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Toronto drag queen Michelle DuBarry honoured with Guinness World Record

Michelle DuBarry appears on the red carpet of the Toronto opening of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on Oct 25, 2105. Keith Beaty/Toronto Star via Getty Images

TORONTO – Tuesday night marked a major milestone for Michelle DuBarry, who is the dazzling alter ego of Russell Allread, when it was confirmed via email that she is officially the world’s oldest drag queen.

The Guinness Book of World Records designation was announced at Statlers bar on Church Street, where DuBarry performs her act on a regular basis.

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Allread was just 9 years old when he first expressed the desire to wear dresses and through that passion began a lifetime of stage performances, fabulous costume changes, and lots of hair spray and makeup.

Russell began performing in the early sixties first as Anita Mode and then later as Michelle DuBarry and could be seen on stage touring with Phase One and then later with The Great Imposters.

The name DuBarry actually originated from the 1943 Lucille Ball Film, DuBarry Was A Lady, about a woman and her relationship with her husband.

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