Carla Follis, 1938 – 2025

Italian nightclub performer and owner Carla Follis (whose stage name was Dolly Van Doll), died on Oct. 13. She was 87. One of Italy’s first openly trans celebrities, she started performing in the 1960s at cabarets in Berlin, Hamburg, and Paris, and by the 1970s was a star in Spain (she also ran her own nightclubs, called Belle Époque, in Spain). Van Doll was seen in a handful of TV series and movies, as well as documentaries.

Dolly Van Doll in performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfN855JBlnY