Erica Andrews

Erica Andrews (September 30, 1969 – March 11, 2013) was a Mexican international and national beauty pageant title winner, drag performer, actress, entrepreneur, and activist.

Erica Andrews was born on September 30, 1969, in Allende, Nuevo León, Mexico.

She grew up on a small ranch called Los Aguirres in the rural outskirts of Allende, where there was little electricity.

She changed her name to Erica, a name she derived from a phonetic pronunciation of Eddie.

She attached a colloquial ca to the end of Eddie so that it sounded like Eddieca and formed the name Erica.

Consequently, she became Erica Salazar.

In 1988, Andrews moved with her boyfriend to San Antonio, where she made a name for herself in the city’s drag circuit.

Her first performance was at a club named Las Gueras, performing the song Break Away.

She began performing on amateur nights at the (now-defunct) Paper Moon nightclub, later renamed The Saint, on Main Avenue in San Antonio.

Andrews won Paper Moon’s “Talent of the Week” and “Talent of the Month” contests.

This led to her participation in the club’s “Newcomer of the Year” contest, in which she placed third.

At the encouragement and with the support of Raphael Ruiz de Velasco (owner of Paper Moon/The Saint), Andrews entered the Miss San Antonio USA pageant.

Andrews actively participated in beauty pageants, becoming a celebrated multi-national and international titleholder.

According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, she was considered to be "one of the most decorated queens on the pageant circuit".

She was also called "the most beautiful drag queen in captivity".

Beginning around 1989–1990, she took on the stage name Erica Hutton.

She named herself after Lauren Hutton, whom she admired.

After she met Tandi Andrews, who became her drag mother and mentor, she changed her stage name to Erica Hutton Andrews and subsequently to Erica Andrews.

Andrews was born into a family with two older brothers and a younger sister.

During her childhood, her father was sentenced to ten years in prison for a drug offense.

Andrews spent her childhood in Allende through the age of 8, when her mother and siblings crossed the border and settled in Laredo, Texas.

Though Andrews maintained a relationship with her mother and siblings, she became estranged from her father and never saw him again.

Upon leaving home, Andrews attended college for two years, earning an associate degree.

She attended cosmetology school and became a licensed cosmetologist.

She began to work as a make-up artist and consultant at department store makeup counters for MAC Cosmetics and also for Glamour Shots.

The first pageant title that Andrews won was Miss Just Us (1989).

She was a promoter for the Miss Texas Continental franchise.

Andrews won numerous pageant titles.

Her titles include:

Andrews performed on the United States LGBT drag circuit.

Andrews performed at San Antonio nightclubs like The Saint, Heat, The Bonham, and The Pegasus.

Andrews imitated Hollywood greats such as Joan Crawford, Cher, top Latin artist Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, and fictional characters like Jessica Rabbit and Wonder Woman.

In an interview with Ambiente Magazine in 2005, Andrews recalled a difficult childhood.

She described being referred to as a little girl instead of a little boy by a guest speaker at her elementary school and being laughed at by the students.

She also remembered in high school returning home from a volleyball game and being taunted by two guys who threw her down, kicked dirt on her, and punched her a couple of times.

On the Tyra Banks Show as well as in an online radio interview with Richard Curtin, Andrews discussed a time when she was about 17 when she ran away from home and struggled because of the challenges she faced as a trans woman.

She began her estrogen hormone replacement therapy when she was 18.

She had undergone silicone and electrolysis treatment.

Andrews said she had never had any plastic surgery on her face or body.

At 18, she was introduced to drag and female impersonation through her then-boyfriend, who was himself a female impersonator and drag pageant contestant.