Varla Jean Merman is a
character originated and portrayed by Jeffery
Roberson, an American actor, singer and drag performer.
Varla's
fictitious pedigree boasts that Ernest Borgnine is her father and Ethel
Merman is her mother.
Varla is perhaps best known for her role in the 2003
independent film Girls
Will Be Girls. She also had a co-starring role
in the 1997 film Franchesca
Page.
Varla was also one of the performers
featured in the HBO original documentary Dragtime.
She has appeared in
a number of short films and live cabaret acts since she and her male
alter-ego attended the School of Music at Louisiana State University.
Varla's shows are a staple of summer entertainment in
Provincetown, Massachusetts. She also performs fairly often in New
Orleans, New York City, San Francisco, London and has also enjoyed
billing at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. The gay-themed
television network Logo commissioned Varla to
write and star in an animated educational short about the Stonewall
riots of 1969. Varla appeared
on the August 20, 2008 Project Runway episode
"Good Queen Fun." The outfit created for her was the winning design. She also had two short
runs on the soap opera All My Children as the
character "Rosemary Chicken". Roberson has almost
always been credited as either "Varla Merman" or
"Varla Jean Merman" rather than his birth name. Along with co-stars
Miss
Coco Peru and Evie Harris, Merman shared the
Best Actor Grand Jury Award at Outfest 2003 and "Best Actress" honors
at the 2003 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival for her role in Girls Will Be
Girls.