Australian singer, actor and playwright Paul Capsis was born in August 1964. Born in Sydney to a Greek-Maltese family, he was raised by his grandmother after his parents’ divorce. He rose to fame in the 1990s with performances in Sydney theatre productions, and his cabaret show Burning Sequins, impersonating divas Shirley Bassey, Bette Midler, Madonna, Édith Piaf, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin. In 1996, he played drag queen Toula in Ana Kokkinos‘ film Head On, based on Christos Tsioklas‘ novel, earning an Australian Film Institute Awards nomination for his performance. He also earned acclaim for his one-person show Angela’s Kitchen, recalling his childhood and portraying members of his family, winning multiple industry awards. In 2003, he became the surprise hit of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, when members of the Soweto Gospel Choir began singing along with him during his cabaret show; they subsequently performed together for the remainder of the Festival, to sold out audiences. Alongside his self-scripted work, he has also performed in The Rocky Horror Show, The Threepenny Opera, The Wizard of Oz, and John Kander and Fred Ebb‘s Cabaret. In 2014, he played a supporting role in TV film Carlotta, about the life of an Australian trans cabaret star. Capsis lives and works in Melbourne, and identifies as a feminine gay man. His current relationship status is unknown.