Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Edward Conlon
The apartment on West 140th Street in intervals-a coup for any entertainer,but
Harlem was filled with bolts of fabric, something of a triumph when the first
feathers, sequins and beads, headdresses, story was her obituary. Corey was a prin-
tailpieces, and elaborate gowns which cipal subject of Paris Is Burning, a suc-
were thrifty facsimiles of exorbitant for- cessful and acclaimed documentary about
eign fashions. A prior tenant was a drag the drag balls of Harlem, and when she
performer who also had a business as a died last August, at the age of fifty-six,
dress and costume designer, and she-po- the New York Times ran a picture of her
lite usage requires the feminine pro- in drag, the first and only time it has ever
noun-required clothing for theatrical, done so. In October, two men went to
millinery, and everyday use. The apart- her apartment in hope of finding a cos-
ment was not large and, in addition to her tume for Halloween. Their search, led by
considerable personal effects, contained a friend of the deceased's, took them to a
the belongings of her boyfriend and his large closet space, the size of a small bed-
brother. But whatever the clutter and room. Finding nothing to their imme-
overcrowding, the remark by a sergeant diate satisfaction among the dresses and
from the local precinct that "You could costumes, they were intriguedby the sight
lose a small child in there," was both a of a large, musty garmentbag. They asked
truism and an understatement,becausethe permission to open it and received casual
body of a grown man had been concealed approvalto do so. Inside, they discovered
there for years. the mummified body of a man, bound up
The drag performer was named Do- and wrapped in plastic, folded into the
Dorian Corey rian Corey, and she thus inspired three fetal position with a bullet hole in his
Brian Lantelme headlines in 1993, in even, two-month head. He was identifiedas a onetime Bronx
4 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
I
I
'r
i
residentwho was lastseenby his brother lent pathosandbiteby the sensethatthey
around1968. The incidentwas the sort representlives that areas out of reachto
of gory but routine oddity that rates a the walkersas those in the rarefiedrealm
tabloidparagraph, buriedfarfromthe first of celebrity.For some, the exclusionis
page. For some reason,it was not until final, beyond mediation.Others perfect
Decemberthat Dorian Corey was con- theposein orderto rejectit, so thatwhich
nectedwith the story,when it madethe for others is the laborof a lifetime be-
gossipcolumnof theNewYorkPostbefore comes a light-operaticamusement,done
beingpickedup by the wire services.Chi and dispensedwith in a moment. The
Chi Valenti, a hostess and producerat ironiesaredouble-edged,and cut deep.
variousdowntownnightclubs,was quot-
ed saying "This makesher more legen-
WhenI grew up, you
daryin deaththan she was in life."
The word "legend"is one of the the- wanted to look like
matic compassesof ParisIs Burning,and MarleneDietrich,Betty
it is invoked in the dual sense of great Grable.I didn't know I
statureanddubiousreality.It takesits title
froma dragballof the samename,which reallywanted to look
washeld in anElk'sClubon 129thStreet like LenaHome
in Harlem,andit too is a hub of doubled
andtripledmeanings:the capitolof black The film was attackedby the African-
Americaas the City of Light,its burning AmericanscholarBell Hooks as exploit-
suggestiveof a sudden fashionablede- ative,andthe immediateprospectof poor
mand as well as a progressiveannihila- black men who want to be wealthy and
tion. The legendsarethe eminences,gray famouswhite women suggests,at least,a
and otherwise,of the drag scene, who subcultureof acute maladjustment.But
arriveand endurein statusby force of many of the devotees of the more ag-
personalityandperformance. At the balls, gressivelytheatricalcategoriesaresecure
they "walk"in variouscategories,andthe in theirunderstanding thatthe walk, and
original"grandesdames"who modelled the life, is a performance,an artform,suf-
themselveson figuresfromLubitschfilms fusedwith a senseof fun andplay, how-
or Las Vegas floor shows became,over everseriousin purposeandexpertin craft.
time, only a smallpartof an eclecticpag- The breachbetweenlife, on andoff-stage,
eant of talentsand tastes.The old divas lendsa tensionthat is vibrantlyexplored:
whosecostumesforbademuchmovement an off-duty drag queen, unshaven,in a
beyond the statuesqueentrance were t-shirtandjeans, might not look so dif-
joinedby breakdancersandvoguers,who ferentfrom an off-dutyfireman.Others
fluidlymovedthroughthe histrionic,al- seek to put as much distanceas possible
most hieroglyphicposes of fashionpho- between them and their originalcondi-
tography.As the expansioncontinuedto tion, through hormone treatmentsand
an egalitarianextreme,ostensiblymun- breastimplants,a medicaltransformation
dane categoriessuch as Executive,Col- towardfemalenesswhose radicalconclu-
lege, and even Homeboy"Realness"are sion is referred to as "the change."
