Alexandra Billings
| Alexandra Billings | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 28, 1962 Inglewood, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Actress, model |
| Known for | Second transgender woman to have played a transgender character on television |
| Partner(s) | Chrisanne Blankenship (m. 1995) |
| Parent(s) | Robert Billings |
Alexandra Scott Billings (born March 28, 1962, Inglewood, California) is an American actress, teacher, singer, and the second openly trans woman to have played a transgender character on television, which she did in the 2005 made-for-TV movie Romy and Michele: In The Beginning.
Billings' father, Robert Billings, was a music teacher at Los Angeles Harbor College and the musical director for the L. A. Civic Light Opera House, which influenced her interest in theater. She assisted, working backstage in the shadow of such stars as Carol Burnett (Once Upon a Mattress), and Yul Brynner (The King and I). She also appeared in Jesus Christ Superstar and The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd.
In the early 1980s, Billings worked under the stage name Shante at the famed Baton Show Lounge in Chicago, Illinois. Winning a series of beauty contests, she was named Miss Wisconsin, Miss New York, Miss Chicago, Miss Illinois, and Miss Florida. She also served as a judge of the Miss Continental pageant in 2000, and 2001.
Most of Billings' professional work has been in Chicago theaters, most notably The Bailiwick Theater, Light Opera Works, Court Theatre, and the Tony Award winning Steppenwolf Theatre. She has collaborated on plays with such notable authors as Larry Kramer, Tina Landau, and Jamie Pachino. She has received one Joseph Jefferson Award, and 5 After Dark Awards for her work in Chicago Theater. Her one-woman autobiographical show has toured to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and off Broadway. She is a former Artistic Associate of About Face Theatre.
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