'T-Rex' Will Never Be Extinct
Simon Doonan on the eternal cool of Marc Bolan, the fabulous, fey, and long-gone-but-not-forgotten glamrocker.
Dead Cool: Florence Foster Jenkins
In the age of talentless nobodies becoming miraculously famous, still-talentless somebodies, it’s time to remember Florence Foster Jenkins, the genre’s patron saint.
Why Draq Queens Should Handle Disaster Relief
Why aren’t more drag queens handling disaster relief? Simon Doonan on the late, great Dorian Corey, the sassy Harlem transvestite who would have fixed the oil spill by now.
Dead Cool: Gayelord Hauser
Listen up, Jamie Oliver! Simon Doonan pays homage to the original European celebrity chef, who turned a case of tuberculosis into a glamorous career.
Dead Cool: Ian Dury
Long before Lady Gaga and her disco stick, there was Ian Dury, British rock god—and subject of a new film screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. Simon Doonan on the creator of “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll.”
Dead Cool: Anna May Wong
With the Oscars approaching, Simon Doonan says we should all take a minute to remember leggy, resilient Anna May Wong, the first Chinese-American movie star.
Dead Cool: Johnny Thunders
As another season of American Idol revs up, Simon Doonan says we’d do well to remember the immortal New York Doll, who was a rock god from his mop-top down to his methadone.
Dead Cool: Madame Blavatsky
Fabulous lunatic Madame Blavatsky was a con artist, a mystic, and the founder of the Theosophist Society. Simon Doonan says she’s just the woman we need at the start of a new decade.
Pauline Bonaparte: Dead Cool
Napoleon’s hot, profligate sister shagged like a man, shopped like a Madoff, and wooed a Borghese. The Daily Beast’s Simon Doonan breaks down her many splendors.
Marty Feldman: Dead Cool
Where has all the ugly gone? The Daily Beast’s Simon Doonan praises the Young Frankenstein star for his magnificent hideousness.