Guilda

Guilda was the stage name of Jean Guida de Mortellaro (June 21, 1924 – June 27, 2012), a French and Canadian drag queen who built a long and sustained career as a cabaret and variety entertainer.

Early life Guida claimed to have been the son of an Italian countess whose family surname was de Mortellaro, although journalist Alan Hustak later found that he was unable to verify this as there was no record of the de Mortellaro surname in directories of Italian nobility. In 1946, he had a small acting role in Yvan Noé's film . discovered by American theatre impresario Lou Walters, he moved to New York City for a time as a headliner of his own show, before moving to Montreal once his American work visa expired.

In 1965, he performed a sold-out show at Montreal's Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. He also launched the theatrical revue Guilda's Follies, blending both musical and sketch comedy performances, in 1975, undertook a performance tour of the United States in 1977, and published his first autobiography Guilda, elle et moi in 1979. In 1985, he acted in a production of Sylvie Lemay's stage play Qui a vendu la mèche?. He was the subject of the television documentary film Allez Guilda! in 1986; performing most notably at Expo 86 in Vancouver.

In 1993 he was featured in Lois Siegel's documentary film Lip Gloss.

Having largely retired from stage performing by the late 1980s, he also took up painting, and had a number of exhibitions of his artistic work in the early 2000s. Guida, who identified as bisexual, was married a number of times and fathered three children.

In 2022, Rita Baga impersonated Guilda in the Snatch Game episode of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World.