6 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
The ambitionsof the ball-goersveer
betweenbold dreamand pure delirium.
Somehavea talent;others,merelya wish.
The ratherseveredivide between those
who fail and those who do not seemsto
lie in whetheronewantsto do something,
or simply be something. Willie Ninja
sought celebrityas a dancerand chore-
ographer,andin largemeasurehe hasat-
tainedit in the fashionand musicindus-
tries.A slim, knobbyblonde namedVe-
nus Xtravaganza,on the other hand,
wantedto be a "richwhite girl," and a
famousactressor model;she alsowanted
to be "loved,takencareof, spoiled,"and
marriedin a church,wearingwhite. But world sees the largerworld, at least in The detritus of a
Venuswasequidistantfromthe worldsof potential,as a place of delicacyand ex- lifetime: Dorian's
NormanRockwell and ParisMatch,and quisitepromise.Throughoutthe tessel- apa. Inient on
as unlikelyto attainconventionalfameas latedpatternof the film, its fragmentsof West 140th St. in
she was to makea conventionalhome. A livesbrokenor neverwhole, the motif of Harlem
teenagerunaway,she admittedthat she indignantoptimismis almostperversely Brian Lantelme
8 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
to be friends,and I'd go up to her place mightbeasked,"Didn'twe meetlastnight
to play scrabble,which was something at RikersIsland?"
she likedquitea bit. Shealwayshada TV Sally'sis on West 43rd Street,across
set or two going on. She was alwaysone fromthe New YorkTimesandnext to the
of the moreentertainingpeopleI've met, Hotel Carter,which advertisesits $49
she was greatto hang out with." nightly rate as "cheaperthan most cab
Dorian Corey studiedat the Parsons rides."On the stairswhich leadup to the
School of Design, and had a successful bar,thereis theatricalmemorabiliaanda
businessas a dressmakerand costumer, programfor the next week's entertain-
sellingto boththe ballworldandthe local ment, which features Go-Go Boys,
community.LoisTaylor,anotherfriend, MotherHerselfSally,andDorianCorey's
Drag Doll Revue.Aroundthe dark,cir-
"Didn'twe meet last cularbar,red-litfrom above,the patrons
night at Riker's were roughly, evenly divided between
Island?" drag queens and their admirers.Some
queens succeeded admirably in their
saidthat she was an exceptionalgraphic "realness,"elegantor funky but impec-
artist.In her vivid phrase,"Doriancould cablyfeminine;otherswere aging endo-
painther ass off." But Corey considered morphsin helmets of platinumblonde,
herselfan entertainerfirst,andfor several with gothic mascaraand powdercaking
years she travelledall over the country about the dewlaps.The sartorialmales
with a drag show called the Pearl Box werejust as diverse,a "gorgeousmosaic"
Revue.Shedancedwith a boaconstrictor, sent up from central casting: a young
and laterregaledfriendswith anecdotes toughin a white t-shirt'andleatherjacket,
of the suddenmoods and inconvenient a classic Brooklyn cornerboy with-
deathsof the snakes.Jessie Torres, an- "Heya doin'!"-accent to match; two
other friend, managedto communicate athleticyoung blackmen, in sweatpants
the impressionit must have made: "It andwindbreakers, who looked like high
would bite her, affectionately.She was schoolfootballcoaches;a suitedexecutive
bleeding,but it was partof the act." and a goateedbohemian;a middle-aged
Dorian performed most often at manwith a long beardand thick glasses,
Sally'sII, a TimesSquaredragclub,where in a white shirtandblackgabardinesuit,
she lip-synchedand sometimesservedas with an anomalousblue baseballcap:an
mistressof ceremonies.Betweensongs,said OrthodoxJew disguisedas a Metsfan, or
Livingston,she did "a great,slightly in- a Metsfandisguisedas an OrthodoxJew.
