Charles Busch talks about memoir 'Leading Lady'

Don’t let the title of Charles Busch’s delightful and dishy memoir “Leading Lady” (Smart Pop, $27.95) fool you. While it certainly fits the playwright, actor and drag queen who has carved a successful career out of portraying larger-than-life females on stage and on screen, it could just as easily apply to the numerous female figures who pop up in the book.

There’s his mother, Gertrude who died when he was 7; his Aunt Lillian, who raised him and encouraged his interest in the theater; close friends like comedian Joan Rivers, and the many screen queens he encountered including Greta Garbo, Claudette Colbert and Kim Novak.

Busch, 69, will discuss the book, which he subtitled “A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy.” on Sept. 22 at Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington following a screening of his 2003 film “Die, Mommie, Die!” (That same day, his latest movie, “The Sixth Reel,” opens at Look Cinema in Manhattan.) Busch recently chatted with Newsday about writing his memoir and more.

Unlike many memoirs, the book isn’t structured chronologically, but episodically. What was the reason for that?

I’ve read so many biographies and memoirs, and in the biographies especially, I get a little restless when first there’s the chapters on their ancestors and the chapters on their grandparents and their childhood. It’s like, when do we get to the sexy part. … There is kind of a steady chronological progression but within that childhood, adolescence, beginning career, etc., I do go off on tangents. A good example is early in the book when I talk about when my aunt first started to taking me to Broadway shows. I was 9 years old and among the shows I saw was “Hello, Dolly!” And that triggers a memory of many years later when I shared a dressing room with Carol Channing.

Your aunt was obviously an important influence in your life. Do you think you would have had the career that you had if it weren’t for her?

I don’t know if I would have survived life if it wasn’t for her. She was always a major figure in my life ever since I was born because she was so close to my mother, who was 12 years younger. Almost from the very beginning, I was spending weekends in Manhattan with her and I think that was to make life a little easier for my fragile mother. … Finally, when I was 14 and flunking out of school and had really drifted into kind of a fantasy world, my aunt stepped in and had me move in with her in Manhattan and kind of took over and really saved my life.

One of my favorite chapters was the one where you talked about meeting and working with Joan Rivers. I liked that you showed a different side to her other than the one the public thinks of.

In real life, she was very funny, just as much as when she did stand-up. But the main thing I hope I made clear in the book about her is that she surprisingly did not suck the air out of the room. You would have thought she would be such a dominating personality and always be on, and she wasn’t. She was just so interested in other people. She would really be asking questions. And that’s very attractive in a celebrity.

What was the most difficult part of the book to write?

Writing about my mother’s death was very painful. My sister [Margaret, who died in July] and I had never discussed our mother’s death when I was 7 and she was 10. When we finally for this book discussed it, it was emotional for the two of us.

You’ve worked a lot on Long Island. What is it about Long Island that makes you keep coming back?

Long Island really is New York. I’ve performed a lot in Sag Harbor at Bay Street Theater. What’s wonderful about Bay Street is that they would put us up, me and Julie Halston, my frequent co-star, in a house and we would just have a marvelous month in the Hamptons. … What’s also fun about doing a play at Bay Street is that you have the charm of this resort town and all of these celebrities would come and see you. Paul McCartney came to our show. Also Renée Zellweger. It’s fun and very glamorous.