Raven (drag queen)

David Petruschin (born April 8, 1979), best known as Raven, is an American drag queen, make-up artist, and reality television personality from Riverside, California. Raven was a fixture in the Southern California nightclub scene before gaining international prominence for appearing in both the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race and the first season of All Stars. Raven placed as the runner-up on both seasons. He also served as a "professor" during all three seasons of RuPaul's Drag U.[2] Petruschin has been RuPaul's makeup artist since Drag Race's ninth season and has since become a creative producer of both installments, All Stars and Drag Race. For his make-up work on the show, Petruschin received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special (Non-Prosthetic) in 2020.

Raven
Raven performing in 2014 at SV Pride
Born
David Petruschin

(1979-04-08) April 8, 1979[1]
Victorville, California, U.S.
OccupationDrag queen
Television personality
Make-up artist
Creative producer
Years active2002–present

Early life

Petruschin[3] was born in Victorville, California, U.S.[4] as the first of five children. Being of Russian ancestry,[5] his mother, who separated with his father when Petruschin was seven years old, raised him a Mormon.[6] However, he has since publicly distanced himself from the religious tradition.

Career

Origins

At the beginning of his career, Petruschin worked as a cosmetics salesperson and a freelance make-up artist during the day, and at night performed in nightclubs as a go-go boy under the name "Phoenix". He started performing in drag in 2002, changing his moniker to Raven. He recalls the exact date to be the tenth of May, where he and Mayhem Miller (another Drag Race alumnus) performed for the very first time. Unlike many other drag queens, Petruschin learned drag without a drag mother to act as a mentor. As Raven, Petruschin auditioned to compete on the first and second seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race.[7]

RuPaul's Drag Race

In 2010, it was announced that Raven would be a contestant on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race. In the first episode, he won the season's first mini-challenge, a photo shoot. In the second and third episode he landed in the bottom two, having to "lip-sync for his life" twice in order to stay in the competition. He won both lipsyncs. Raven won a second mini-challenge in the fourth episode by guessing the price of various objects, earning him a phone call home; and a third mini-challenge in the fifth episode by successfully decorating a box to reflect his personal style.[8] He won the seventh[9] and eighth[10] main challenges, which involved creating and promoting an autobiography, and giving an older gentleman a makeover, respectively.[11][10] At the end of the competition, he ultimately placed second behind Tyra Sanchez.

RuPaul's Drag U

Raven was one of many Drag Race alumni who were invited to act as a drag professor in the spin-off series RuPaul's Drag U,[2] which has screened three seasons. Raven serves as a "drag professor" and mentor to female contestants who are given make-overs. In the series, his persona is not portrayed in a villainous fashion, but instead as a softer and nurturing mentor. Raven made a total of twelve appearances and collected the most wins during the series' run, being dubbed the "Makeover Queen". In an episode of the second season he gave his mother Deshawna a makeover, helping her win against the sisters of Jujubee and Manila Luzon.

RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars

On August 6, 2012, it was announced that Raven was one of twelve past Drag Race contestants selected to join the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars that premiered on the Logo network on October 22, 2012.[12] Prior to the airing of the season finale, Raven (along with All Stars contestants Manila Luzon, Latrice Royale, and Tammie Brown) appeared in a television commercial for travel website Orbitz's new portal for LGBT leisure travel.[13] He was paired with contestant and best friend Jujubee to form Team Rujubee. They won the mini-challenges in the second and fifth episode by correctly answering questions about each other in the style of The Newlywed Game and by scoring more points in a game of basketball, which won them a call to their loved ones. The duo managed to make it to the finals, which aired on November 26, 2012, where Raven again landed as a runner-up, this time to winner Chad Michaels.