sulting sort of patter,a kind of African- The music was a deafeningalternation
Americanverbal eloquence with a gay betweenbump-and-grind disco and sen-
camp sensibility, one-upping someone timentalballads.Whitney Houstonwas
before they got you." The lush, dark a favorite,aswas"AWhole New World,"
satiresof the forties and fifties, such as the themesongfromAladdin,andperhaps
SunsetBoulevardand All AboutEve, could Sally'saswell. Below the baris the stage,
be quoted at length, and a heckler, or with gold tinsel on the curtainand gold
someone who merely caught her eye, glitter-dustedrecordssuspendedfromthe
10 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
Dorian lip-synch-
ing to Regina
Bell's "If I Could"
at her final per-
folrunance, May 8,
1993
Brian Lantelme
12 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
The news that Dorian Corey may have "I don't know if she had a gun," she
been in possession of a corpse for almost continued. "I wouldn't be surprised.I
half her life was greeted with uniform think actuallythat when the gun battle
shock. Rumors then began to spread in erupted,when we were filmingin 1987,
manner befitting a society skilled in ex- thatshe might havesaidsomethingabout
travagance:there was talk of a diary that havinga gun. I would have had a gun if
explained the event, and a deathbed note. I lived in thatbuilding."
At Sally's, the doorman said, "You know Jessieconfirmedthat Doriandid own
they were lovers, right? He was a shady a handgun."One time she was going on
guy, used to beat her up." He then re- stage,and she told me to hold this little
marked that the body had been dead two eveningbag,"she said."When she gave
or three years. When it was asserted that it to me, my handwent down,andI said,
ten times that amount of time may have 'What the fuck do you got in here?'It
passed since the death, it did not seem to was a little .22. She would have these
unsettle his account. Chi Chi Valenti told jokes, 'Someone'sgonna mess with me,
a tale that cast Dorian as a blend of Doug- I'm gonna shoot 'em up with lead.'We
las Fairbanks and Gracie Allen, dashing had a standingjoke then, that the thing
but flighty, handily foiling a burglary but was rusty,and it would neverwork."
too busy dressing for a show to bother When a detectivesaidthathe hadbeen
with the clean-up. Among her friends, an told, in the course of his investigation,
initial amazement was often followed by that Corey "hada temperwhen she hit
an avowal that whatever happened, Do- the bottle,"the prospectsof her unblem-
rian must have been richly provoked. ishedinnocenceseemedstill moredoubt-
"God only knows what he did. Dorian ful. One can watchParisIs Burningover
never mentioned a word to me. If she did and over without the slightest, subtlest
do it, he had to push her," said Lois Tay- hint of violencein DorianCorey,or du-
lor. "The whole thing is," said Jessie, plicity, or fear.But she was, afterall, an
"Dorian was not a violent person but, actress.The closest she came to what
excuse my expression, she was not going might be consideredcommentaryon the
to be fucked with, either." situationis the last scene of the film, as
"I guess anyone I know could possibly she sits in front of the mirror,applying
be a murderer, could possibly be framed colorsto her face:"I alwayshadhopesof
for murder," said Livingston. "I guess being a big star.Then I look-as you get
anyone in this city, in self-defense, could older,you aim a little lower andyou say,
do just about anything. It struck me al- 'Well, you still might make an impres-
ways as more likely that she would be sion.' Everybodywants to leave some-
framed than she would commit this mur- thing behind them, some impression,a
der and then carrythis thing around. She markupon the world. Then you think,
always struck me as such a normal, bal- you'veleft a markuponthe worldjust by
anced person who was in control of her getting throughit. And if a few people
life. I certainly don't remember Dorian as rememberyourname,you'veleft a mark.
a perfect person, but this is beyond my You don'thaveto bendthe whole world.
picture of who she is or could have been." It's betterto just enjoy it. Pay your dues
14 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
duredfurtherindignityafter death, and Christmas,Easter, stuff like that. The rest
ashe turnedthepages,Figueroaexplained of the time they could be anywhere on
the reasons for bloat or discoloration, earth."
dents, cuts or "that shiny spot" with The man from Dorian Corey's apart-
economyandcalm.Wheneverthe viewer ment presented formidable technical and
might adjustto the faces,in the dulling logistical difficulties. Though a body can
samenessof theirestate,somefreshhorror be identified through dental or medical
would disruptwhatevertentativeaccli- records, hospitals do not ordinarily keep
mationhad been made. An old woman such information after six years, and ini-
who hadsufferedmuchfrom"whattime tial estimates of this case put the time of
and water does" was accompaniedby a death as much as fifteen years before. No
circulardistributedby her family,which witness to the event was likely to come
showed a smiling, well-coiffed grand- forward.And fingerprints,which were the
motherin a Sundaydress."Alzheimers," most promising means of identification,
saidFigueroa."Sheeitherjumpedor fell would be a macabre challenge to obtain.
in the water.There'snothing to suggest "So I cut the fingers below the second
a homicide.It happens."Foranothercase, joint, and then it took me several days to
therewasno photograph:"Thisis a torso. work on it because, technically, even
There'sno sensein takinga picturehere
becauseit would not help. The doctor Fluid in the body
sayshe might be anywherefrom sixteen
to twenty-two,I thinkhe mightbe youn- settled, rather than
ger, so I cover everything.You'll notice evaporating. "There
he's a male, most likely black, could be was all this muck"
dark-skinnedHispanic. And that's it.
