Heklina is the stage name of Stefan Grygelko, an American actor,

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

, and entrepreneur in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. Grygelko's mother is Icelandic, and having been born in the U.S., he lived in Iceland in the 1980s; he named his drag character after the Icelandic volcano

Hekla Hekla (), or Hecla, is a stratovolcano in the south of Iceland with a height of . Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes; over 20 eruptions have occurred in and around the volcano since 874. During the Middle Ages, the Icelandic Nor ...

.Swan, Rachel
"Kiss That Stud Goodbye"
''East Bay Express'', August 13, 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2009. Heklina founded the drag club Mother (formerly

Trannyshack Trannyshack is a San Francisco drag club started by drag queen Heklina in 1996 as an offshoot of Klubstitute, and was a weekly fixture at The Stud bar in San Francisco for 12 years, drawing large crowds on a regular basis. The Tuesday night ...

) in 1996.

Career

Mother (formerly Trannyshack)

Heklina co-founded Trannyshack, and has hosted the show from its inception in 1996 at the Stud bar and continues to host the special events throughout San Francisco and in other – mainly California – cities.Del Mar, Pollo
"Reigning Miss Trannyshack Reflects on Legendary Club"
''San Francisco Bay Times'', August 14, 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2009. Trannyshack is the longest running drag event series in San Francisco. On January 17, 2015 at The Oasis, Trannyshack was rebranded as Mother, evolving from a monthly to a weekly event series. She also co-produces and co-hosts the Miss Trannyshack Pageant widely considered the premiere annual drag event in San Francisco that has sold out every year since inception.

Theater and community actitivites

Heklina also acts in local theater productions, most notably the S.F. Golden Girls productions (as

Dorothy Zbornak Dorothy Zbornak is a character from the sitcom television series ''The Golden Girls'', portrayed by Bea Arthur. Sarcastic, introspective, compassionate, and fiercely protective of those she considers family, she is introduced as a substitute teach ...

) and emcees a variety of community and charitable events including the

Folsom Street Fair Folsom Street Fair (FSF) is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair, held in September, that caps San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week". The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes simply referred to as "Folsom", takes place on Folsom Street bet ...

(along with

Sister Roma Sister Roma is an American drag queen activist, gay pornography director, fundraiser, entertainer and event host/emcee. He has been a member of San Francisco's Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence since 1987. Career Roma was the long-time art direct ...

) and San Francisco Pride. She was voted Community Grand Marshal of the 2004 San Francisco GLBTQ Pride Parade, and won the 2009 Pride Creativity Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the LGBT Community. She was sainted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Heklina co-stars in a series of short films, the "Tran-ilogy of Terror", drag queen horror spoofs written and directed by long-time collaborator

Peaches Christ Peaches Christ (stage name for Joshua Grannell) is an American underground drag performer, emcee, filmmaker, and actor. Peaches currently resides in San Francisco where her Backlash Production Company and Midnight Mass movie series are based. Gra ...

., and also starred in the film "Baby Jane?".

The Oasis

The Oasis, a theater and cabaret nightclub located in San Francisco's SOMA district, hosted a grand opening event on New Year's Eve day 2014. Heklina and three business partners, D'Arcy Drollinger, Geoff Benjamin, and Jason Beebout, signed a deal to purchase the former Oasis nightclub in October 2014. The nightclub's diverse programming features drag stars, cabaret and performing artists, live musical acts, and DJs.

Filmography

* ''Filthy Gorgeous: The Trannyshack Story'' (2005) * ''The House of Venus Show" (2006) * ''Spin the Bottle'' (2005) * ''Season of the Troll'' (2001) * ''A Nightmare on Castro Street'' (2002) * ''Whatever Happened to Peaches Christ?'' (2004) * ''"Baby Jane?"''

Television

* "The Cho Show" with Margaret Cho * "Trauma" (2009) * "The Daily Show" *''

Playing It Straight ''Playing It Straight'' is an American reality television series broadcast by the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox). The series premiered on March 12, 2004, and concluded on March 26, 2004, after the network abruptly cancelled the series after the b ...

'' (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

) * The Ricki Lake Show * Jerry Springer * Judge Steve Harvey

References

External links

Heklina's Official Facebook Page

Heklina's YouTube video channel

videos of Heklina's performances and ''Filthy Gorgeous, The Trannyshack Story''

SF Oasis : The Club

Heklina Talks About Mother, The New Incarnation Of Trannyshack At The Oasis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heklina American drag queens Culture of San Francisco Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Actresses from San Francisco American film actresses American television actresses American people of Icelandic descent 21st-century American women