The Fabulous Wonder Twins
The Fabulous Wonder Twins | |
|---|---|
| File:TheFabulousWonderTwins2010.jpg | |
| Born | Louis Alberto Campos Carlos Eduardo Campos |
| Occupation(s) | Gay Entertainment Personalities, Actors, Models, Performance Artists, Club Kids Superstars. |
The Fabulous Wonder Twins—Gay entertainment personalities, Louis Alberto Campos and Carlos Eduardo Campos, (born October 28, 1967) to Carlos Duran and Maria Elena Campos in San Salvador, Capital city of El Salvador—are a pair of real-life gay twin brothers who have been featured in a great number of MTV music videos, made cameos on film and television motion pictures and have appeared on several talk shows, from The Jerry Springer Show to The Geraldo Rivera Show. These fraternal twin brothers have also participated in several fashion shows, performance art pieces, gay pride parades, and club appearances from Los Angeles to New York City and across the Atlantic, some of which have been fundraisers for AIDS charities and organizations. In addition, The Fabulous Wonder Twins have been photographed for various gay oriented and fashion related American and European magazines. The Los Angeles Times printed a full 2 page Life & Style article, its front page appropriately titled 2 Wild and Crazy Guys.
Due to their extensive representation of The LGBT Community in the entertainment media, their collaborations for the same and overall achievements as drag performers, The Fabulous Wonder Twins were recently inducted into The Drag Queen Hall Of Fame, where they share such honor along with long-gone legends such as Divine and Sylvester, and current supermodel drag diva, Rupaul, to name a few.
"To be a truly successful club kid, one has to have talent and creativity behind the wild facade. Everyone from here to New York says how wonderful The Wonder Twins are!" — Michelle Lolli, style editor and club columnist for Urb Magazine.
Biography
Louis Alberto Campos and Carlos Eduardo Campos were born on October 28th, 1967, to unmarried Carlos Duran (b. 1936) and Maria Elena Campos (b. 1942) in El Salvador's capital city, San Salvador. Their father migrated to the United States only months after their birth. Four years later, Maria Elena traveled to Los Angeles to be reunited with Duran, leaving the twins behind with Dominga Campos, their great grandmother. Louis and his 'fifteen minutes younger' brother Carlos wouldn't be reunited with their parents until the age of twelve. Half brother Mario Exar Campos (b. 1962), Maria Elena's son from a previous relationship, was also left in the custody of their great grandmother.
Early life
Louis and Carlos, age seven years old, became victims of sexual molestation by a teen male from the neighborhood. Lacking proper parental supervision and only under the care of their aging great grandmother, the sexual predator would be permitted to carry on with the sexual abuse for many years to come. The word was spread amongst older teens, a few more started visiting their home, telling the elderly Dominga Campos they wanted to take the twins out to play. The very young Louis and Carlos became conditioned to the frequent sexual assaults, not at all aware of any wrong doings, confusing this crime with love and affection.
Civil unrest began taking place in the late 70's in El Salvador. It was the beginning of a civil war between the military-led government and campesino guerrilleros from The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). As children, Louis and Carlos began experiencing, at first-hand, the horrors of war. Having to dock under classroom desks when government planes and helicopters flew by, shooting down at the advancing coalition of The Guerilla. The Fabulous Wonder Twins encountered decapitated corpses laying on the ground as they walked around their town. It became normal to see a dismembered body on the ground when going to, or coming from school. The war would go on until the early 90's with a death toll of 75,000.
Early 1982, Maria Elena traveled back to El Salvador, she arrived with infant daughter Diana Jaqueline Campos (b. 1976), the twins' little sister. Maria Elena and daughter Diana flew back to Los Angeles. This time, Louis and Carlos, and half brother Mario weren't left behind.