Somebodythrewhim in thewater.Where though it says 'mummified'-he was in a
are his arms,head and feet? I still have mummified state, but in a soupy sort of
everyhope thatI will get him ID'd. You mummified state," he explained. The
never know." While the rate of identi- plastic prevented the loss of moisture nec-
ficationis generallyhigh, factorssuch as essary for true mummification, and fluid
prolonged homelessnessor illegal im- in the body settled, rather than evaporat-
migrationdiminishthe prospectsfor suc- ing. "There was all this muck, many
cess. In general,said Figueroa,men are pounds of muck. You have to clean it off,
harderto identify than women because but you gotta do it soft because you don't
"women normallyhave a close attach- want to destroy it, it's a painstaking sort
ment to somebody.They can be on the of process. The minute it gets destroyed,
street-drug addicts,prostitutes-they you do the wrong thing, it's gone forever,
formsomeclose attachment.Veryrare- and then you got nothing to work with.
you do haveit-but its veryrarethatthey "So I was working on secondary skin,
completelycut all ties. Men, on the other the lower one, beneath what you see. Sec-
hand, they're macho, they take off and ondary skin slippage-you've seen a float-
they may call their mothertwice a year, er come out of the water, you've seen the
16 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
4
I i
vorcees, might not have been considered fense, usuallythroughmedicalevidence; Are we not men?
18 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
a small town in the cotton and tobacco learnedwhenhe hadcometo New York,"
countryin the southeastcornerof North he explained."I think I learnedthrough
Carolina.Fourof the Worleys came up correspondence backwith the family.At
to New York City, but Frederickis the that time, my mother and father were
only living siblingwho remained."Ihad living. You know how it is, when Mom
losttrackso manyyearsago.At sometime andPopswereliving, the correspondence
I hadsomenotionthatsomethingwasn't is moreregularthan when they passon.
quiterightwith his lifestyle,but I didn't "Well, he was the babyof the family.
knowwhich way he went. My sister,one I don'tremember-he was like anyother
of my sistersand I, who lives in North kid growingup. Afterall, we were born
Carolina,we resignedto the ideathatpos- into a family that had a no-nonsensefa-
sibly he was dead," he said. Bobby, as they ther, and a no-nonsense mother. And
called him, had complainedof passing when you're born into a situationlike
blood in his urine, and his brothersand that,you got it going andcoming.So you
sistersfelt it might lead to a seriousor haveto, got to prettymuchkeepyourself
even fatal medicalproblem.When de- in line. However,I do remembera letter
tectivescalled his sister,he went to the frommy mother.He worriedmy mother
localprecinctto "piecethingstogetheras quitea bit, beforehe left North Carolina.
best we could. But there'sa lot of gaps He got intoafew littlescrapesdownthere,
becauseof the fact that, like, he fell off I neverreallyknewhow serioustheywere
the face of the earth." or anythinglike that.But I knowthatshe
Mr. Worley left Fairmont in 1956, finallywroteme, andI wroteto herwhen
and Bobby followed him sometime later I found out abouther spendingmoney,
on: "I was twenty-six at that time, so he getting him out of little scratcheshere
was seventeen, right? He might still have andthere...."
been-what was he doing at that time? Askedif it was anythingas seriousas,
Just out of school? By the time he'd for example,stealingcars,he responded
reached a certain age, I'm courting, get- with an emphatic denial: "My father
ting myself marriedand getting out. I was wouldhavewhuppedhim!What I would
a young man with a wife and child, need- have calledmischievousthings, like get-
ed to work, so I came to New York." For ting into fights, a little public drunken-
ten years, the elder Worley worked in a ness, becauseyou know that for many
Bronx lumberyard, rising to the position years,NorthCarolinawasa drystate.And
of foreman, and then he became an in- if you drankpublicly,you were going to
surancesalesman. "In fact, I still sell some the caboose,right.Shemusthavepaidfor
when I'm industrious enough," he said. him to get out of a few things like that,
Since 1985, he has been working at the right. At this time, she was in declining
building on 158th Street, as superinten- health,andI told her, 'You mustturnthis
dent and managing agent. boy loose. Lethimgo. He's got to runhis
The difference in age between the two course.' You couldn't tell her that, she's
brothers, and the distance in time from gotta make up her mind. She's gotta cut
their last meeting, made recollection dif- this kid off the string. Finally, I remem-
ficult. "I don't recall exactly when I ber, she wrote me a letter. She told me,
20 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
from the one Frederick Worley knew in to me and I gave that adulta hardtime, Brian Lantelme
North Carolina. A small town in a rich, andmy fatherfoundit out! It was to the
agriculturalregion, Fairmontwas the kind woodshed!When we came along, this
of place "where teachers are very familiar word 'child-abuse'had not been coined.
