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13 August 2009

Francis Francine (? - ) film actor.

Frank di Giovanni, elevator operator, was the first of the Andy Warhol transvestite superstars.

Francine had been intended as the star of Flaming Creatures, 1962, but disappeared partway through filming, leaving Mario Montez the throne.

He was given star treatment in the Andy Warhol/Paul Morrissey film Lonesome Cowboys, 1968, as a the transvestite sheriff. The camera lingers as he puts on drag and makeup. This in a cowboy village partly owned by John Wayne.

He is the subject of Coming Attractions, a poignant documentary about growing old without much to look forward to.
  • Beverly Conrad (dir). Coming Attractions. With Francis Francine. US 78 mins 1970.
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One wonders if there is any connection with Francis Francine Hodgkiss? Had Frank di Giovanni perhaps caught her show and remembered her name? Maybe.

1 comment:

  1. On YouTube you can listen to Jack Smith read his short story "Les Evening Gowns Damnees" with musical accompaniment by Tony Conrad and Angus MacLise, a hilarious, warped and in the end touching tale of he and Francis - "hermaphrodite performer in carnivals and sideshows" - on a shopping expedition in Miami Beach for said evening gowns courtesy of some millionaire Francis met on the street while in drag. YouTube also has Normal Love, Smith's sequel to Flaming Creatures (a sort of Flaming Creatures down on the farm) which features Francis prominently. They also have a crappy print of Warhol's Lonesome Cowboys with Francine in and out of drag.

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