Pollo Del Mar or Pollo DelMar (aka Paul E. Pratt), alternately known as "The Notorious P.D.M." or "The Glamazon,"[1] is a San Francisco-based American drag queen performer, personality, emcee, magazine cover girl and journalist. As columnist, blogger and celebrity interviewer, Del Mar contributes to a wide-array of print and online media outlets, both gay and straight. She was the final Miss Trannyshack and is now considered "The Queen of San Francisco Media."[2]
With her celebrity interviews frequently featured on the cover of Northern California’s preeminent LGBT entertainment and lifestyles publication GLOSS Magazine, her weekly column “The Glamazon Diaries” in The San Francisco Bay Times newspaper and ongoing “Promosexual” blog on the alternative weekly San Francisco Bay Guardian website, Del Mar is arguably the Bay Area’s most widely-read drag personality. Her work also appears consistently on Gay.com and, less frequently, in California-based publications such as JustUsBoys and the Spanish-language Adelante.
More recently, Del Mar has parlayed celebrity interviews into performances with several of those same acts. She made an uncredited cameo on a 2008 episode of Vh1 celebreality series The Cho Show, dancing onstage with comedian Margaret Cho at Trannyshack. On Nov. 22, 2008, Del Mar and five other drag performers opened the inaugural YouTube Live Concert event with international recording artist Katy Perry, who performed her chart-topping single "Hot n Cold" for a global audience of millions. On Dec. 6, 2008, she performed with Grammy-winning singer Cyndi Lauper at the Energy 92.7 Anniversary Party. Del Mar appears in two independent feature films, The Rise and Fall of Jeremy Starr and Devious, Inc.
Del Mar made her first drag appearance April 27, 2006 at a fundraiser in San Francisco’s Castro District. That same night she received her first paid booking at The Monster Show with Cookie Dough. In August of that year, she placed first runner-up to winner Mercedez Munro in the 2006 Miss Gay San Francisco Pageant and gained further attention as “Miss October” in the award-winning 2007 Desperate Divas calendar and a subsequent series of post cards. Featuring pictures by acclaimed San Francisco photographer Kingmond Young, the projects helped raise more than $25,000 for AIDS Housing Alliance/San Francisco.[3]
Del Mar gained attention for her political efforts in the wake of California passing Prop.8, which would effectively ban gay marriage.[4]
Del Mar is a recovering alcoholic and crystal meth addict.[5]
Miss Del Mar also has an entry in the urban dictionary named after her. .[6]
On November 17, 2007, at the San Francisco Gift Center, Del Mar was crowned “Miss Trannyshack 2007” in front of the largest audience in the pageant’s 12-year history. Del Mar is in fact the only Miss Trannyshack to ever simultaneously hold the Miss Trannyshack and Miss Trannyshack Star Search titles.[7] Selecting her from the eight contestants was a panel of celebrity judges including comedian Sandra Bernhardt, New York City club kid-turned-author James St. James, drag personality and Midnight Mass producer Peaches Christ, KNRG “Energy 92.7 FM” morning show hosts Fernando and Greg in the Morning, the men of Hothouse Videos and “Miss Trannyshack 2004” Anna Conda.[8]
Entering the pageant as the reigning “Miss Trannyshack Star Search 2007,” determined annually since 1998 in contests between Trannyshack newcomers, Del Mar became the only performer to ever hold both of the legendary nightclub’s drag titles.
GLOSS Magazine, for which she has worked as a celebrity columnist since November 2006, honored her victory by placing Del Mar on the cover of the March 7, 2008 issue. New York City celebrity photographer Bradford Noble and San Francisco-based photojournalist Steven Underhill provided images for the feature.
As of Nov. 18, 2008, with no 2008 pageant scheduled, Del Mar became the longest-reigning Miss Trannyshack in the title's 12-year history.