# Miss Fame

Miss Fame (born March 30, 1985) is the stage name of Kurtis Frank Dam-Mikkelsen, a gender fluid American model, makeup artist, drag queen, recording artist and reality television personality best known as a contestant on season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race. After appearing on the show, Dam-Mikkelsen as Miss Fame launched a music career, releasing their debut single, "Rubber Doll" on April 28, 2015. Their debut album, Beauty Marked, was released on June 9, 2015. Miss Fame appeared in numerous fashion publications.

## Career

Dam-Mikkelsen worked as a male editorial model in California before moving to New York in 2011, following the advice of fashion photographer Mike Ruiz. They then started working as a makeup artist under industry icon Pat McGrath while building a celebrity clientele. At the same time they started modeling and performing in drag as "Miss Fame".
Miss Fame was noticed by photographer Mary McCartney who featured them in her book Devoted. They have also appeared in Half-Drag, a photo series by Leland Bobbé which attracted international attention and were featured in Vogue Italia. Miss Fame was also photographed for Gorgeous, a project by photographers Rob Lebow and Masha Kupets that involved Armen Ra, Candis Cayne, and Tammie Brown. Dam-Mikkelsen works as a celebrity makeup artist in New York City, and have worked on models and celebrities including Marc Jacobs, Ève Salvail, Snooki and JWoww, Martha Wash, Wendy Williams, and Michael Urie.
On December 7, 2014, during the "Ru-Veal" of the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race, Miss Fame was the first queen announced to be a contestant on the show. They were eliminated in the ninth episode, "Divine Inspiration," placing their seventh overall. Following their elimination, they released the music video for "Rubber Doll", which was the first single from their debut album, Beauty Marked. The album was released June 9, 2015, and featured appearances from fellow Drag Race contestants Alaska Thunderfuck and Violet Chachki.
In 2016, Miss Fame signed with IMG models Paris.
Miss Fame has been celebrated for their high-fashion editorial work and collaborations with world-renowned photographers like Steven Klein, Giampaolo Sgura, Paola Kudacki, Armin Morbach, Ali Mahdavi, and others. Miss Fame has been featured in publications including Vogue Germany, Vogue Portugal, Vogue Paris, Vogue Japan, CR Fashion Book, PAPER, V Magazine, LOVE, CANDY, Tush, OUT, ELLE, and others.
They contributed to the compilation album Christmas Queens 3 in 2017.
In September 2018, Miss Fame performed as a background dancer behind Christina Aguilera for Opening Ceremony's Spring 2019 collection, with other Drag Race alumni. They released their own makeup line called "The Fetish of Fashion" later in October.
In September 2022, Pinned into a Dress, a documentary about Kurtis' life premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. The short-film highlights Kurtis journey and breakthrough in fashion, despite their trauma and addiction, growing up in a broken family. Opening the Settimana Internazionale della Critica the documentary was co-directed by Gianluca Matarrese and Guillaume Thomas.

## Early and personal life

Dam-Mikkelsen was born to Dolly Silveira in San Luis Obispo, California. They have also stated that they were raised by their grandmother, Gloria, as her own child. Kurtis lives with their husband Patrick Bertschy and their pet dachshunds, Mina and Shaya.
In 2020, Kurtis moved to Zürich, Switzerland, with their husband.

## Discography
### Albums

| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Details | US Dance | US Heat |
| Beauty Marked | Released: June 9, 2015 Label: Sidecar Formats: Digital download | 17 | 25 |

### Singles

| Title | Year | Album |
| "Rubber Doll" | 2015 | Beauty Marked |
| "InstaFame" | 2015 | Beauty Marked |
| "I Run the Runway" (with Violet Chachki) | 2016 | Beauty Marked |

### Other appearances

| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
| "Drag Race Theme" | 2015 | RuPaul | RuPaul Presents: CoverGurlz2 |
| "Toyland" | 2015 | Various Artists | Christmas Queens |
| "Poo" | 2016 | Lucian Piane, Pearl, Violet Chachki | RuPaul's Drag Race: The Rusical |
| "Chicken" | 2016 | Alaska Thunderfuck | Poundcake |
| "Christmas Waltz" | 2017 | N/A | Christmas Queens 3 |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
| 2015 | A Change of Heart | Themself | |
| 2022 | Pinned into a Dress | Themself | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | Snooki & Jwoww | Themself | Episode: "What a Drag!" |
| 2015 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Themself (Contestant) | Season 7 – Placed 7th |
| 2021 | Germany's Next Topmodel | Themself (Guest Judge) | Season 16 – Episode 11 |

### Web series

| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
| 2014–present | Painted by Fame | Themself | Makeup tutorials | |
| 2015 | Untucked | Themself | Companion show to RuPaul's Drag Race | |

### Music videos

| Title | Year | Director |
| "Drag Race Theme" | 2015 | Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen |
| "Rubber Doll" | 2015 | Ben Simkins |
| "InstaFame" | 2015 | Ben Simkins |
| "Toyland" | 2015 | Carlos Maldonado |
| "I Run the Runway (feat. Violet Chachki)" | 2016 | Ali Mahdavi |

### Music video appearances

| Title | Year | Director |
| "Save the Queen" (Garek) | 2012 | Un­known |
| "Supermodel (You Better Work)" (2013 Edit) (RuPaul) | 2013 | Marco Ovando |
| "Go All Night" (Gorgon City featuring Jennifer Hudson) | 2014 | Roboshobo |
| "Opulence" (Brooke Candy) | 2014 | Steven Klein |
| "My Animal" (Garek) | 2015 | Mike Ruiz |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
| 2022 | The WOWIE Awards | Best Beauty Guru Award (The Painted Award) | Themself | Nominated | |