Make-up artist

Petruschin returned to Drag Race as RuPaul's make-up artist for the ninth season. He eventually received a nomination for the 2018 Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Award in the category "Television and New Media Series: Best Contemporary Makeup". For his work on the tenth season, he received a nomination for the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards in the category Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special. He received an Emmy for his work on the twelfth season.[14] Aside from doing RuPaul's make-up since 2017, he has served as a creative producer for All Stars since its third season and for Drag Race since its tenth.[15]

Year Award CategoryNominee(s) ResultRef.
2018 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special RuPaul's Drag Race (season 10) Nominated [14]
2020 Outstanding Contemporary Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program RuPaul's Drag Race (season 12) Won

Other appearances
Raven performing "Imagine It Was Us" by Jessie Ware

Featured in a commercial promoting the syndication run of the cable television series Nip/Tuck on the Logo network, Raven lip synced to the theme song "A Perfect Lie" as he caresses a syringe close to his lips. The commercial is based on one of his past drag performances. He also has made a guest appearance in an episode of Logo's reality series, Pretty Hurts, which documents the life and career of celebrity medical aesthetician Rand Rusher. Raven was also featured on an episode of America's Next Top Model, Cycle 8, in which he participated in a photo shoot with each of the show's contestants in male drag and paired with a drag queen. Raven made a cameo in the 2011 music video for "Diamond Crowned Queen" by RuPaul's Drag Race season three winner Raja. His cameo was praised by critics, who named him the "magnificent Raven". In 2012, along with other RuPaul's Drag Race contestants, he appeared in another music video, "Queen" by Mimi Imfurst's band Xelle.[16] He also starred in the music video "Feed Me Diamonds" by MNDR.[17]

In spring 2014, Raven and Raja started a weekly YouTube fashion critique show on World of Wonder's channel called "RuPaul's Drag Race Fashion Photo RuView", where they "toot" or "boot" fashion from mostly Drag Race alumni. Every episode gets viewed between 400.000 and one million times. He has appeared on multiple other WOW shows as well. Besides international touring, Raven currently hosts several drag-related events at gay clubs throughout Southern California.

Legacy

In 2016, Raven was included as an inspiration in Vanity Fair's "100 Years of Drag Fashion" video, alongside iconic drag performers Divine, David Bowie, and RuPaul. The video presented his style as the epitome of 2000s-era drag.[18] RuPaul's Drag Race season six winner Bianca Del Rio has also stated that many young drag queens use Raven's style.[19]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2007 America's Next Top Model Raven Cameo
2010 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 2) Contestant Runner-Up
2010, 2012 RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked Raven
2010-2012 RuPaul's Drag U Himself/Professor
2011 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3) Raven Guest
2012 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 4) Raven Cameo
2012 RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars (season 1) Contestant Runner-Up
2016 RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars (season 2) Raven Guest
2019 RuPaul's Drag Race UK (season 1) Raven Guest
2020 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 12)[20] Raven 3 episodes
2020 Celebrity Family Feud[21] Raven Guest contestant

Web
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2013 World of Wonder Game Show Himself Winner [22]
2013 Ring My Bell Himself Guest [23]
2013-2015 James St. James' Transformations Himself Guest [24]
2014-2017 Be$tie$/Couple$ for Ca$h Himself/Raven Guest [25]
2014–present RuPaul's Drag Race Fashion Photo RuView Raven Cohost with Raja [26]
2016 Hot T Raven S2 Episode 7-8 [27]
2018 M.U.G. Raven Guest Co-Host [28]
2019 Wet n Wild Raven World of Wonder mini-series [29]
2020 Fashion Photo RuView: STFH Edition Raven Co-host [30]

Music videos
Year Title Artist
2012 Responsitrannity RuPaul[31]
2012 Queen Xelle
2012 Feed Me Diamonds[32] MNDR
2014 "Animal"[33] Berlin

