Kelly Leroy Mantle (born July 9, 1976), is an American actor, singer-songwriter, comedian, musician, drag queen, and reality television personality. Mantle appeared as a contestant on the sixth season of the reality TV show ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

''.

Early life

Mantle was born to Larry James and Linda Lea Mantle in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

but grew up in Cordell, Oklahoma. They have a brother, Garrette. Mantle's uncle was professional baseball player

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

, who played for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

. Mantle graduated with a BFA in Theatre from the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

Career

After college, Mantle went to Chicago to begin a career as an actor. She acted in plays such as ''The Convention'' and ''Royal Flush''. ''Lone Star/Laundry & Bourbon'' was the first production by OKRA Theatre, a theater company started by Mantle and her friend Tracy Parks, who directed the play. In 1998, Mantle starred in the Chicago production of

Charles Busch Charles Louis Busch (born August 23, 1954) is an American actor, screenwriter, playwright and drag queen, known for his appearances on stage in his own camp style plays and in film and television. He wrote and starred in his early plays Off-off- ...

's play ''

Vampire Lesbians of Sodom ''Vampire Lesbians of Sodom'' is a satirical play written by Charles Busch. It features a series of vignettes that deals with the lives of two eponymous immortal vampire lesbians, a creature known as The Succubus who is also known as La Condessa ...

''. After two years of living in Chicago, she moved to Los Angeles. She later auditioned for the Los Angeles production of ''Vampire Lesbians of Sodom'', where she was scouted and signed by a talent agent. In Los Angeles, Mantle became a member of the band ''Sex with Lurch'', which was formed by singer Robbie Quinne and guitarist Bernard Yin. As part of the group, Mantle used the stage name "Brandy Warhol". The group disbanded in December 2002. Mantle later joined Quinne's follow-up band, the Barbarellatones. Mantle was also a member of the band Tranzkuntinental. The band was started by Charlie Paulson and Xander Smith and features drag queens

Detox Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period of ...

, Rhea Litré, Vicky Vox, and Willam Belli. Currently, Mantle is a member of the band the Rollz Royces with

Tammie Brown Tammie Brown is the stage name of Keith Glen Schubert (born September 15, 1980), an American drag performer, reality television personality, and recording artist. Brown was a fixture in the Southern California drag scene before appearing on the ...

and Michael Catti. Mantle and Catti have appeared in Tammie Brown's Christmas show Holiday Sparkle at Fubar in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...

. In 2014 Mantle starred in ''

Confessions of a Womanizer ''Confessions of a Womanizer'' (also known as ''Confessions of a Sex Addict'') is a 2014 American comedy-drama film directed and written by Miguel Ali and starring Gary Busey, C. Thomas Howell, Andrew Lawrence, and Jillian Rose Reed. Story Richi ...

'' with

Gary Busey Gary Busey (; born 1944) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics ...

. The film was released in 2016. Mantle, who is

genderfluid Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

, made history when the film's producers sought both supporting actor and supporting actress consideration for her performance and The Academy granted the request. Mantle starred as Sheila on both seasons of the OutTV and

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

sitcom ''The Browns'' alongside

and in 2022 supported

Trixie and Katya Trixie and Katya is a comedy duo consisting of drag queens Trixie Mattel (Brian Firkus) and Katya Zamolodchikova (Brian McCook). The two have been known for their individual careers as entertainers and often as a popular double act. They first m ...

on their tour ''Trixie and Katya Live''.

''RuPaul's Drag Race''

In December 2013, Logo announced that Mantle was among fourteen drag queens who would be competing on the sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. She was eliminated in the first episode, lip-synching to Express Yourself against Vivacious.

Discography

Albums

* ''Ever Changing'' (2002) * ''Rock-N-Glow'' (2004) * ''Satellite Baby'' (2006)

Singles

Music videos

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Theatre

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mantle, Kelly Living people American drag queens American television actors LGBT people from Oklahoma American LGBT singers Actors from Oklahoma City People from New Cordell, Oklahoma American non-binary actors

Kelly Mantle Kelly Leroy Mantle (born July 9, 1976), is an American actor, singer-songwriter, comedian, musician, drag queen, and reality television personality. Mantle appeared as a contestant on the sixth season of the reality TV show ''RuPaul's Drag Race ...

University of Oklahoma alumni 1976 births Non-binary drag performers Genderfluid people