Legendary San Francisco drag performer Heklina was found dead in London Monday morning.
Fellow drag star Peaches posted the news on social media. The two were performing in a musical parody at the Soho Theatre.
Heklina, born Stefan Grygelko, was an icon of the San Francisco drag scene in the 1990's and co-founded several nightclubs.
She was well known for playing the role of Dorothy in “The Golden Girls Live,” a Christmas staple at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco’s Mission District.
The Oasis nightclub in the Mission District had a wall-to wall tribute to Heklina.
“Heklina was biting and acerbic, and sometimes polarizing. But hilarious and always sold tickets,” said Oasis Nightclub owner Darcy Drollinger.
Heklina was known for inspiring others to be themselves.
“She really saw that, I really enjoyed doing things that would be considered nerdy. And really helped foster that and helped me gain some confidence,” said drag performer Kai Kai “Bee” Michaels.
“You can look at the community at large, and you see so many fellow drag performers and just human beings, that are better people now because of it,” Drollinger said.
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The cause of death has not been released yet.
