Addams, Calpernia

Born in Nashville, TN, Calpernia was a child of the Eighties. Educated in the Schwartz-Metterklume method, she won medals for obedience, punctuality and good conduct at an early age. She has been entertaining since she can remember, beginning as a Bluegrass gospel fiddler with her family in church, progressing to writing and theater until she became a nationally known showgirl and activist.

Calpernia spent four years as a field medical combat specialist (HM 8404) in the Navy and with the Marines, one of the elite combat-trained "Devil Docs" during the first Gulf War. She served in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm/Shield, worked in the only ER on remote Adak Island in the Aleutians and received notice from Congress as part of a group who assisted a downed Chinese airliner on the tiny island of Shemya.

After honorably completing her full four years of military service, Calpernia returned to Nashville and set out to become one of the top showgirls in the state. Progressing from spotlight operator to cast member, she worked for seven years as a full-time headliner at the largest gay owned and operated showbar in the United States, performing up to eight shows a week for up to 2,000 people in the theater's heyday. Calperniamade many of her own costumes and remixes, to create a signature style all her own.

In 1999, Calpernia met and began a relationship with Private First Class Barry Winchell, a U.S. Army soldier based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. That same year, Winchell was brutally murdered at the hands of two fellow soldiers on base. The story, which captured headlines around the world and re-invigorated the debate on the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, was later told in Soldier's Girl, a Showtime film based on Calpernia's relationship with Barry. Calpernia has also appeared in a national ad campaign for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, bringing attention to the plight of LGBT service members and has spoken widely about the impact of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. In 2004, she was honored with SLDN's 'Randy Shilts Visibility Award' for her work in speaking out on behalf of LGBT military personnel.

Now living in Hollywood, Calpernia has returned to her roots as an actress, appearing in television shows such as CSI and Deadwood as well as feature films such as Transamerica alongside Felicity Huffman. She runs Deep Stealth Productions, Inc., with business partner and noted authority Andrea James, producing media with an awareness of the truth and value of trans people's contributions to society. Deep Stealth's V-Day 2004 benefit production of "The Vagina Monologues" was a sold-out success in Hollywood under the direct support of playwright Eve Ensler and mentor Jane Fonda. Their latest project, "Casting Pearls", is a short film written, produced, directed and acted by the team depicting a series of auditions endured by a trans actress in LA.

When not trying to save the universe, she can usually be found scouring the coffeehouses of LA in search of the perfect Cafe Mocha or riding her `79 Yamaha XS750 motorcycle through the Hollywood Hills.