SCARLET O’HARA - GARY ALEXANDER
Portland, Oregon I was working at a little place called Mary’s Nightclub in Portland, Oregon. About a year before that, I had visited Portland and won a contest at the annual drag ball they held every year. Then they had entered the Imperial Court System that was forming. This system in the gay community had been started in San Francisco Impress Jose. I believe this was the beginning or organization in the gay community. Drags brought many gays together at their annual ball. They brought many together from other cities around the country
There was a drag ball being held in town that weekend in Portland. I wanted to shine. I knew I was already somewhat of a celebrity# in that I was a drag working at a straight nightclub, introducing strippers, and stripping myself. That was unusual at the time. I believe the theme had something to do with the civilizations of the world. I decided to go an African Queen. I had Ion9 enough hair to pull it all straight back into a ponytail. We took a tin can. Opened both ends and painted it gold. We placed the now gold can over my own ponytail. Out of that came a long ponytail that we had placed inside the can, so it would look like my own hair cascading out of the “gold” cylinder from the top of my head I had long dangling earrings and painted my skin a darker shade with makeup. My dress was leopard skin that crisscrossed my chest. I had glued falsies. inside the lining- It crossed once and from there down it was see-through leopard skin material. The stunning thing was that I had a friend help me shave all of my “privates” When I say a friend,? I mean a friend. When you have someone shave your testicles they have to be a friend. I remember 4 we did it in the dressing room in the basement of Mary’s Club. I remember my friend down under me like a mechanic working on the motor of a car. X knew the stage in Portland would be a raised one, and that the audience would be looking up at me as I went around the stage. That rose from the floor, in the lights and at that angle, I would appear to be female. I worked the audience and they went wild. I was becoming quite a showman, ’w*- and I liked it. I won the contest that night and—about two years later was asked to be Empress XI. Of Portland. I accepted.
My show was changing and developing. I was the M.C. and comedienne for real women, exotic dancers. I worked with some of the best in the business, and some of the most beautiful. I would really call Mary’s Club a typical strip joint that had been around for years. It is still in operation today…Mary’s Club was a fun place to work. I got in touch with Pat Paterson last week. He was the Sound Engineer at the dub for years. I have also talked with Vicki. Vicki is the daughter of the owner Roy when I worked there. Pat reminded me of an incident when I worked there. Pat used to call me. Not Scarlet O-Hara, but Harlot O’Hara. I was quite the “whore” at the time.
Pat also told me that he had been in touch with a beautiful dancer that we had worked with at Mary’s Club, her name is September Rose. I am hoping she gets in touch with me. I would like to go over “old Sandy Howard had been the M.C. and comic at the club for quite a few years. He would be leaving any day and they needed a new M.C. for the show. Got the job. I was now working with strippers. I thought, “I can do that”. I began to take the best from each stripper and incorporate that into my own strip act. I was assembling some very beautiful costumes, and I could dance.
I had refined my act at Mary’s Club, and the Carriage Room in Portland. The Carriage Room was a nicer room than Mary’s Club, but I wanted to go on the road. I knew that I could make more money. From Life’s Not Just A Drag by Gary L Alexander.
The article ABOVE LEFT at Jelly Bean [clothing store] is from The Fountain, February 1972. Photos above RIGHT photographer is unknown. Below is a mini video of Gary in Desert Hot Springs in 2021 by Donnie.