{"id":91885,"date":"2023-10-15T01:29:43","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T08:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=91885"},"modified":"2023-10-20T19:48:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T02:48:56","slug":"farewell-to-momma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2023\/10\/15\/farewell-to-momma\/","title":{"rendered":"Farewell to Momma"},"content":{"rendered":"

I start with a sad story for gays around the world.  Worthie Paul Meacham<\/strong>, known to many as the larger-than-life drag queen Momma<\/em><\/strong>, passed away.  He was one of the most visible and active drag personalities in California, and was seen by a larger audience in film and television (including Will & Grace<\/em><\/strong>).  On a personal level, the two of us hosted LA Pride <\/em><\/strong>together for a record-setting 7 consecutive years.  Momma also had a charitable side, tirelessly volunteering for numerous organizations that serviced our LGBT community, including Project Angel Food <\/em>(working alongside such folks as George Michael<\/strong>, Prince Harry <\/em><\/strong>and Meghan Markle<\/strong>).  During the pandemic, Worthie found himself in need of their services.  \u201cI gave everything I could to an organization that is now there for me.  How lucky am I?  There is no shame in needing help.  I don\u2019t believe in shame.\u201d  When I wrote a profile on Worthie for the LA Blade <\/em><\/a>in 2020, I asked his thoughts on how far our community has come.  He was mostly hopeful, but added this: \u201cI just wish people would be kinder.  I wish people would be more understanding.  And, damn it, I wish people were having more fun.\u201d  Rest in peace, Momma!<\/p>\n

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Speaking of Project Angel Food<\/em>, one of their most fervent supporters is our friend, Sheryl Lee Ralph<\/strong>.  And what a few years Miss Ralph has been having \u2013 talk about \u201cit gets better\u201d.  You may recall we told you about a movie, The Fabulous Four<\/em><\/strong>.  It was about Bette Midler <\/strong>inviting her college pals to be bridesmaids at her wedding.  Those friends were supposed to be Susan Sarandon<\/strong>, Megan Mullally <\/strong>and Sissy Spacek <\/strong>\u2013 so obviously they all graduated during different decades!  Because of strike-related delays, Miss Spacek dropped out before filming resumed.  Who could possibly hold her own against these powerhouses?  Enter Miss Sheryl Lee Ralph!  Congrats.<\/p>\n

Recently, a curious film began shooting in Budapest.  No, not a biopic about the Gabor <\/strong>sisters \u2013 but wouldn\u2019t that be a great idea?  No, this is a biopic about Maria Callas <\/strong>\u2013 starring Angelina Jolie<\/strong>, naturally.  It depicts the last decade of the diva\u2019s life, which includes her relationship with Aristotle Onassis<\/strong>, played by Turkish actor Haluk Bilginer<\/strong>.  Lemme get this straight \u2013 a movie about a couple of Greeks living in Paris being filmed in Hungary?  Makes sense to me.  Photos from the set have leaked, and Angie certainly has Callas\u2019 eyeliner down to a T.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I start with a sad story for gays around the world.  Worthie Paul Meacham, known to many as the larger-than-life drag queen Momma, passed away.  He was one of the most visible and active drag personalities in California, and was seen by a larger audience in film and television (including Will & Grace).  On a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91885"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91908,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91885\/revisions\/91908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}