James St. James

Last updated
James St. James
James St James, Ingrid LaLa.jpg
St. James (center) in 2014
BornJames Clark
(1966-08-01) August 1, 1966 (age 58) [1]
Saginaw, Michigan
Occupation
  • Party promoter
  • novelist
  • television personality
Genre True crime, fiction
Notable works Party Monster

James St. James (born James Clark; August 1, 1966) is a television & internet personality, author, celebutante, frequent collaborator with Mathu Andersen, and former "Club Kid", a member of the New York City club scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s. [1]

Contents

St. James was known for a lifestyle of excess that included heavy drug use, partying, and bizarre costumes that first brought him to national attention as the subject of television appearances and interviews. He wrote Disco Bloodbath (now published under the title Party Monster) that was later made into the feature film Party Monster (2003), starring Macaulay Culkin as Michael Alig and Seth Green as St. James. His life was the subject of the documentary Party Monster: The Shockumentary (1998).

Early life and education

James grew up in an affluent family in Saginaw, Michigan, where he lived with his mother after his parents divorced.[ citation needed ] In the summer, he would stay with his father and younger and older siblings in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, until he moved to Fort Lauderdale for high school. [2]

Career

In the late 1980s, St. James became friendly with Michael Alig, although at first he and the other club personalities shunned the newcomer. [3] Undeterred, Alig soon created his own scene by gathering up other creative personalities of the nightlife world; he used his flamboyant style, and engaged in self-promotion and themed parties. St. James morphed from celebutante to Club Kid while helping Alig create the new scene. Alig and St. James threw many parties together, eventually setting up the Disco 2000 club night at the New York City club The Limelight. St. James wrote several columns, most famously for the short-lived New York City-based gay publication OutWeek during the magazine's two year life span from 1989–1991. [4]

St. James appeared many times on television talk shows to discuss the Club Kids during the 1980s and 1990s, including The Oprah Winfrey Show , The Phil Donahue Show , The Jerry Springer Show , Geraldo , and The Joan Rivers Show .[ citation needed ]

Publishing debut

St. James's debut book, Disco Bloodbath (1999), is a memoir that describes his life in the club scene and documents the infamous rise to fame of Michael Alig and Alig's murder of Andre "Angel" Melendez. [5] The film Party Monster: The Shockumentary (1998) was released prior to but is based on events in Disco Bloodbath, as is the film Party Monster (2003).

Freak Show and the 2000s

St. James published a second book, Freak Show in 2007, a comedy/romance about a teenage drag queen who attends a new school and forges a relationship with the football team's quarterback. Freak Show was named to the American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults list. [6] The book was adapted into a feature in 2017 by Maven Entertainment. The film was directed by Trudie Styler and stars Alex Lawther, Abigail Breslin, and Bette Midler. [7]

St. James curates art shows at the World of Wonder Gallery for the production company World of Wonder, makers of both Party Monster: The Shockumentary (1998) and Party Monster (2003), and blogs regularly on World of Wonder's website, the WOW Report.

In the 2000s, St. James has made regular appearances on America's Next Top Model , cycles 5, 7, & 11, presenting contest skill challenges to the aspiring models. St. James also appeared in season 2, episode 9 of RuPaul's Drag Race , where he interviewed the top four contestants on a red carpet before they walked the runway.[ citation needed ]

St. James had a long running webseries through the World of Wonder channel WOW Presents, titled Transformations: with James St. James. The webseries featured various makeup artists, drag queens, Club Kids, and RuPaul's Drag Race alums giving St. James themed makeovers. [8]

St. James currently has a podcast, Night Fever, on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, which he co-hosts with Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. [9] The podcast includes leading New York nightlife figures of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. [10]

Bibliography

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
1998Shampoo HornsJamesFilm
Party Monster: The Shockumentary HimselfDocumentary Film
2002Uncut: The True Story of HairAdditional CrewDocumentary
2003 Party Monster WriterFilm
2015Glory Daze: The Life and Times of Michael AligHimselfDocumentary Film
2018 Freak Show WriterFilm

Television

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
1990 The Joan Rivers Show Himself"People Who Dress to Get Attention"
2000 American Justice Season 9, Episode 10: "Dancing, Drugs and Murder"
E! True Hollywood Story Season 4, Episode 16: "Death by Disco"
2003 20/20 Himself - Friend of Peter''Party Monster/Party Monster and Murder"
The Sharon Osbourne Show Himself
2005Queer Edge with Jack E. Jett Season 2, Episode 2: "#2.2"
America's Next Top Model Season 5, Episode 3: "The Girl Who Needs a Mircacle"
2006 The Tyra Banks Show ''America's Next Top Transsexual Model" & "Transsexual Top Model"
America's Next Top Model Season 7, Episode 8: "The Girl Who Wrecks the Car"
2008 Season 11, Episode 9: "Now You See Me, Now You Don't"

Web series

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
2013 Transformations: with James St. James Himself (host)6 seasons, 189 episodes
2016 Hey Qween! HimselfSeason 4, Episode 12: "James St. James"

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References

  1. 1 2 Peter Rivendell (August 1, 2007). "James St James". gayfortoday. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
  2. Steven Frank (May 16, 2007). "Interview With James St. James". afterelton.com. afterelton. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
  3. Fenton Bailey & Barbato, Randy. (1998) Format:Documentary Party Monster: The Shockumentary
    Party Monster (1998) at IMDb
  4. "outweek magazine". gabrielrotello. 2008-01-29. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
  5. James St. James (1999). Disco Bloodbath: A Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland (August 11, 1999 ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 2222. ISBN   0-684-85764-2.
  6. Archived October 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. Busch, Anita (12 December 2016). "Maven Pics Taps 'Secret Life of Dr. James Miranda Barry' For Rachel Weisz". Deadline. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  8. "Transformations". WOW Presents Plus. Retrieved 2024-08-05.
  9. "Night Fever on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. 2024-07-31. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  10. "Night Fever". Spotify. Retrieved 2024-08-06.