40 Fun Facts About To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

Which actor, one of the last to audition, won the role of Vida Boheme in To Wong Foo?

Patrick Swayze had his own makeup people transform him into a woman to win the part. The Dirty Dancing star beat a long list of contenders that included Mel Gibson and Johnny Depp.

Julie Newmar, the star thanked in To Wong Foo's title, played which role in the 1960s Batman TV series?

Catwoman was Julie Newmar's role for two seasons of Batman, and her costume now belongs to the Smithsonian. She appears as herself in To Wong Foo.

Which sport's Hall of Famer sued the studio because a To Wong Foo character shares his name?

Golf great Juan "Chi-Chi" Rodríguez, the first Puerto Rican in his sport's Hall of Fame, objected to a drag queen carrying his name. The case was settled out of court.

Which comedian read the To Wong Foo script aloud on a plane, then took an uncredited cameo in the film?

Robin Williams liked the script but did not want to distract from the three leads. He settled for a brief unbilled turn as John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.

Which famous director, whose company developed To Wong Foo, offered to take over the shoot himself if needed?

Steven Spielberg loved the script when an executive at his company, Amblin Entertainment, passed it to him. Several male directors then turned the project down.

Which fast-food chain had a To Wong Foo dining scene scrapped because it wanted no link to drag culture?

McDonald's told the producers it did not want the association, so the scene of the trio eating there was cut. Another big brand happily took a billboard in the finished film.

Which action star said yes at once to playing the drag queen Noxeema Jackson in To Wong Foo?

Wesley Snipes accepted immediately, three years before he first played the vampire hunter Blade. He was better known then for Passenger 57 and White Men Can't Jump.

Which drag star, famous for the hit single Supermodel, has a cameo as Rachel Tensions in To Wong Foo?

RuPaul was one of dozens of New York drag performers given small parts in the film, 14 years before RuPaul's Drag Race began.

The title To Wong Foo comes from a signed photo its writer saw on the wall of what kind of place?

A Chinese restaurant near Times Square displayed the autographed Julie Newmar picture that writer Douglas Carter Beane spotted in the mid-1980s. Advertisers later failed to get the long title shortened.

For which actor was the role of the young drag queen Chi-Chi Rodriguez in To Wong Foo specifically written?

John Leguizamo, born in Bogotá, Colombia, had the part of Chi-Chi tailored to him. Each of the three leads was given a drag mentor to help build the character.

In To Wong Foo, what kind of yellow 1967 convertible do the queens buy for their cross-country drive?

A Cadillac DeVille carries the trio west with its top down. The model had been restyled for 1967, and the range had only offered a convertible since 1964.

In To Wong Foo, which city are the three queens driving to for the Drag Queen of America pageant?

Los Angeles is the goal because the national final is held in Hollywood. The queens take the long road there so that the novice Chi-Chi can come too.

Which Grease star plays the abused innkeeper who befriends Vida Boheme in To Wong Foo?

Stockard Channing, who played Rizzo in Grease, is the innkeeper whose violent husband Vida throws out. She went on to play the First Lady in The West Wing.

In To Wong Foo, what do Vida and Noxeema cash in to buy a car so Chi-Chi can come along?

Their plane tickets go to a friend called John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. The cash pays for a 1967 convertible, so all three queens can travel together.

In To Wong Foo, what does the innkeeper say told her all along that Vida Boheme was a drag queen?

Her Adam's apple gave Vida away from the start, the innkeeper reveals late in the film. By then the two have become close friends.

The To Wong Foo scene where townspeople each claim to be a drag queen echoes which Roman epic film?

Spartacus has captured rebels each claim the hero's name to shield him. In To Wong Foo the townspeople do the same to protect the queens from a vengeful sheriff.

To Wong Foo was often compared with Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, a 1994 drag road movie from which country?

Australia produced Priscilla, which won the Oscar for costume design. To Wong Foo was already in production when the outback comedy came out.

Which of her 1980s hits did Cyndi Lauper remake in a reggae style, as heard on the To Wong Foo soundtrack?

Girls Just Want to Have Fun became Hey Now when Cyndi Lauper re-cut it for a 1994 greatest-hits album. Its use in To Wong Foo a year later gave the single a second push.

What does Julie Newmar do in her cameo as herself at the end of To Wong Foo?

Julie Newmar crowns the winner of the national drag pageant in the final scene. Until then she has been present only as a signed photograph.

In To Wong Foo, why are the three queens stranded in a small town for a whole weekend?

Their car breaks down at a rest stop, and the replacement part takes the weekend to arrive. A passing local drives them to the nearest inn.

