Why Butch Still Matters: Identity, Gender and the Media with Lea DeLa

Most recently known for her portrayal of Big Boo on Orange is the New Black, Lea DeLaria is an American comedienne, actress, and jazz musician.

DeLaria has performed stand-up comedy for more than 25 years and is the first openly gay comic to break the late-night talk-show barrier with her appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1993. She began her career billing herself as "That [expletive] Dyke," explaining that when she walked down the street, people would yell that at her. In December 1993, she hosted Comedy Central's Out There, the first all-gay stand-up comedy special.

DeLaria is also known for her touring "musical comedy about perverts," Dos Lesbos (1987-1989) as well as Girl Friday, a comedy she conceived, wrote, directed and starred in, and which won the 1989 Golden Gull for Best Comedy Group in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

DeLaria appeared as Jane in the 1998 Off Broadway production of Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, described as "a gay retelling of the Bible." Entertainment Weekly said "a star is born with Lea DeLaria" of her "show stopping" performance as Hildy Esterhazy in the 1998 Broadway revival of On the Town.

DeLaria integrates musical performance into her stand-up comedy, focusing on traditional and modern be-bop jazz. In 2001 she released a CD of jazz standards called Play It Cool. This was followed by the album Double Standards in 2003 and by The Very Best of Lea DeLaria in 2008.

In 1999, DeLaria played the recurring role of Madame Delphina on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, returning in 2008 as both Delphina and Professor Delbert Fina. She continues to portray Delphina on a recurring basis as of 2011.

In 2008, Warner Records released The Live Smoke Sessions; DeLaria's first recording focused on timeless pop standards. In July 2010, DeLaria's version of "All That Jazz" was used on So You Think You Can Dance. She is now working on an album of David Bowie covers.