bodies That Matter in "Gender is Burning".[11]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1990 Paris Is Burning Herself Documentary
1993 The Saint of Fort Washington Sex worker in car
Octavia Saint Laurent: Queen of the Underground Herself Documentary
2005 Pill Awards Hostess TV Award show
2006 How Do I Look Herself Documentary

References

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  1. ^ Silva, Horacia (May 19, 2009). "R.I.P. Octavia Saint Laurent". New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Octavia St. Laurent". National Black Justice Coalition. March 16, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  3. ^ Goldsby, Jackie (2013). "Queens of Language: Paris Is Burning". Queer Looks. Routledge. pp. 108. ISBN 9780415907422.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Wallenberg, Peter (20 November 2014). "Octavia St Laurent's last interview". Dazed. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  5. ^ Green, Jesse (April 18, 1993). "Paris Has Burned". The New York Times.
  6. ^ a b Summers, Joan (March 30, 2021). "The 'Wicked Beauty' Who Walked With the Icons". Jezebel. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  7. ^ Aram, André (30 November 2020). "11 years ago, Octavia St. Laurent, the star of Paris is Burning, left us". SCRUFF. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  8. ^ Cotter, Holland (October 24, 2003). "DL: The Down Low in Contemporary Art". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Cotter, Holland (October 24, 2003). DL: The Down Low in Contemporary Art, New York Times
  10. ^ Siegal, Nina (2000-07-24). "Watershed of Mourning At the Border of Gender: Slain Prostitute was Damon and Amanda". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  11. ^ Butler, Judith (1993). Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "sex". Psychology Press. p. 135. ISBN 9780415610155.
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