MGH & Studs Terkel: Episode 3: "Les-Lee"

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive

Making Gay History

Sexuality, Personal Journals, Health & Fitness, History, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2020

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Canadian female impersonator John Falk Tomkinson appeared around the globe under the stage name Les-Lee for over three decades. In 1967 Studs Terkel interviewed the performer to talk about his art and upbringing, and his experiences of being “different.” Visit our episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our ⁠Patreon community⁠. ——— To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I history
0:02.0	Eric here
0:03.0	A few months ago we launched Making Gay History's Patreon channel
0:06.0	a place where we're sharing new video interviews
0:09.0	Never Before Heard Clips from my archive
0:11.0	that didn't make it into the episodes and more.
0:14.0	If you're not a member of our Patreon community yet, I hope you'll join today.
0:18.4	Just $5 a month gets you access to these Making Gay History extras, and you'll support us as we work to bring LGBTQ history to life
0:26.1	through the voices of the people who lived it.
0:28.7	Find out more at patreon.com slash Making Gay History.
0:32.4	Or go to making gay history
0:33.8	and click on the link in our home page banner and thank you so much You're going to. I'm Eric Marcus and this is Making Gay History.
0:55.0	This season we're reaching beyond my own collection of interviews
1:02.1	to bring you voices from the Studs-Turkey Radio Archive.
1:05.5	The Archive holds more than 5,000 programs that the pioneering oral historian and broadcast legend
1:11.4	recorded for W.F.M. T. Radio in Chicago between 1952 and 1997.
1:18.6	Studds conducted most of his interviews at his studio in downtown Chicago.
1:22.8	But in late 1967, he took his tape recorder to Paris.
1:27.1	That's where he interviewed female impersonator
1:29.2	John Falk Tompkinson, a 38-year-old Quebec native who performed under the stage name Les Lee.
1:36.5	Less as he was known to his friends, began his career in the late 1940s at the mafia
1:41.0	controlled 181 club in New York's East Village. It was known at the mafia-controlled 181 Club in New York's East Village.
	...

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