Mario Montez (July 20, 1935 – September 26, 2013) was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and raised in East Harlem. In 1962, Jack Smith cast him in his notorious film, Flaming Creatures, under the name Dolores Flores. Beginning with Smith’s next film, Normal Love, the stage name of Mario Montez was born, in homage to Maria Montez, the exotic Queen of Technicolor. Mario appeared in several films by Andy Warhol films including The Chelsea Girls. In 1965 Mario became a regular performer in John Vaccaro’s Play-House of the Ridiculous and subsequently Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company. Mario’s life was strictly separated, working a clerical day job as Rene Rivera, and then “going into costume” to perform. When Mario moved to Florida in January 1977, the drag persona was retired for nearly 30 years. In a series of photographs and films Conrad Ventur captured Mario’s final years.
Included in the film are Mario’s cohorts from the Silver Factory and the Ridiculous Theater: actors Lola Pashalinski and Agosto Machado, playwright Ronald Tavel, poet Bibbe Hansen, as well as filmmaker Conrad Ventur.
