Mimi Marks
{{short description|American entertainer (born 1967)}}
{{BLP sources|date=April 2010}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mimi Marks
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|02|11}}
| birth_place = Waterloo, Iowa, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality =American
| other_names =
| occupation = Entertainer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Mimi Marks (born February 11, 1967){{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/mimimarks11 |title=Mimi Marks (@mimimarks11) |website=twitter.com |language=en |access-date=2020-02-12}} is an American entertainer.
Early life
Mimi was born in Waterloo, Iowa, but grew up in Oelwein, Iowa. As a child, she recalls feeling "uncomfortable in her body," and had the "most difficult time" in her physical education class because, she says, "I didn't fit in at all."
Later life
After undergoing some surgery for sex reassignment (due to stipulations in employment contracts, Marks has not had complete sex reassignment), Marks became Mimi. According to Trantasia,{{cite web |url=http://www.trantasiathemovie.com/ |title=Trantasia |website=www.trantasiathemovie.com |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325224548/http://www.trantasiathemovie.com/ |archive-date=25 March 2010 |url-status=dead}} a transgender beauty pageant documentary, she has lived as a woman since she was 21 years old. Marks started performing in Milwaukee at a club called Dance, Dance, Dance with help from an Australian performer, Holly Brown. Marks says that, for trans women in Chicago, the test of whether they can pass as women is to appear in public at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs: "If you could walk through Wrigley-ville, like, during a Cubs game and not get 'spooked,' and not have anybody call you out, you were like the 'girl-iest' girl, you made it. I called [a friend] and said, 'I am at a Cubs game on first base, eleventh row. I made it. I'm a girl!{{'"}}{{Cite web |url=http://insider.tv.yahoo.com/celeb/3871/ |title=The INSIDER Online: Celeb Central: From Mark to 'Mimi': A True Story |access-date=2006-07-30 |archive-date=2006-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615055200/http://insider.tv.yahoo.com/celeb/3871/ |url-status=dead }}
In 1986, Marks won her first pageant title: Ms. Waterloo 1986. She has also won Miss International Queen, Pattaya, Thailand; The World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Contest, Las Vegas, Nevada, US; and Miss Continental, Chicago, Illinois, US.
In 2008, Marks appeared in Janet Jackson's music video "Rock With U".{{cite web|url=http://www.windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=18195|title=Pop Making Sense History|access-date=2009-03-17|date=2008-04-30|publisher=Windy City Times|archive-date=2018-11-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118035259/http://www.windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=18195|url-status=dead}}
Marks is reported to have been the first ever openly transgender runway model, working for the Ford Modeling agency.
She performed at The Baton Show Lounge in Chicago, Illinois, until retiring from the stage in January 2016.{{cite news |last1=Trotter |first1=LeeAnn |title=Mimi Marks Prepares for Final Chicago Performance |newspaper=NBC Chicago |url=https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Mimi-Marks-Prepares-for-Final-Chicago-Performance-365986771.html |publisher=WMAQ |access-date=27 April 2019 |date=20 January 2016}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160811215332/http://www.tglife.com/famous-newsworthy/item/75-mimi-marks Article, Interview & Photos]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100325224548/http://www.trantasiathemovie.com/ Official site of Trantasia: The Movie]
- [http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=10446 Windy City Times interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910154030/http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=10446 |date=2022-09-10 }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160811215332/http://www.tglife.com/famous-newsworthy/item/75-mimi-marks Mimi marks Profile on TGlife with Brianna Austin interview]
{{S-start}}
{{S-ach}}
{{S-bef|before={{Flagicon|Thailand}} Treechada Petcharat}}
{{s-ttl|title=Miss International Queen
|years= 2005}}
{{s-aft|after={{Flagicon|Mexico}}Erica Andrews}}
{{S-break}}
{{S-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Mimi}}
Category:American beauty pageant winners
Category:LGBTQ people from Iowa
Category:Miss Continental winners
Category:Miss International Queen winners
Category:People from Oelwein, Iowa
Category:People from Waterloo, Iowa
Category:American transgender women
Category:American transgender entertainers
Category:Transgender women entertainers
{{US-pageant-bio-stub}}
{{Iowa-bio-stub}}
{{LGBT-bio-stub}}