The USA
Upon their arrival to Los Angeles, Louis and Carlos came to discover an alcoholic father who juggled two households at the same time, Duran lived with his children from a different relationship in Pasadena, California, and was only available on weekends for The Campos', who by then made Monrovia, California, their new hometown. Louis and Carlos, age 12, weren't able to feel any connection with their father. When drunk, he would make loud comparisons between his other children and them, often putting the twins down, ridiculing them in front of others.
During a family function, Duran started telling some of the guests that his twins were a pair of maricones (Spanish for faggots). Louis and Carlos ran to their room. The twins avoided their father for decades to come.
Maria Elena, unaware of the the pre-existing and prolonged sexual abuse and war trauma, didn't realize the twins were in need for attention, for some extra attention. Naturally, it was little sister Diana who received all the hugs and kisses. Louis and Carlos felt like outsiders, they resented that. Still yearning for that extra bit of attention, Louis and Carlos, then attending Monrovia High School, began arriving at school sporting a bit strange of a look. They were physically attacked on a couple of occasions, after school. They would return the following morning, wearing black lipstick and carrying lighter backpacks, to be able to run faster, if need be.
During their sophomore year, Louis and Carlos befriended a Cindy Kay Hollems (b. 1967). The three started hitting the clubs. Marilyn's Backstreet in Pasadena, California, The Network One in Glendale, California and The Grand Central Station in Pomona, California became weekend stomping grounds. A mere beginning to what would become a lifelong spin on the dance floor. Louis Campos and Cindy Kay Hollems became romantically involved. These high school sweethearts would carry out a committed relationship that would last nearly 15 years, producing three kids; daughters Cassandra (b. 1988) and Belladonna (b. 1991) and son Alexis (b. 1996).
Party Time!
Soon after graduating from high school, Louis and Carlos began to show up at the many other clubs throughout The Greater Los Angeles Area. In due time, they would become permanent faces in and around West Hollywood clubs and events, but it wasn't until the early 90's when they started to pop up just about everywhere else (i.e., music videos, gay publications, fashion shows, gay pride parades, talk shows, primetime. At times surprising their followers with cameos on big office hits such as "Eraser" where the glittering pair are seen in their full regalia flirting with none other than The Terminator's muscled-bound Arnold Schwarzenegger).
By this time, The Fabulous Wonder Twins had traveled to NY on a couple of occasions to go party with their East Coast counterparts; Michael Alig, Heatherette's Richie Rich, Ernie Glam, Sophia Lamar, and others, at The Limelight. NY's ProJect X Magazine and Ernie Glam flew The Fabulous Wonder Twins and friend, Shava Slander, back to NY to part take in the first ever club kid Style Summit in '93. They're were also flown to Orlando's The Club @ Firestone in Florida, and to San Francisco's Club Papi, among other Gay mecca locations.
These flamboyant twins traveled as far as Spain where they were welcomed by singer Alaska at both of her Madrid nightclubs; Stella's and Morocco. The Fabulous Wonder Twins would travel back to Madrid several more times. Each year, on December 1st, the twins would be celebrating El Dia Internacional Del Sida (International AIDS Day) with their now friend Alaska and the rest of what she would refer to as "La Familia Help", which included Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, actors Rossy de Palma and Bibí Andersen, drag performers Las Diabeticas Aceleradas and creative director Danny Panulo, among many other active artists and performers from Spain.
Having ran into their room—On that day, when their father called them "Faggots" in front of their party guests, when their tears only ceased by a televised performance of singer Alaska, idolized by both, then years later, befriending her and getting invited to join La Familia Help to perform on stage at an International AIDS Day function—has always been considered as one of the most triumphant moments by them both.
The Fabulous Wonder Twins were crowned Kings of a West Coast Style Summit held in San Diego, California, 1994. In 1998, They were awarded "Best Parade Float Entry" at the West Hollywood Gay Pride Parade. They continued taking part in what became known as The Klub Kids Scene, making rounds of club appearances, some paid, some not, in just one single night. Their strong visual presence made them 'must have' elements for club promoters and rave organizers.
