Stephanie “Tanqueray” Johnson, a larger-than-life performer whose story of resilience and reinvention captured hearts around the world, has died at the age of 81.

Born Aquila Stephanie Springle in 1944 in Albany, New York, Johnson grew up in deep poverty under strict religious rules. As a teenager, she was forced out of her home after becoming pregnant and briefly incarcerated, experiences that shaped her determination to survive on her own terms. She eventually made her way to Manhattan, where she rebuilt her life from the ground up.

In New York City, she reinvented herself as Tanqueray, becoming a well-known figure in the underground nightlife of the 1960s and 1970s. She rose to prominence as a burlesque performer, designing her own rhinestone-covered costumes and performing in burlesque clubs, drag venues, fetish spaces, and mob-run nightclubs. Reflecting on that era, she once remarked that she stood out not only for her talent, but for breaking barriers as a Black woman in a predominantly white industry.

Johnson passed away on October 11 at her home in Manhattan following a severe stroke, according to Humans of New York and her son, Mitchell Springle.

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