Mario A. Costa - Elle est lui

1963, Bambi, Coccinelle, French, Georges Burou, Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy, Mario A. Costa,

Original title: "Elle est lui" (She is lui) by Mario A. Costa.

The book is a biography of Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy, also known by her stage name Coccinelle. She was a French actress, cabaret entertainer, and singer. She named herself Coccinelle (Ladybird), a tribute to a red dress with black polka dots that she often wore. She was born on August 23, 1931 in Paris, France and passed away on October 9, 2006 in Marseille, France.

She entered the French world of entertainment in 1953 at Madame Arthur and then at the Carrousel in Paris.  This is when she met Bambi, another cabaret performer and legendary transgender icon. Coccinelle helped Bambi with her first performances and gave her shelter at her home.

She was an international celebrity and a renowned club singer. She performed regularly at the famous nightclub Le Carrousel de Paris, which also featured regular acts by other famous trans women such as April Ashley and Bambi. She underwent a vaginoplasty by Georges Burou in Casablanca in 1958. After the operation, she became a media sensation and performed the Cherchez la femme revue which ran for 7 months at the Olympia in Paris between 1963 and 1964. In 1987, her autobiography was published, titled Coccinelle par Coccinelle.

She was married to Francis Bonnet from 1960 to 1962, Mario Costa from 1963 until his death in 1977, and Thierry Wilson from 1996 until her death. Le Carrousel de Paris was a Parisian cabaret that was most famous for its 1950s revues of cross-dressing and trans performers such as Coccinelle. It was created in 1947 by Marcel Ouizman, who also managed Madame Arthur. The cabaret was located near Moulin Rouge and was frequented by guests such as Jean Cocteau, Robert Desnos, Colette, and René Clair. The nightclub was one of the most expensive clubs in Paris during its golden years from 1947 to 1961.

In 1952, Coccinelle became a star at Le Carrousel de Paris. The programs at Le Carrousel usually included a headshot of the performer’s male persona in the corner of the glamour photograph – even for trans women looking for transition surgery like Coccinelle and Bambi. In 1954, the police made Le Carrousel de Paris close for three months and banned Madame Arthur from male cross-dressing.

Despite that, Tout-Paris would continue to admire the show of female impersonator troupe made up of Bambi, April Ashley, Péki d’Oslo, Capucine, Kiki Moustic, Les-Lee, Fétiche, Coco, Sonne Teal, Rita del Oro, Doriana, Chou Chou, and others. Le Carrousel de Paris definitively ceased its dinner-show activity in 2016.

Available via Amazon

and Wikipedia

The first photo via transascity.org

The 2nd photo via Instagram