There have been many winners of 'Drag Race' over the years, but only one queen who can claim to have been the very first. That's BeBe Zahara Benet, known to her Cameroonian-American parents as Nea Marshall Kudi Ngwa. It's been ten years now since her triumph in the debut series, but she shocked both the audience and contestants by finally returning to the show in 2018 to compete in the third 'All Star' series, ultimately sharing third place with Shangela.
Benet got into drag by accident; she was working at a fashion show in Paris when a female model didn't turn up, and Benet ended up putting a dress on and walking the catwalk as a panic replacement. A year later the character had been born, and she was working as a drag act with Cyndi Lauper in Minneapolis. She released several songs between 2010 and 2014, but has since returned to television with her show 'Drag Me Down the Aisle,' which premiered in early 2019.
Most of your favorite celebrities either studied acting in college or went straight from high school into a life of the arts. But, hey, not all of them. Some celebrities actually have advanced college degrees.
Turns out Mayim Bialik is just as much of a genius as the one she plays on The Big Bang Theory. She earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles, focusing on obsessive compulsive disorder among people with Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare condition in which the hypothalamus malfunctions.
Little known fact: Natalie Portman skipped the premiere of Star Wars: Phantom Menace because she was studying for her high school exams. She had two papers published in scientific journals while she was still in high school, and graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Psychology.
Before he was looking for answers on X-Files, David Duchovny was just trying to find the answers for English finals at Princeton University90. David graduated from Princeton in 1982 with a B.A in English. He continued to feed his love of literature by receiving a master’s degree in English Literature at Yale University. David was an excellent writer and poet. His work consistently received praise by his fellow classmates and teachers at Yale. His writing was even nominated for a college prize by the Academy of American Poets.
Sigourney Weaver graduated from Stanford University in 1971 with a bachelor’s in Literature. It was while studying at Stanford that Sigourney realized her true passion in life was to become an actress. Shortly after graduation, she attended Yale for their well-known drama program. She would go on to receive a master’s in Acting from Yale University and become friends with fellow famous actress Meryl Streep.
Meryl Streep is considered one of the most successful actresses of all time. She is also one of the most highly educated. Before collecting an array of Oscars, Meryl collected diplomas. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in 1971. Meryl has a habit of being unsatisfied with impressive accomplishments as her acting career has shown, so she attended Yale University and earned a master’s degree in Acting.