Rusty Ryan was the stage nameofRobert Brian Timbrell (December 28, 1947 – July 28, 2003), a Canadian actor and drag queen.[1] He was a founding member of The Great Impostors, a long-running drag troupe in Toronto, Ontario, whose members included Ryan, Tammy Autumn, Michelle DuBarry, Danny Love, Jackie Loren, Terri Stevens, Christian Jefferies and Dale Barnett at different times.[1]
Timbrell was born in Kingston, Ontario, on December 28, 1947, the younger brother of politician Dennis Timbrell.[2] He was working as a stockbroker when he first began performing in the 1970s, and was given his drag name by friend and fellow performer Craig Russell.[1] With the Great Impostors, Ryan toured extensively across Canada, giving many smaller communities their first exposure to drag and LGBT culture;[1] in the 1980s, he accompanied Frankie Goes to Hollywood on their North American tour.[1] In 1992, he wrote and performed a one-man play, Driving to Tatamagouche, at the Toronto Fringe Festival.[3]
He also had numerous minor roles in television and film. Best known to film audiences for his supporting role as Jimmy the bartender in Outrageous! and its sequel Too Outrageous,[1] he also appeared in the television films The Sins of Dorian Gray and The Wharf Rat, the theatrical film 54, an episode of Queer as Folk and a music video by Platinum Blonde.[4]
He died of a heart attack on July 28, 2003, in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, following a performance that was part of his first tour performing comedy out of drag.[5] Following his death, writer Jeffrey Round prepared and released a documentary film, Driving with Rusty.[3]
