Lea DeLaria

She noted, "I styled this CD on the old school live recordings ... It is my hope that this CD will take you back to 1948 and the Village Vanguard. So please let me invite you to mix a cocktail and enjoy a smoke while you sit back and soak up the swing."

Lea DeLaria (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actress, and jazz singer.

DeLaria's stand-up career began in 1982 when she moved to San Francisco and performed raunchy stand-up comedy in the Mission District.

Discussing her stand-up, Delaria says, "This is who I am, when I'm up there. This is it. I'm a big butch dyke. That's who I am. And I'm a friendly one. I'm a big butch dyke with a smile on my face."

In 1986, DeLaria directed "Ten Percent Revue", a musical revue written by Tom Wilson Weinberg that celebrates gay and lesbian culture.

"Ten Percent Revue" was performed in Boston, San Francisco, Provincetown, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.

Many shows were sold out.

From 1987 to 1989, DeLaria starred in "Dos Lesbos", a musical comedy about two lesbians dealing with the issues of living together.

The show received very favorable reviews nationwide.

DeLaria conceived, wrote, directed and starred in "Girl Friday: We're Funny That Way", a musical comedy, in 1989.

The show won the 1989 Golden Gull for Best Comedy Group in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

While appearing on the show, DeLaria said, "Hello everybody, my name is Lea DeLaria, and it's great to be here, because it's the 1990s! It's hip to be queer! I'm a big dyke."

DeLaria later said she had been told that she should not have used the term dyke on the air.

Hall later defended her, saying, "If she wants to call herself a dyke, that's her business."

DeLaria is credited with being the first openly gay comic to appear on American television with her 1993 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show.

When DeLaria appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1993, she was the first openly gay comic to appear on a late-night talk show.

In December 1993, DeLaria hosted Comedy Central's Out There, the first all-gay stand-up comedy special.

DeLaria has released two CD recordings of her comedy, Bulldyke in a China Shop (1994) and Box Lunch (1997).

She has also written a humorous book entitled Lea's Book of Rules for the World.

In 1996 DeLaria played the part of a woman friend of Carol and Susan in the Friends episode The One with the Lesbian Wedding.

DeLaria appeared as Jane in the 1998 Off Broadway production of Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, "a gay retelling of the Bible."

Entertainment Weekly said "a star is born with Lea DeLaria" of her "showstopping" performance as Hildy Esterhazy in the 1998 Broadway revival of On the Town.

In 1999 DeLaria played the recurring role of Madame Delphina on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, returning in 2008 as both Delphina and Professor Delbert Fina.

She's known for her work on Broadway including the revival of The Rocky Horror Show in 2000, and POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive in 2022.

DeLaria was born in Belleville, Illinois, the daughter of Jerry Jean (née Cox), a homemaker, and Robert George DeLaria, a jazz pianist and social worker.

Her paternal grandparents were Italian.

She attended kindergarten through eighth grade at St. Mary's Elementary School in Belleville and has referenced her Catholic upbringing in her performances.

DeLaria subsequently played Eddie and Dr. Scott in the 2000 Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, and can be heard on the cast recording.

DeLaria appeared in a number of films, including Edge of Seventeen and The First Wives Club.

DeLaria integrates musical performance into her stand-up comedy, focusing on traditional and modern be-bop jazz.

In 2001 she released a CD of jazz standards called Play It Cool.

In 2001, DeLaria was the voice of Helga Phugly on the short-lived animated sitcom The Oblongs.

This was followed by the album Double Standards in 2003, and by The Very Best of Lea DeLaria in 2008.

In 2008, Warner Records released The Live Smoke Sessions, DeLaria's first recording focused on "timeless pop standards" such as "Down With Love", "Night and Day", "Love Me or Leave Me" and "Come Rain or Come Shine."

In November 2008, DeLaria completed a tour of Australia, playing Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.

She also frequently collaborates with comedian Maggie Cassella, most notably on an annual Christmas cabaret show in Toronto, Ontario which also sometimes tours to several other North American cities.

In July 2010, her version of "All That Jazz" was used on So You Think You Can Dance.

DeLaria performed in Prometheus Bound at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

She continued to portray Delphina on a recurring basis until 2011.

She is best known for her portrayal of inmate Carrie "Big Boo" Black on Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019).