Tandi Iman Dupree (August 14, 1978 – December 31, 2005) was an American

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

best known for her "

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

" performance at the Miss Gay Black America pageant in 2001, the video of which went on to become an Internet viral hit after it was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

in 2009.

Biography

Dupree was born and raised in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. Dupree began her dance career in high school when she was co-captain of the majorette squad until her graduation. She first began competing at the N-Cognito nightclub in Memphis, where she created original routines with other dancers in the area. Dupree's drag mother was

Tamisha Iman Tamisha Iman is the stage name of Will Crawford, an American drag queen most known for competing on the thirteenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and winning several drag pageants. She is a drag matriarch and the founder of the Iman Dynasty, a ...

. Dupree died from complications of AIDS in December 2005.

2001 Miss Gay Black America pageant

At the 2001 Miss Gay Black America pageant, Dupree and her dance partner Dee St. James performed a routine to the song " Holding Out for a Hero" by

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer. Known for her distinctive husky voice, Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' and its ...

. During the performance, Dupree was dressed as

, with St. James dressed as

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

. Dupree notably entered the performance by dropping from the ceiling, landing on the stage, breaking the heel of her shoe in a

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

. In 2009, this video was uploaded to

, where it went viral.

Accolades

Jake Coyle, an entertainment reporter for The Associated Press, described Dupree’s stage entrance at the 2001 pageant as the greatest entrance of all time. ''The Dallas Voice'' expressed admiration for Dupree’s performance at the 2001 pageant, particularly describing the stage entrance as the "Best Drag Queen Entrance Ever."

Influence on popular culture

Dupree's performance at the 2001 pageant inspired a tribute on the television series ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

'', where

Kitty Wilde Kitty Wilde is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series ''Glee''. The character is portrayed by actress Becca Tobin, and appeared for the first time during the first episode of the fourth season, " The New Rachel", first ...

began her dance performance to "Holding Out for a Hero" by landing on the floor in a split, an imitation of Dupree's performance at the 2001 pageant. In its review of the ''Glee'' episode, ''Out'' magazine referred to Dupree's stage entry as an "epic entrance." Dupree's performance was referenced in episode three of the thirteenth season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

'', in which Dupree's drag mother,

, is a competitor. Kate Kulzick of ''

The AV Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in 1 ...

'' described the acknowledgement of Dupree's legacy as "wonderful to see".

References

External links

*https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tandi-Iman-Dupree/20017684966 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dupree, Iman Tandi 1978 births 2005 deaths Drag performers from Tennessee People from Memphis, Tennessee American LGBTQ dancers African-American female dancers African-American drag queens LGBTQ people from Tennessee AIDS-related deaths in the United States 20th-century American dancers 21st-century American dancers 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people