Lea DeLaria is a Jill of All Trades. She started as a standup comedian and has transitioned to nearly every aspect of show business, save for polka, while starring as the unapologetically out character Carrie “Big Boo” Black on “Orange Is the New Black.” DeLaria’s next big act brings her back to her first love—jazz. DeLaria is releasing her fifth studio album, “House of David: delaria+bowie=jazz,” a record of 12 David Bowie covers with a jazz influence.
LEA DELARIA seems to have achieved overnight stardom with her three-time SAG Award winning, stand-out role as ‘Carrie ‘Big Boo’ Black’ in the Netflix hit series “Orange is the New Black.” However, DeLaria’s multi- faceted career as a comedian, actress and jazz musician, has in fact, spanned decades.
Lea holds the distinction of being the first openly gay comic on television in America which led to countless Television and Film roles portraying Police Lieutenants, PE Teachers and the Lesbian who inappropriately hits on straight women. Selected TV credits: “Awkward,” “Clarence,” “Californication,” “The Oblongs,” “One Live to Live,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “Will and Grace,” “The Oblongs,” “Friends” & “Matlock.” Selected Film credits: First Wives Club, Dear Dumb Diary, Edge of Seventeen.
She’s received Obie & Theater World Awards, and a Drama Desk nomination for her portrayal as ‘Hildy’ in the Public Theatre’s revival of On The Town, an Ovation nomination for The Boys From Syracuse, and has played both Eddie & Dr. Scott in the gender-bending Broadway musical The Rocky Horror Show.
Lea was the featured vocalist at the 50th Anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival, and has performed in some of the most prestigious houses in the world including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Chicago Symphony, Hollywood Bowl, The Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House.
Lea has five records on the Warner Jazz and Classics label and her book “Lea’s Book of Rules for the World” is in its third printing at Bantam Doubleday and Dell.
Her sixth record, House Of David delaria+bowie=jazz, is available in stores and online now.
