Lori Shannon
{{Short description|American drag queen, actor, and comedian}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lori Shannon
| birth_name = Don Seymour McClean
| birth_date = {{birth_date|1938|5|18}}
| birth_place = Santa Barbara, California U.S.
| death_date = {{death_date and age|1984|2|13|1938|5|18}}
| death_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.
| occupation = Drag queen, actor, comedian
| years_active =
| website =
| height = {{height|ft=6|in=5}}
}}
Lori Shannon (May 18, 1938 – February 13, 1984), born Don Seymour McLean, was a gay{{cite web |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2005_Sept_13/ai_n15655290 |title=Openly gay TV actors |work=The Advocate |date=2005-09-13 |first=Don |last=Romesburg |accessdate=2007-07-03}} drag queen, most widely known for his recurring role from 1975 to 1977 as Beverly LaSalle on the popular sitcom All in the Family. He was associated with the drag revues at Finocchio's club in San Francisco,{{cite web|url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/1999/11/04/MN8972.DTL&type=performance|title=What a Drag: Finocchio's to Close: Cross-dressers have entertained at club for 63 years|last=Hamlin|first=Jesse|date=1999-11-04|work=San Francisco Chronicle|accessdate=2007-07-03}} and wrote an entertainment column for the Bay Area Reporter.{{cite web|title=Interview with David De Alba |url=http://phantomdragon.com/THELEGEND/Lee-Da.htm |accessdate=2007-07-03 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927195213/http://phantomdragon.com/THELEGEND/Lee-Da.htm |archivedate=2007-09-27 |url-status=dead }}
Biography
Shannon stood {{height|ft=6|in=5}} in his heels and considered himself "a stand-up comic in a dress", who enjoyed startling tourists with one-liners at Finocchio's.{{Cite web|url = http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Drag-queen-Don-McLean-dies-3173277.php|title = Drag queen Don McLean dies|date = 1984|accessdate = 2014-09-19|website = SFGate|publisher = Hearst Communications, Inc|last = |first = }}
Shannon appeared in three episodes of the CBS sitcom All in the Family as Beverly LaSalle, a female impersonator: "Archie the Hero" (1975), in which Archie Bunker gives him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, not realizing he is male; "Beverly Rides Again" (1976), in which Archie uses him to play a practical joke on a friend; and "Edith's Crisis of Faith, Part 1" (1977), in which his murder leads Edith Bunker to question her faith in God. The role was noteworthy for its uncommonly respectful and sympathetic treatment of Beverly as a "transvestite".{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-baume-culture-cruise-archie-bunker_n_5d13f7a7e4b0d0a2c0ab649c|title=Here's How 'All In The Family' Depicted Gender Nonconformity In 1975|last=Wong|first=Curtis M.|date=2019-06-27|website=HuffPost|language=en|access-date=2019-11-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://southfloridagaynews.com/Television/all-in-the-family-kicked-open-doors-for-lgbts-on-television.html|title=All in the Family Kicked Open Doors For LGBTs on Television|last=Nahmod|first=David-Elijah|website=southfloridagaynews.com|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-11-16}}
On February 13, 1984, Shannon died of a heart attack at the age of 45 at Mission Emergency Hospital in San Francisco.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|1174568}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shannon, Lori}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:Male actors from Santa Barbara, California
Category:Male actors from San Francisco