American performer and writer John Epperson, also known as his drag persona Lypsinka, was BOTD in 1955. Born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, he studied classical piano as a child, and attended an evangelical Christian university. On graduation, he moved to New York, becoming a rehearsal pianist for the American Ballet Theatre. He began performing in drag bars in Manhattan, developing the Joan Crawford-lookalike Lypsinka, lip-synching to soundtracks culled from show-tunes and Hollywood melodramas. He also wrote and starred in the musicals Ballet of the Dolls (a parody of the 1967 film Valley of the Dolls) and Dial “M” for Model (in homage to Alfred Hitchcock‘s thriller Dial M for Murder). In 1988, Lypsinka became the opening act for Charles Busch‘s comedy show Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. By 1991, he was performing full-time as Lypsinka, writing and starring in Off-Broadway productions Lypsinka! The Boxed Set, The Passion of the Crawford and Lypsinka! As I Lay Lip-Synching. He also wrote My Deah, a modern-day version of the Medea story transplanted to Mississippi. He played the Wicked Queen in the New York City Opera’s 2004 revival of the Rogers & Hammerstein musical Cinderella, co-starring Eartha Kitt, and appeared in a 2015 revival of the musical Once Upon a Mattress. His non-drag performances include the plays Messages for Gary and Evening at the Talk House, and his cabaret show John Epperson: The Artist Principally Known As Lypsinka. Widely recognised as an expert on classic Hollywood, he and Busch recorded an audio commentary for the 2006 DVD release of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Openly gay since forever, he lives in Los Angeles.