Murray Hill (born c. 1972) is a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

based American comedian,

drag king Drag kings have historically been mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of an individual or group routine. As documented in the 2003 ''Journal of Homosexuality,'' in more r ...

, actor, television host, and entertainer. He is the entertainer persona of Busby Murray Gallagher, although this persona is maintained even in private settings. Murray Hill is the self-proclaimed "hardest-working middle-aged man in show business." In ''The Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures'', Jack Halberstam praised Hill for "transforming masculinity and exposing its theatricality with profound results". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called him "the current reigning patriarch of the downtown performance community" and the ''

Seattle Weekly The ''Seattle Weekly'' is an alternative biweekly distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as ''The Weekly.'' Its first issue was published on March 31, 1976, and it becam ...

'' called him a "pioneer" of

drag kings Drag kings have historically been mostly female performance artists who dress in masculinity, masculine Drag (clothing), drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of an individual or group routine. As documented in the 2003 ''Journal o ...

Early life, family and education

Hill was raised in a religious, conservative home in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. He has characterized his childhood persona as being a

tomboy A tomboy is a girl or young woman who generally expresses masculine traits. Such traits may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities and behaviors traditionally associated with boys or men. Origins The w ...

. He attended college in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Career

Hill started performing in 1996, when the cutting-edge chic of the East Village waned as the neighborhood

gentrified Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has been us ...

, the art galleries moved for cheaper rent in Chelsea, and the music scene shifted to the Pacific Northwest. His celebrity impersonations include Elvis and

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...

. Hill was part of a 1990s wave of comedians and performers whose talent stood out in the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

and East Village scene, emblematic of the neighborhood as portrayed in the musical '' Rent''. Hill is a frequent event emcee in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

, including the annual "Ms. Lez" competition, a bingo night with co-host

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 ...

Linda Simpson, and a variety of

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

and theater performances. Hill was the opening act for a tour of the rock band

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American art punk and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. ...

and has opened for The Gossip. He has performed at parties hosted by

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedienne, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that w ...

and

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...

; and his acts incorporate homages to Joey Adams,

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 18 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor and scriptwriter. He is best remembered for his television programme, ''The Benny Hill Show'', a comedy-variety show whose amalgam of slapstick, bu ...

, Sammy Davis Jr., and

Henny Youngman Henry "Henny" Youngman (March 16, 1906 – February 24, 1998) was an English-born American comedian and musician famous for his mastery of the "one-line joke, one-liner", his best known being "Take my wife... please". In a time when many ...

. Hill made

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

s in the 2006

John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch (film), Hedwig and t ...

film '' Shortbus'' and a 2010 episode of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series ''

Bored to Death ''Bored to Death'' is an American comedy series that ran on HBO from September 20, 2009, to November 28, 2011. The show was created by author Jonathan Ames, and stars Jason Schwartzman as a fictional Jonathan Ames—a writer based in Brooklyn, ...

''. He also appears with burlesque performer Dirty Martini in ''Dirty Martini and the New Burlesque''. Hill and Michael Musto appeared in the video for

TV on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock music, rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), Dave Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and ...

's song "No Future Shock." Hill is part of the cast of the 2022 comedy-drama '' Life & Beth'' and the host of the 2023

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

comedy competition '' Drag Me to Dinner''. He was part of the main cast of the series ''Somebody Somewhere'' from 2022 to 2024. In December 2024 it was announced that Hill would be the host of an upcoming drag reality competition series '' King of Drag'', set to air in 2025. The series will be the first drag competition series focusing specifically on

Personal life

Hill is

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Gallery

File:Loz_reporter2013.png, Hill doing a story in the East Village of

File:Murray Hill Miss Dirty Martini 2011 Shankbone 3.JPG, Hill with frequent collaborator Miss Dirty Martini at the Copacabana in 2011 File:Murray Hill by David Shankbone.jpg, Murray Hill in 2007, during his last show at Mo Pitkins' House of Satisfaction in the East Village

References

External links

Murray Hill's official websiteMurray Hill's profile in Gothamist
* Murray Hill on the life and versatility of a New York drag king from WikiNews
Murray Hill on the performance scene in New York, from Queery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Murray Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American LGBTQ people American drag kings American LGBTQ comedians American male comedians American neo-burlesque performers American transgender men American transgender entertainers Comedians from New York City Culture of New York City Drag performers from New York City Transgender comedians Transgender drag performers Transgender male entertainers Actors from New York City American television hosts