In To Wong Foo, how do Vida Boheme and Noxeema Jackson finish in New York's Drag Queen of the Year contest?

They tie for first, so both queens earn a place in the bigger national pageant. The opening contest was filmed with real New York drag performers among the extras.

Much of To Wong Foo's small-town footage was shot on location in which Midwestern state?

Nebraska supplied the locations, around Loma, Lincoln and Omaha. A welcome mural painted for the film's fictional town was left behind in Loma.

In To Wong Foo, which small-town celebration do the three queens help the local women to organise?

A Strawberry Social is the town's big gathering. The queens prepare the local women for it with makeovers, using 1960s fashions found in the town's clothing store.

At the end of To Wong Foo, which small-town friend does Vida Boheme give the signed Julie Newmar photo?

Carol Ann receives the picture as a token of their friendship. Earlier, Vida throws Carol Ann's violent husband out of the house.

Which awards nominated the actors behind both Vida Boheme and Chi-Chi Rodriguez for To Wong Foo?

The Golden Globes shortlisted Vida's performer for best actor in a comedy or musical and Chi-Chi's for best supporting actor. The film was also up for Outstanding Film at the GLAAD Media Awards.

What did To Wong Foo's director do immediately after completing the film's long and difficult shoot?

She gave birth right after the cameras stopped, having been pregnant when she accepted the job. Cast and crew later described the production as a tough shoot.

To Wong Foo's writer first imagined the story in which form, before turning it into a screenplay?

A stage play was the original plan until Douglas Carter Beane decided a car on stage might not work. He kept the theatrical rights and later reworked the story as a musical.

According to its writer, the unseen Wong Foo of the title To Wong Foo is a metaphor for what?

God is what the name stands for, writer Douglas Carter Beane has said, because people should stop and give thanks for everything in life. A scene explaining the idea was filmed and then cut.

In To Wong Foo, which fictional small town takes in the three queens for a weekend?

Snydersville is the small town where the queens wait out the weekend. Its women get makeovers, and its bullies get a lesson in manners from Noxeema.

Which Reservoir Dogs actor plays Sheriff Dollard, who hunts the queens across country in To Wong Foo?

Chris Penn, the younger brother of Sean Penn, was Nice Guy Eddie in Reservoir Dogs. His sheriff is mocked by colleagues who think a woman beat him up.

Which 1990 documentary about New York's drag ball scene is credited with helping pave the way for To Wong Foo?

Paris Is Burning was filmed by Jennie Livingston through the mid-to-late 1980s. Its success, along with a hit drag road movie in 1994, is credited with opening the door for a big-studio comedy about drag queens.

To Wong Foo's making-of documentary adds the words in Dresses to the title of which 1969 film?

Easy Rider in Dresses is the name of the retrospective, made for a 2019 collector's Blu-ray. Its interviewees include the film's writer, its director and one of its three stars.

Who scored To Wong Foo and later became the first female composer to win an Oscar for best original score?

Rachel Portman won the Academy Award for her score to the Jane Austen adaptation Emma. Her suite of themes closes the To Wong Foo soundtrack album.

Which British director, later of a Bridget Jones sequel and the House of Lords, made To Wong Foo?

Beeban Kidron begged for the job after several male directors had passed on it. She made Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason in 2004 and became a life peer in 2012.

Which author of The Naked Civil Servant appears as a New York pageant judge in To Wong Foo?

Quentin Crisp sits on the judging panel at the opening contest. Sting dedicated the song Englishman in New York to the writer, who had settled in Manhattan in 1981.

In which English city did To Wong Foo: The Musical have its world premiere in 2023?

Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre opened the show, which the film's screenwriter developed with his husband, the composer Lewis Flinn.

Which historic New York nightclub hosted filming of the drag contest that opens To Wong Foo?

Webster Hall, built in the East Village in 1886, staged the contest scene. The national pageant that ends the film was shot at an estate in Old Westbury, New York.

To Wong Foo's director said which quality of the actor cast as Vida Boheme sealed the deal?

His walk won her over. He had himself made up as a woman and strolled around the city with the director to prove he could pass.

She's a Lady, on the To Wong Foo soundtrack and once proposed as the film's title, was a 1971 hit for whom?

Tom Jones had the biggest hit with the song, which Paul Anka wrote and recorded first. Advertisers pushed it and Ladies' Night as shorter names for the film, but the writer's title survived.

Which Lady Marmalade trio reunited to record the dance single Turn It Out for To Wong Foo?

Labelle went their separate ways after a 1976 tour and regrouped for this single. It took Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash to number one on the US dance chart.