Bette Bourne

Bette Bourne (born Peter Bourne, 22 September 1939) is a British actor, drag queen, campaigner, and activist. His theatrical career has spanned six decades. He came to prominence in the mid-1970s onwards after joining the New York-based alternative gay cabaret troupe Hot Peaches. He then went on to form his own alternative gay theatrical company, Bloolips. Early life Peter Bourne was born in Hackney, East London, into a working-class family. He was one of four children and had two sisters and a brother. His mother was an amateur actress. Bourne made his stage debut at the age of four as a member of Madame Behenna and her Dancing Children performing at Stoke Newington Town Hall where he sang Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree. The first play he remembers seeing was a production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the early 1950s, although he had an interest in acting before that. His father was indifferent to his son's acting aspirations. When Bourne reached 16, he did an apprenticeship as a printmaker, which lasted only three months. He then worked in journalism working at the New Scientist. Bourne began his theatre career working backstage at London's Garrick Theatre. He was not the only member of his family to enter show business, his brother is the actor and singer Mike Berry. 1960s TV and Theatre Work Peter studied drama at London's Central School of Speech and Drama in Swiss Cottage and went on to act on stage and on television throughout the 1960s. He appeared in TV series such as The Avengers and The Prisoner, and in 1969, he appeared alongside Sir Ian McKellen in a touring double bill of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II and Shakespeare's Richard II.