Continuing with their well-celebrated nightlife status, The Fabulous Wonder Twins went on to record what's considered a 'bitch talk' dance track titled "Paso A Paso", produced by Byron Brizuela in Los Angeles, California. The song, already uploaded onto various web video channels, doesn't have an official release date. The web video version of "Paso A Paso", a colorful and fast-moving picture montage, presents a most alluring collection of striking poses; The Fabulous Wonder Twins in the company of some of their friends and other notables (i.e., Alaska, Michael Alig, Pedro Almodovar, Bibí Andersen, Rossy de Palma, Cindy Crawford and former club-kid, now Heatherette's fashion designer and entrepreneur Richie Rich). Recorded in their native Spanish, they have called it a "shout out" to all Latin Gay Pride worldwide.
The Fabulous Wonder Twins also recorded "Love, Glitter And Glamour!", turning their own slogan into a dance chant. Produced again by Byron Brizuela. This time backed up by Atlanta's Kimbu Kimra. "Love, Glitter And Glamour!" has yet to be released.
Personal lives
Louis Alberto Campos
During Sophomore year at Monrovia High School, Louis Alberto Campos and his twin brother, Carlos Eduardo Campos, met a Cindy Kay Hollems. Sharing art classes, they became very good friends. On many occasions they failed to report to school, deciding to take the day off, they headed to the beach instead. The three started venturing out into the club scene on weekends. Spending so much time together, at school and after school, provoked a romantic relationship between Louis Campos and Cindy Hollems. The two began living together shortly after graduation. The couple have three children; daughters Cassandra Marie Campos (Oct. 10, 1988) and Belladonna Dee Campos (Dec. 27, 1991) and son Alexis Levonne Campos (Oct. 13, 1996).
Louis Alberto Campos and Cindy Kay Hollems, devoted parents who never missed any of their kids' school functions, always showing up together for teacher-parent conferences, began to experience trouble in their relationship in late 1998, this happening a little more than a decade after initially meeting. In an attempt to salvage what had been a long lasting and productive common-law marriage, the two decided to wed. They were married on September 30th, 2000. Four months later, what had finally become a legally-recognized union between the two, existed no more.
Carlos Eduardo Campos
Although the creative concepts behind every aspect of The Fabulous Wonder Twins extravagant wardrobe originated from them both, it is Carlos Eduardo Campos the one responsible for the actual conception of each ensemble, which always needed to be in identical sets of two. Self-taught, Carlos Campos became an astute artist of needle and thread, elaborating any particular design agreed upon by the two, sometimes requiring pattern creations from scratch.
Videography
- "Everlasting Love", Gloria Estefan
- "If It Makes You Happy", Sheryl Crow
- "Long Long Time", Love Spit Love
- "Vertigogo", Combustible Edison
- "I Will Survive!", Diana Ross & Rupaul
- "Feels So Good (Show Me Your Love)", Lina Santiago
- "DJ, Drop That Beat!", Richard Humpty Vission
- "Alcohol", Howlin' Maggie
- "Blame", Collective Soul
- "Tell Me What Can I Do To Make You Love Me?", Worthy Davies
- "Wicked", Econoline Crush
Cameos
- Eraser, Gay club scene with Arnold Schwarzenegger Chuck Russell, director.
- The Birdcage Gay bar scene. Mike Nichols, director.
- Casa Hollywood, Mark Decker, director.
- Encino Woman, VIP guests. Shawn Schepps, director.
- Party Girl (Pilot), Teddy and Eddy. Fox
- Unhappily Ever After, Hairstylists. Warner Bros.
- The Burning Zone Good Twin/Evil Twin.
- Beverly Hills 90210 Spelling Television.
- Fired Up! (Pilot)
See also
References
- Los Angeles Times, "2 Wild and Crazy Guys"
- Los Angeles Times, Orange County Edition "Absolutely Fabulous!"
- The Drag Queen Hall Of Fame