Carlotta The Original Show Girl's Final Act

Our trailblazing entertainer drops the curtain on her illustrious career

- Craig Bennett

After 62 years of dazzling audiences with her showbiz razzamatazz and witty one-liners, Australia’s most famous transgender icon is retiring her feather boas and relaunching herself as an artist.

“It’s been a hell of a ride, but I’ve decided to hang up the drag,” Carlotta confesses to New Idea from her Gold Coast home. “I’ll be 78 in September, and I feel it’s time to give others a go – there’s a wealth of hugely talented performers who deserve the spotlight!

“I’ve just performed at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. I have a show in Perth in June, and that’s a wrap.”

The Aussie treasure, known to friends as Carol Spencer, was born Richard Byron before undergoing sex-reassignment surgery in 1972, then considered highly controversial.