RuPaul (born RuPaul Andre Charles on November 17, 1960 in San Diego) is an Afro-American actor, drag queen, model, author, and singer-songwriter. He first became widely known in the 1990s when he appeared in a wide variety of television programs, films, and musical albums. He was once a fixture on the Atlanta and New York City gay club scenes during the 1980s and early 90s. RuPaul has on occasion performed as a man in a number of roles. He is usually billed as RuPaul Charles. RuPaul is noted among famous drag queens for his indifference towards the gender-specific pronouns used to address him—both "he" and "she" have been deemed acceptable. "You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don't care! Just as long as you call me." He hosted a short-running talk show on VH1. He has hosted reality television shows called "RuPaul's Drag Race" and "RuPaul's Drag U".