Darienne Lake

Lake’s drag career began in Rochester, New York following her first year of college in 1990.[2] She was inspired by a drag queen’s performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in a local production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.[4] When her friends put her up in drag, they said she resembled Ricki Lake in Hairspray (1988); the stage name Darienne Lake is an homage to her as well as to the Six Flags Darien Lake amusement park.[4] Lake later appeared on a 1997 episode of The Ricki Lake Show about plus-sized drag queens.[5][6] Lake's drag mother, Naomi Kane, was also the drag mother of Mrs. Kasha Davis.[7]

Since the 1990s, Lake has been active in the New York drag community and has performed across the United States and internationally.[4][8] Lake held the title of Miss Gay Rochester in 1998-1999.[9][10]

In 2003, she appeared in a VH1 documentary about drag titled Boys Will Be Girls, alongside her drag daughter Pandora Boxx, who went on to become a contestant on the second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race as well as the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.[4][8]

Lake rose to international prominence after winning the fan vote to appear on the sixth season of Drag Race. During the series, Lake won a main challenge (episode three) and ultimately finished the competition in fourth place behind Adore Delano, Courtney Act, and eventual winner Bianca Del Rio.[4]

In 2018, Lake appeared in Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate.[11] Vulture ranked Lake as one of the top 100 most powerful drag queens in America in 2019.[1]

Lake has been praised for her lip syncing skills, having survived three lip syncs for your life on Drag Race.[12][13] IndieWire wrote that Lake "lip syncs like the rent is due."[12]