James St. James
James St. James (born James Clark; August 1, 1966) is a television personality, author, celebutante, frequent collaborator with Mathu Andersen, and former "Club Kid", a member of the New York City club scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s. St. James was notorious for a lifestyle of excess that included heavy drug use, partying, and bizarre costumes that first brought him to national attention as the subject of television appearances and interviews. He wrote "Disco Bloodbath" (now published under the title "Party Monster") that was later made into the feature film "Party Monster" (2003), starring Macaulay  Culkin as Michael Alig and Seth Green as St. James. His life was the subject of the documentary "" (1998). Early life and education. James grew up in an affluent family in Saginaw, Michigan, where he lived with his mother after his parents divorced. In the summer, he would stay with his father and younger and older siblings in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, until he moved to Fort Lauderdale for high school. Career. In the late 1980s, St. James became friendly with Michael Alig, although at first he and the other club personalities shunned the newcomer. Undeterred, Alig soon created his own  scene by gathering up other creative personalities of the nightlife world; he used his flamboyant style, and engaged in self-promotion and innovative themed parties. St. James morphed from celebutante to Club Kid while helping Alig create the new scene. Alig and St. James threw many parties together, eventually setting up the Disco 2000 club night at the New York City club The Limelight. St. James wrote several columns, most famously for the short-lived New York City-based gay publication "OutWeek" during the magazine's two year life span, from 1989–1991. St. James appeared many times on television talk  shows to discuss the Club Kids during the 1980s and 1990s, including "The Oprah Winfrey Show", "The Phil Donahue Show", "The Jerry Springer Show", "Geraldo", and the "Joan Rivers Show". Publishing debut. St. James's debut book, "Disco Bloodbath" (1999), is a memoir that describes his life in the club scene, and documents the infamous rise to fame of Michael Alig and Alig's murder of Andre "Angel" Melendez. The film "" (1998) was released prior to but is based on events in "Disco Bloodbath", as is the film "Party Monster" (2003). Section::::"Freak Show" and the 2000s. St. James published a  second book, "Freak Show" in 2007, a comedy/romance about a teenage drag queen who attends a new school and forges a relationship with the football team's quarterback. "Freak Show" was named to the American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults list. The book was adapted into a feature in 2017 by Maven Entertainment. The film was directed by Trudie Styler, and stars Alex Lawther, Abigail Breslin, and Bette Midler. St. James curates art shows at the World of Wonder Gallery for the production company World of Wonder, makers of both "" (1998) and "Party Monster" (2003), and blogs  regularly on World of Wonder's website, the WOW Report. In the 2000s St. James has made regular appearances on "America's Next Top Model", cycles 5, 7, & 11, presenting contest skill challenges to the aspiring models. St. James also appeared in season 2, episode 9 of "RuPaul's Drag Race", where he interviewed the top four contestants on a red carpet before they walked the runway. St. James currently has a long running webseries through the World of Wonder channel WOWPresents, titled "Transformations: with James St. James." The webseries features various makeup artists, drag queens, Club Kids, and "RuPaul 's Drag Race" alums giving St. James themed makeovers.