Greg Meyer (born November 27, 1971), better known by the stage name Darienne Lake, is a

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 ...

and television personality. Lake began performing in drag in 1990 in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

before rising to prominence after competing on the sixth 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, ...

'', placing fourth. After appearing on the reality television show, Darienne Lake toured internationally, released a comedy album, and performed in film, television, and numerous web series.

Early life

Lake was born on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and moved to Rochester at age eleven. As a middle child of five, she felt ignored growing up. At age eighteen, her mother kicked her out of her home due to her

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

; her mother has since apologized.

Career

Early work

Lake’s drag career began in

following her first year of college in 1990. She was inspired by a drag queen’s performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in a local production of ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 independent musical comedy horror film produced by Lou Adler and Michael White, directed by Jim Sharman, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The screenplay was written by Sharman and Richard O ...

''. When her friends put her up in drag, they said she resembled

Ricki Lake Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an American television host and actress. She is known for her lead role as Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film '' Hairspray'', for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for ...

in ''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * Hairspray (1988 film), ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** Hairspray (1988 soundtrack), ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundt ...

'' (1988); the stage name Darienne Lake is an homage to her as well as to the

Six Flags Darien Lake Six Flags Darien Lake (also known as Six Flags Darien Lake Resort and formerly known as Darien Lake Fun Country, Darien Lake, and Darien Lake Theme Park Resort) is a 1,200-acre (4.86 km2) amusement park and resort located in Darien, New York ...

amusement park. Lake later appeared on a 1997 episode of ''

The Ricki Lake Show ''The Ricki Lake Show'' (also known as ''Ricki'' or ''The New Ricki Lake Show'') is an American first-run syndicated talk show hosted by Ricki Lake. The series also marked her return to talk television after leaving the genre in 2004. After sev ...

'' about plus-sized drag queens. Lake's

drag mother 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 ...

, Naomi Kane, was also the drag mother of Mrs. Kasha Davis. Since the 1990s, Lake has been active in the New York drag community and has performed across the United States and internationally. Lake held the title of Miss Gay Rochester in 1998–1999. In 2003, she appeared in a

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

documentary about drag titled ''Boys Will Be Girls'', alongside her drag daughter

Pandora Boxx Michael Steck (born May 2, 1972), better known by the stage name Pandora Boxx, is an American drag queen, comedian, reality television personality, and singer. Hailing from Rochester, New York, Boxx competed in the second season of ''RuPaul's D ...

, who went on to become a contestant on the second season of ''

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 fi ...

'' as well as the first season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, ...

''.

''Drag Race''

Lake rose to international prominence after winning the fan vote to appear on the sixth season of ''Drag Race''. During the series, Lake won a main challenge ( episode three) and ultimately finished the competition in fourth place behind

Adore Delano Adore Delano (formerly Dani Noriega; born September 29, 1989) is an American drag queen, singer-songwriter, and television personality. She first appeared as a contestant on the seventh season of ''American Idol'' in 2008 before competing on ''R ...

Courtney Act Shane Gilberto Jenek (born 18 February 1982), better known under the stage name Courtney Act, is an Australian drag queen, singer and television personality. Courtney first came to prominence competing on the first season of ''Australian Idol' ...

, and eventual winner

Bianca Del Rio Roy R. Haylock (born June 27, 1975), better known by the stage name Bianca Del Rio, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, and costume designer. She is known for winning the sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Since her time on ''Drag R ...

. In 2018, Lake appeared in '' Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate''. Lake has been praised for her

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

ing skills, having survived three lip syncs for your life on ''Drag Race''. '' IndieWire'' wrote that Lake "lip syncs like the rent is due". ''Vulture'' ranked Lake as one of the top 100 most powerful drag queens in America in 2019. Darienne Lake competed on the eighth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All'' ''Stars'' (2023). She ultimately finished the competition in ninth place.

Personal life

In 2020, Lake underwent surgery for

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Singles

As featured artist

Other appearances

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

References

External links

RuPaul’s DragCon 2016: Meet Darienne Lake
(2016), ''The WOW Report'', World of Wonder * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, Darienne Living people 1971 births People from Long Island People from Rochester, New York American drag queens 21st-century American actors

Darienne Lake Greg Meyer (born November 27, 1971), better known by the stage name Darienne Lake, is a drag queen and television personality. Lake began performing in drag in 1990 in Rochester, New York before rising to prominence after competing on RuPaul's Dr ...

Drag performers from New York (state)