Hal Carter, also known as Dolly Lamour and Vixen, is a drag queen who lived in Cocoa, Florida and rented out spare rooms in his house.
History[]
Dreams in Florida[]
Not much is known about Hal's backstory, except that at some point in the past he had a rough breakup with a man named Robert. By 1989, Hal had been living in Cocoa for at least two years, renting out the rest of his house to various tenants: Ken and Barbie, Chantal and Zelda, and Gilbert. His house was apparently listed with agencies, which is how Rose Walker found it and moved in.
At the same time Hal was performing in local clubs as a drag queen under the stage name "Dolly Lamour". His show was called "Drag Revue" and included dancing to Broadway Baby by Stephen Sondheim and Oh, You Beautiful Doll by Al Jolson. While Rose was waiting for the results of her investigation, Hal took the time to teach her some dancing steps, and later comforted her after her ordeals.[1]
When the Dream Vortex started forming in the house, Hal's dreams reflected his struggle with his identity: first he saw the actresses Bette Davis, Judy Garland and Marylin Monroe ripping off their "fake" faces, and next he had a wish-fulfillment dream where he made up with Robert. He was dragged into the other tenants' dreams, woke up when Morpheus intervened and went up to check Rose's room only to find her missing.[2]
The experience apparently made Hal reevaluate his life; six months after the Vortex he wrote to Rose, announcing that he decided to sell the house and move "out west". His exact reasoning is unknown, although Rose speculated that he must've met someone.[3]
Vixen[]
Hal as Vixen
In the following four years his career took off: he changed his stage name to "Vixen", released a successful CD and was performing in The Comedy Cavern in LA with a one-woman revue "Don't Get Me Started". This show proved to be controversial and was picketed by lesbian activists. He was also featured on the talk show "Mary in the Morning", where he took a similarly arrogant stance, calling himself "a biological weapon in the war between the sexes". This drastic change in attitude affected his relationships as well: recalling his last conversation with Rose, Hal stated that "little miss Rose politically correct Walker found me just too socially monstrous to be tolerated".
When Rose came to him to bring news about Zelda's death, Hal was still bitter and even mocked the deceased. However, eventually he showed up to the funeral and begrudgingly apologized to Rose.[4]
Personality[]
Hal is a caring and humorous person, as seen from his early interactions with Rose, but he's also rather scandalous: he was shown throwing tantrums after various (mostly artistic) disagreements. With time, this side of his personality seemed to begin taking over: his "Vixen" persona is bitter and sarcastic, even when faced with the death of a former friend.
Trivia[]
- Hal's Wizard of Oz-themed dreams are true to the fact that Judy Garland became an icon in the gay and drag community.