with the families of the children they are In those daysif you got out of line you
teaching. Parentswill still tell you, 'Look, got whatyou hadcomingto you, andthat
you have any problem with him, we'll was it."
take care of it. And let me know!' It's a LindaWorley Thompson'srecollec-
nice quiet town, not a lot of notoriety. tions of her brotherare less recentthan
People arebasically church-going people, Frederick's,and more affectionate.The
a lot of them living quite well, nice houses last time she saw Bobby was in 1962,
with two cars in the garage. Doing better beforehis drinkingandlegaltroublesbe-
than I am!" gan, and her regretswere untaintedby
Mr. Worley's father was an engineer, bitterexperiences with his later,lesserself.
in his words, who made ice for the town. In a letter,she saidthatBobbygraduated
His mother died in 1964, and his father from RosenwaldHigh School in 1957,
died some twelve years later. "Generally, that he was an activestudentwith excel-
we came up in an area where any adult lent grades,and that he enjoyedsports,
could speakto us, and we recognized that, especiallybasketball."He loved music
because God forbid, an adult would speak very much and played in the band. He
22 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
of Robert Worley is still an open case. As forgive me," saidJessie, "And may she
such, a full and frank discussion was not rest in peace, I said, 'Sally,that AZT is
possible for legal reasons, as well as fre- eatingthat queen'smind up.' She was in
quent practical ones ("Not today, I got a a delirioussituation.I saidit was impos-
fresh double murder").Roe conceded that sible-she lived in two differentplaces-
Worley's death probably occurred not why would she?Girlsdo havea tendency
long after his disappearance,and he said to exaggerate."
that he was convinced that Dorian Corey Until October,all practicaland rea-
knew of the body. To me, this knowledge sonablebelief dictatedagainstthe story,
andJessieassumedit to be a melancholy
delusion.Afterthe discoveryof the body,
A black drag queen in
the lesserdetailsof the accountconverged
possession of a in supportof its implausiblepremise."In
cadaver could not Harlemthereareguysthatwe would call
expect more take-off artists,"she explained. "They
would come aroundandjust wantto take
sympathetic treatment from the queensthe little bit you have.
fromthe police than Fromwhat I'm told, this is the situation.
fromsociety at large He hadrobbedherbefore,fromwhat I'd
heard.He was known in the neighbor-
strongly suggests responsibility. The the- hood as a junkie. If he knew you had a
ories that depend on proxies and over- littlebit of money,he wouldcomearound
sights-that the body was there when she here, come aroundthere with the atti-
moved in, that she was "protecting" tude,'Fuckyou,you-allarefaggots.'Fuck
someone, and so on-began to seem des- you bitch!He'd takewomen off too. See-
perately wishful and elaborate, although ing that society frowns on junkies, they
the ultimate conjecture-that Corey killed feel, you know, they could frown on us.
Worley, and brought the body with her I couldimagine.I havebeen in situations
when she moved-is hardly a prosaic de- like that-guys who say, 'Go ahead,call
flation of the event. My initial guess was the police, you faggot!' He had taken
that it was a street pick-up that turned things from her a couple of times. One
into a robberyattempt. Eventually, some- time, she was fed up. And she was not
one told me that something like that did havingit."
occur, and though I found it persuasive, While there is no reasonto dispute
the information was of a piece with the the sincerityof the confession,Dorianwas
rest of what I heard-speculative, sketchy, sufferingfroma neurologicalimpairment
and never better than second-hand. andrecallinganeventof perhapstwenty-
Jessie Torres said that in her last days, five yearsbefore, an event which itself
Dorian began to tell Sally about her se- may have occurredin a chaotic instant,
cret, on the phone, over two or three calls. amida welterof terror,fury,anddismay.
Although Sally's health was fair at the The accountthat Jessie overheardmay
time, she would die three months after differsubstantially fromwhatin facttran-
Dorian. During one such call, Sally asked spired.Then again,it maynot. If Dorian
Jessie to listen in on the extension. "God was entirelyjustifiedin her actions,she
24 TRANSITION ISSUE 65