Courtney Act

Courtney Act

Courtney Act in April 2014
Born Shane Jenek
18 February 1982
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Residence West Hollywood, California
Nationality Australian
Occupation Actor, drag performer, singer

Shane Jenek (born 18 February 1982; better known by the stage name Courtney Act) is an Australian drag queen, pop singer and entertainer.[1] As Courtney Act, Jenek was a semi-finalist on Australian Idol in 2003 and was the third singer of the competition to release an official solo single, following Guy Sebastian and Shannon Noll. The single, "Rub Me Wrong", was released in 2004, which peaked at #29 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[2][3] Act was the runner up in Season Six of RuPaul's Drag Race along with Adore Delano, beaten by Bianca Del Rio.

Early life

Act was born Shane Jenek in Brisbane and attended Sandgate District State High School. He later moved to Sydney at the age of 18.[4] He took the stage name Courtney Act, which is a pun on the phrase caught in the act as pronounced in a non-rhotic accent such as Australian English.[5]

Career

In December 2013, Logo announced that Courtney Act was among 14 drag queens who would be competing on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.[6] She later went on to become a finalist in the competition, alongside fellow contestants Adore Delano and Bianca Del Rio, but in the season finale lost the title to Bianca Del Rio.

In July 2014, Courtney Act became the first drag performer in history to sing live with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Act appeared as a guest performer with Cheyenne Jackson in "Hello, Gorgeous! Cheyenne Jackson Goes to the Movies". The two sang a duet of 'Elephant Love Song' from the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film 'Moulin Rouge'. [7]

In September 2014, Courtney Act, along with Willam Belli and Alaska Thunderfuck, were the first drag queens in the history to become ad girls for American Apparel. They worked for the campaign Support Artists, Support Ethical Manufacturing of the fashion brand, featuring three limited exclusive T-shirts that honors each drag queen’s talents and allure. [8]

Discography

Extended Plays

Title Album details
Kaleidoscope
  • Released: June 2015 [9]

Singles

Year Song Peak chart positions Album
AUS US Comedy Digital Songs
2004 "Rub Me Wrong" 29 — N/A
2010 "Welcome to Disgraceland" — —
2014 "To Russia with Love" — —
"Mean Gays" — —
"American Apparel Ad Girls" (with Willam and Alaska 5000) — 10
"Dear Santa, Bring Me a Man" (with Willam and Alaska 5000) — —

As featured artist

Year Song Peak chart positions Album
AUS
2013 "Downton Abbey...Snore" (featuring Willam Belli, Vicky Vox, and Courtney Act) — N/A
2014 "Oh No She Better Don't" (DJ ShyBoy & RuPaul feat. The Cast of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 6) —

Music videos

Song Year Director
"Rub Me Wrong" 2004 N/A
"Welcome to Disgraceland" 2010 Kain O'Keeffe
"Applause (Lyric Video)" 2013 Haus of Gaga
"Oh No She Better Don't" 2014 N/A
"Sissy That Walk" 2014 N/A
"To Russia with Love" 2014 Rami Mikhail
"Mean Gays" 2014 Kain O'Keeffe
"American Apparel Ad Girls" 2014 Shawn Adeli
"Dear Santa, Bring Me a Man" 2014 Mairin Hart
"Jump The Gun" 2015 Josef J. Weber[10]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Meet the Glamcocks Himself Documentary

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Australian Idol Himself
2004 Burke's Backyard[11] Himself
2010 Sleek Geeks Himself Season 2, Episode 8: "Wee Across the World"
2012 Are You There, Chelsea?[12][13] Episode 8: "Dee Dee's Pillow"
2012 I Will Survive[14] Himself Episode 4
2014 RuPaul's Drag Race Courtney Act/Himself (contestant) Top 3 (Finalist)
2014 Candidly Nicole Himself Episode 2

Web series

Year Title Role Notes
2012–13 Transfashionable[15] Himself Produced by The Stylish

Music video appearances

Year Song Director
2013 "Applause" (Lyric video) (Lady Gaga)[16] Lady Gaga
2014 "Oh No She Betta Don't!" (Rupaul)
2014 "Sissy That Walk" (RuPaul) Steven Corfe

References

  1. ↑ Bruno, Bel (9 December 2003). "Drag idol: Sydney's Shane Jenek was rejected by Australian Idol until he became Courtney Act. Now he's headed to the USA". The Advocate (LPI Media). Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  2. ↑ "Discography Courtney Act". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  3. ↑ "Drag idol: Sydney's Shane Jenek was rejected by Australian Idol until he became Courtney Act. Now he's headed to the USA.(Interview)". The Advocate. 9 December 2003.
  4. ↑ "Courtney Act: Boys Like Me". Nytheatre.com. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Marco Marco Fashion Show at LA Fashion Week
  6. ↑ Beard, Lanford (9 December 2013). "'RuPaul's Drag Race': Check out the sickening season 6 supertease and meet the queens -- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "Music From the Movies with Cheyenne Jackson and the SF Symphony". San Francisco Symphony.
  8. ↑ http://store.americanapparel.net/drag-queen-tee_cat1750904
  9. ↑ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/courtneyact/courtney-act-kaleidoscope-ep
  10. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7XxUEGwPqE
  11. ↑ "Burke's Backyard > Fact Sheets > Celebrity Gardener – Courtney Act". Burke's Backyard. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "Michael Steck – IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  13. ↑ Boxx, Pandora. "Catch Pandora on "Are You There, Chelsea?" 3/1/12 on NBC!". PandoraBoxx.com. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  14. ↑ Act, Courtney (4 September 2012). "Twitter / courtneyact: Tonight on I Will Survive tune ...". Twitter. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  15. ↑ Tehrani, Daniel (30 October 2012). "Death by Drag!". Out. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  16. ↑ "Sydney drag sweetheart Courtney Act performs for megastar Lady Gaga at Micky's, West Hollywood". The Daily Telegraph. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.

External links