RuPaul Andre Charles was born to Ernestine “Toni” Fontenette and Irving Charles in San Diego, California, on November 17, 1960. His parents, who relocated from the South during the Great Migration, named him after the Creole cooking ingredient “roux.” When he was fifteen RuPaul moved with his sister Renetta to Atlanta. There he attended Northside School of Performing Arts and worked with his brother-in-law transporting and restoring luxury automobiles before pursuing a career in showbusiness.
Courtesy of Paula Gately Tillman
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