Miss Fame is the stage name of Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen, an American model, makeup artist, drag queen, recording artist and reality television personality best known as a contestant on season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race. After appearing on the show, Dam-Mikkelsen launched a music career, releasing their debut single, "Rubber Doll" on April 28, 2015. Their debut album, Beauty Marked, was released on June 9, 2015.
Career
Dam-Mikkelsen worked as a male editorial model in California before moving to New York in 2011, following the advice of fashion photographerMike Ruiz. He then started working as a makeup artist, while at the same time modeling and performing in drag as "Miss Fame." Miss Fame was noticed by photographer Mary McCartney who featured her in her book Devoted. She has also appeared in Half-Drag, a photo series by Leland Bobbé which attracted international attention and was featured in Vogue Italia. Miss Fame was also photographed for Gorgeous, a project by photographers Rob Lebow and Masha Kupets that involved Armen Ra, Candis Cayne, and Tammie Brown. Dam-Mikkelsen works as a celebrity makeup artist in New York City, and has worked on models and celebrities including Ève Salvail, Snooki and JWoww, Martha Wash, Wendy Williams, and Michael Urie. On December 7, 2014, during the "Ru-Veal" of the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race, Miss Fame was the first queen announced to be a contestant on the show. She was eliminated in the ninth episode, "Divine Inspiration", placing her seventh overall. Following her elimination, she released the music video for "Rubber Doll", which was the first single from her debut album Beauty Marked. The album was released June 9, 2015, and featured appearances from fellow Drag Race contestants Alaska Thunderfuck and Violet Chachki. In 2016, Miss Fame signed with IMG models Paris. She contributed to the compilation albumChristmas Queens 3 in 2017. In September 2018, Fame performed as a background dancer behind Christina Aguilera for Opening Ceremony's Spring 2019 collection, with other Drag Race alumni. She released her own makeup line called "The Fetish of Fashion" later in October.
Early and personal life
Dam-Mikkelsen was born in San Luis Obispo, California. They identify as gender fluid. Miss Fame lives with husband, Patrick Berschy and their pet dachshunds Mina, and Shaya.