References
  1. @RuPaulsDragRace (April 8, 2016). "Happiest of birthdays to the legendary, lovable @RavenHUNTY!! Make it a good one squirrel friend!! ❌⭕️❌⭕️" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. Polly, John. "Drag Race Daily: Start Studying! RuPaul's Drag U Will be in Session this Summer. Watch a Preview". NewNowNext on Logo. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  3. LOGO On-line. "RuPaul's Drag Race 2: Cast Bios". LOGO On-line. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
  4. "Raven". RuPaul's Drag Race. Logo. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  5. Backlot, The (August 16, 2011). "Watch! "Drag U" Episode 208: "A Family That Drags Together!" - thebacklot.com". Afterelton.com. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  6. "RuPaul's Drag U Ep. 8, Therapy Sessions - Meet Raven's Amazing Mom. Plus, Jujubee & Manila's Sassy Sisters!". LOGO News. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  7. "Extra Special Edition". RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 1. Episode 7. March 16, 2009. Logo TV.
  8. O'Wisdom, Pearl (March 15, 2010). "RuPaul's Drag Race: Here Comes the Bride". Poptimal. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  9. Stranksy, Tanner (March 23, 2010). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' recap: The queens throw shade and shill books". Popwatch. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 1, 2010. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  10. Stransky, Tanner (March 30, 2010). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' recap: Drag mamas, Cloris Leachman, and the season's most controversial elimination!". Popwatch. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 30, 2010. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  11. D, Jacob (March 30, 2010). "RuPaul's Drag Race: Mom's And Babies". Reality TV Calendar. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  12. RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars cast includes Jujubee, Latrice Royale, Manila Luzon from chicago.gopride.com; August 6, 2012
  13. The Queens Take Vacation Back: Orbitz Behind The Scenes from www.newnownext.com November 12, 2012
  14. "David Petruschin". Emmys.com. Television Academy. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  15. "David Petruschin – Production credits". IMDb. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  16. Spargo, Chris (October 25, 2012). "XELLE's 'Queen' Music Video Features Every 'Drag Race' Queen: Watch October 25, 2012 ● by Chris Spargo". New Now Next. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
  17. James, Diego (December 13, 2012). "WATCH: Raven in New MNDR Video for 'Feed Me Diamonds'". Out. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
  18. 100 Years of Drag Queen Fashion. Vanity Fair. October 12, 2016.
  19. FASHION PHOTO RUVIEW: Season 9 RuPaul's Drag Race Promo Looks with Raja & Raven & BIANCA DEL RIO!. Fashion Photo Ruview. World of Wonder. February 8, 2017.
  20. Fitzgerald, Christine (February 29, 2020). "Let's Kiki About The Top 10 Moments Of The RuPaul's Drag Race Season 12 Premiere". Socialite Life. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  21. Rudolph, Christopher (May 28, 2020). "Team "RuPaul's Drag Race" Keeps It Fierce on "Celebrity Family Feud"". NewNowNext.com. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  22. World of Wonder Game Show - RuPaul's Drag Race Edition. YouTube. October 18, 2013. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  23. Raven - Ring My Bell. YouTube. March 20, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  24. James St. James and Raven: Transformations. YouTube. August 13, 2013. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  25. Raja & Raven - Be$tie$ for Ca$h. YouTube. July 4, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  26. RuPaul's Drag Race Fashion Photo RuView with Raja and Raven - Episode 1. YouTube. February 26, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  27. Raven on Hot T: Celebrity Gossip & Hollywood Shade S2 Episode 7 | Hey Qween. YouTube. July 28, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  28. M.U.G. with Naomi Smalls and Raven - Raven's MUG. YouTube. February 26, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  29. Wet n Wild Presents: You Glow Girl. YouTube. October 7, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  30. "Fashion Photo RuView: STFH Edition". World of Wonder. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  31. RuTube (October 25, 2012), RuPaul Responsitrannity music video, retrieved May 29, 2020
  32. Bendix, Trish (March 11, 2017). "20 Music Videos With Drag Queen Cameos". Billboard.com. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  33. Munzenrieder, Kyle (May 3, 2019). "How RuPaul's Drag Race Queens Became the Hottest Music Video Accessory". WMagazine.com. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
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