Friday, November 28, 2008

Candis Cayne Biography


Candis Cayne is an American actress and performer best known for her appearances in the New York City club scene.[1] Nationally, she appeared in the independent films Wigstock: The Movie, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, Mob Queen, "Starrbooty", and Stonewall. Cayne, a transsexual, plays transgender mistress Carmelita on ABC's primetime drama Dirty Sexy Money making her the first transsexual to play a transsexual in prime time.[2] Cayne won the 2001 Miss Continental pageant.

When she was young, Cayne's parents moved from California to Maui to teach at a Waldorf school and the family lived on campus [3]. After high school she moved to Los Angeles and got a job on a cruise ship for a few months to raise money for a move to New York.

In New York, Cayne started performing as 'Candis Cayne' at Boy Bar, a gay bar in early 1990s New York City and participating in Wigstock, the annual drag festival in the East Village. Her participation in Wigstock led to her being asked to do choreography for To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, and led to a role in the movie Stonewall. Cayne began transitioning in 1996.[citation needed] In 1997 Cayne co-starred in the RuPaul music video A Little Bit of Love with fellow drag icon Jazzmun. She also appeared as the lead role in the 1998 independent film Mob Queen.

Cayne has regular work as a performer at various bars and clubs around New York City. She has also appeared in several film and TV roles as well as a number of plays and musical theatre projects. She does occasional glamour modelling and is attempting to develop a dance music career. Her relationship was rekindled with RuPaul when Ru cast Candis as Annaka Manners in the 2007 film Starrbooty. That same year Cayne also played Carmelita, a transsexual who is having an affair with married New York Attorney General Patrick Darling (played by William Baldwin), in the serial drama Dirty Sexy Money.[4] She currently resides in Los Angeles.

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