Digital Transgender Archive

Guide to the Carroll Revue Collection

The Carroll Revue collection documents Carroll Wallace's troupe of female impersonators who began performing in California, as well as other locales, in or around 1954. The collection, which contains materials dating from approximately 1954 to 1961, is comprised largely of black-and-white photographs of drag artists and of performances staged by the Carroll Revue, including images of various international venues. Prints of performers are mostly studio portraits, proofs, and other publicity shots created by professional photographers, with the majority of images representing Carroll Wallace and a fewer number depicting other members of the Revue, such as Bobby Lane, Guy Doran, and Les-Lee. Portraits of other female impersonators, some of whom are identified, are also included in the collection, although their precise association with the Carroll Revue is unknown. In addition to photographic documentation, the collection contains a small amount of printed material, including a press clipping and two announcements in French about a performance by Carroll Wallace as “Guilda” at the Théâtre National in Montreal, Canada, and a Carroll Revue brochure. Correspondence is limited to a single item: an undated letter from Juan José to Carroll Wallace briefly describing a book about “Boy-lesque.”

The Carroll Revue, the subject of this collection, was a California-based performance troupe of female impersonators founded by drag artist Carroll Wallace in or around 1954. Wallace, who began performing in drag on Hollywood’s famed Sunset Strip, assembled and headed the stage show with the help of his wife Ruth, who acted as the show’s producer. Also known as the Carroll Wallace Follies and the Carroll Wallace Show, the Revue involved a number of performers—singers, dancers, and comedians—who took to the stage in a variety of female guises, donning an array of costumes. Members of the Revue included such performers as Bobby Lane, Guy Doran, Jackie Phillips, Russell Reed, Ray Saunders, and Les-Lee. The Carroll Revue traveled widely from its home base in the San Francisco Bay area, performing at such international venues as the Grand Opera House in Manila, Philippines, the Tivoli Circuit in Sydney, Australia, and the Latin Quarter in Tokyo, Japan. The well-known San Francisco night spot featuring acts by female impersonators, Finocchio’s, was also a regular stop on the Revue’s itinerary, along with such venues in the western United States as the Tropics Room in Portland, Oregon, the Rendezvous Club in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Blue Note Night Club in Honolulu, Hawaii. When not performing with the Revue, Carroll Wallace appeared on stage as an emcee at Finocchio’s.