DARCELLE XV was the stage name of Walter W. Cole, born on this date (d: 2023); She was an American drag queen, entertainer, and cabaret owner and operator in Portland, Oregon. Guinness World Records had certified him as the oldest drag queen performer in 2016, with a career as an entertainer spanning 57 years at the time of his death in 2023.
Cole was raised in the Linnton neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. He was described as a shy, "four-eyed sissy boy". He served in the United States Armed Forces, and was discharged after the Korean War in the late 1950s, after which he lived a "conventional" life in southeast Portland with his wife and two children. He worked at a Fred Meyer store and described himself as having "a crew cut and horn-rimmed glasses". Cole used military funds to help start business ventures.
Cole first purchased a coffeehouse called Caffé Espresso, which later relocated and expanded to include a basement jazz club called Studio A. In 1967, he purchased a tavern in northwest Portland which became Darcelle XV Showplace.
Cole first wore a woman's dress at age 37. By 1969, he had developed the alter ego Darcelle and came out as gay. He left his wife and began a relationship with Roxy Neuhardt who worked alongside Darcelle at the Showplace as a choreographer, show director, performer, bookkeeper, office manager, and payroll accountant. The two remained together until Neuhardt's death in 2017.
Darcelle XV Showplace has hosted the longest-running drag show on the West Coast. In Kelly Clarke's review of Cole's memoir, she described him as "an energetic businessman whose desire for a life less ordinary catapulted him from a job at Fred Meyer to become the proprietor of a counterculture coffee shop, an after-hours jazz club, a rough-'n'-ready 'dyke bar' and, finally, a nationally known drag revue, without ever leaving Portland."
Darcelle also hosted countless benefits for HIV awareness and care, mentored multiple generations of drag performers, challenged homophobia with style, grace, and wit, winning over many to better accept GLBTQ people. Darcelle also hosted an annual holiday dinner for the homeless and marginalized populations in Portland's old town district, where her club was located.
Darcelle XV was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest drag queen in 2016, then aged 85 years and 273 days.
In 2020 the Darcelle XV Showplace was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Cole died of natural causes at his home in Portland on March 23, 2023, at the age of 92.
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