Who am I?

Last edited Wed Jul 1, 2026, 12:01 PM - Edit history (2)

Think about a famous person, living or dead, mention some little-known facts about him or her, and see if anyone knows "who you are" without using Google.


Who am I?

I was born in Manhattan and I was interested in music at a very young age.
When I was 6, I began teaching myself how to play guitar.
I was a mediocre student and dropped out of high school after continuously repeating my sophomore year.
My first job was as a messenger at the Loew's State Theater, where I collected autographs from movie stars.
I made my television debut singing "You Belong to Me" and later entered a local talent show and sang "You Are My Sunshine." I placed second.
I began performing at dance club amateur nights under different names such as "Texarcana Tex," "Judas K. Foxglove," and "Emmett Swink."
To stand out as a performer, I grew my hair long and wore pasty white face makeup, partly inspired by Rudolph Valentino.
In 1962, I signed with manager George King, who booked me at the Cafe Bizarre, where I earned $20 a week.
King then booked me at the Cafe Wha? where I met Bob Dylan.
In 1963, I began performing at Page Three, a club with a mostly gay clientele, where I played 6 hours a night & 6 nights a week for $96 per month.
After the Page Three was closed by the police in July 1965, I briefly adopted the stage name Rollie Dell.
In December, I began performing at The Scene, which led to an appearance on The Merv Griffin Show in March 1966, and the rest is history.

Who am I?