Bette Bourne

Bette Bourne (September 22, 1939 – August 23, 2024) grew up in London, debuted at the age of 4, and pursued a fairly conventional acting career in television and theatre until 1970. Drawn to meetings of the Gay Liberation Front, he became an activist, began appearing in drag, changed his name from Peter to Bette, lived in a gay commune. He joined the American troupe, Hot Peaches, during a European tour and decided to form Bloolips, a group that created activist, camp, hyper-accessorized productions that toured Europe and the United States and Canada from 1978 to 1998.  Subsequently, Bette Bourne portrayed such characters as Lady Bracknell and Quentin Crisp.

In this Artifacts’ Bonus Film: Bette and Lavinia Co-op  provide a quick primer on Polari, the secret language of the Brit queer subculture, sewing together prison slang, carnie talk, sex workers language and drug terms.