# BenDeLaCreme
**BenDeLaCreme** is the stage name of Benjamin Putnam, an American drag performer, cabaret artist, producer, and director who competed on season 6 of *RuPaul's Drag Race* in 2014 and on the third season of *RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars* in 2018, and who now tours internationally through her own production company, BenDeLaCreme Presents[1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/). [Carnegie Hall](https://www.edgepedia.org/carnegie-hall)'s name authority record links the stage name to a birth date of 1981, a value stated there and not confirmed in her own published materials[2](https://data.carnegiehall.org/names/135275/about).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Stage name BenDeLaCreme; legal name Benjamin Putnam[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4451586/bio/) |
| Birth date | 1981, per Carnegie Hall's name authority record; unconfirmed elsewhere[2](https://data.carnegiehall.org/names/135275/about) |
| Drag Race record | Season 6 (2014), crowned Miss Congeniality; All Stars 3 (2018), more challenge wins than any other competitor in the show's history to that point, and named among the show's "15 Fan Favorites of All Time"[4](https://innovativeartists.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/BenDeLaCreme-2022-Updated-Resume.pdf) • [1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/) |
| Training | Painting and sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Chicago bar drag and the Chicago Kings drag king troupe[5](https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/womans-werk/) |
| Solo shows | *Terminally Delightful*, *Cosmos*, *Inferno A-Go-Go*, and *Ready To Be Committed*[1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/) |
| Production company | BenDeLaCreme Presents, producer of the holiday tours and of *The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special* (2020), licensed exclusively to Hulu[1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/) • [4](https://innovativeartists.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/BenDeLaCreme-2022-Updated-Resume.pdf) |
| Recognition | 2024 Queerties Award for "Best Live Theatre" for *The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show*[1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/) |
## Early life and training
Putnam left the East Coast to study painting at the School of the [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.edgepedia.org/art-institute-of-chicago), where he studied fine arts during the day and "did drag for pennies" at night, entering bar competitions from age 21[5](https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/womans-werk/). In an interview with Chicago Star Media he described the program as focused on painting and sculpture, and said he completed three and a half years before the environment of the school steered him toward performance art and drag[6](https://www.chicagostarmedia.com/arts_and_entertainment/zinzanni-zeal-and-zensational-bendelacreme-frank-and-fabulous/article_d3244049-2f65-482e-a840-0885749ee861.html). Her agency resume lists study of Visual Art and [Sculpture](https://www.edgepedia.org/sculpture) at SAIC[4](https://innovativeartists.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/BenDeLaCreme-2022-Updated-Resume.pdf).
In Chicago she found her queer community in the Chicago Kings, a drag king troupe whose work she described as "really scrappy, messy work that was not in any way refined, but had content," and "all super political, super feminist"; City Arts Magazine reports she was the troupe's only queen[5](https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/womans-werk/).
After moving to Seattle, Putnam found a home in the burlesque world, working with performers and groups including Waxie Moon, Kitten N' Lou, and the Atomic Bombshells, and hosting shows at the Triple Door[5](https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/womans-werk/).
## Drag and cabaret career
Her first solo show was *Terminally Delightful*, in which the drag persona DeLa discovers she shares a body with a man named Ben, a campy telling of her origin story[5](https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/womans-werk/). It was followed by *Cosmos*, which featured a talking martini glass named Neil DeGlasse Tyson, and by *Inferno A-Go-Go*, a multimedia drag retelling of Dante's *Inferno*[5](https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/womans-werk/). Her official site adds *Ready To Be Committed* to this list of critically acclaimed, award-winning solo works[1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/).
Her agency resume documents a sustained venue history: the Triple Door in Seattle from 2011 to 2015, the Laurie Beechman Theatre in New York in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2019, ACT Theatre in Seattle from 2017 to 2019, and international and national US tours in 2017–2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022[4](https://innovativeartists.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/BenDeLaCreme-2022-Updated-Resume.pdf).
## RuPaul's Drag Race and All Stars
BenDeLaCreme competed on season 6 of *RuPaul's Drag Race*, which aired in 2014. She did not win the season, but a turn as [Maggie Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/maggie-smith) in the [Snatch Game](https://www.edgepedia.org/snatch-game) challenge earned fan acclaim and the title of Miss Congeniality[5](https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/womans-werk/). She returned for the third season of *RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars* in 2018, where her 2022 agency resume described her as having garnered more challenge wins than any competitor had before her *All Stars 3* run, among other series records[4](https://innovativeartists.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/BenDeLaCreme-2022-Updated-Resume.pdf). Her official site and the Fisher Center at Bard both add that across her two runs she "broke multiple series records and earned a spot among the show's '15 Fan Favorites of All Time'"[1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/) • [7](https://fishercenter.bard.edu/series/bendelacreme/).
## Production, touring, and film
**BenDeLaCreme Presents.** Her own production company, BenDeLaCreme Presents, produced its first national tour in 2018, *To Jesus, Thanks for Everything! – Jinkx and DeLa*, co-created and co-written with [Jinkx Monsoon](https://www.edgepedia.org/jinkx-monsoon)[8](https://jinkxanddelamovie.com/cast-and-crew). The follow-up 2019 holiday tour, *All I Want for Christmas is Attention*, was a sold-out run and carried DeLa's first producer credit on an international tour[8](https://jinkxanddelamovie.com/cast-and-crew).
**The holiday special.** In 2020 she co-wrote, co-starred in, self-produced, and directed her first feature film, *The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special*; her resume describes it as a critical and commercial success that led to an exclusive licensing deal with Hulu[4](https://innovativeartists.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/BenDeLaCreme-2022-Updated-Resume.pdf). The film's official site calls it a cult classic holiday film[8](https://jinkxanddelamovie.com/cast-and-crew). Through BenDeLaCreme Presents she has gone on to write, produce, and direct multiple sold-out international tours of the live *Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show*[1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/).
**Directing other artists.** She has written and directed for other drag artists and worked as a producer in film and television[9](https://innovativeartists.com/bendelacreme/). BroadwayWorld reports she directed [Monét X Change](https://www.edgepedia.org/monet-x-change)'s one-woman show *Life Be Lifin'*, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023, and that she directed and co-wrote Jinkx Monsoon's sold-out Carnegie Hall show on [Valentine's Day](https://www.edgepedia.org/valentines-day) 2025[10](https://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/BenDeLaCreme-Joins-Teatro-ZinZannis-Summer-Show-in-Chicago-20250506).
Two production entities appear in the record and are compatible rather than contradictory: City Arts reports that during her Seattle cabaret years she co-founded DeLouRue Presents with Kitten LaRue and [Lou Henry Hoover](https://www.edgepedia.org/lou-henry-hoover)[5](https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/womans-werk/), while the touring and film work cited above runs under BenDeLaCreme Presents[1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/) • [8](https://jinkxanddelamovie.com/cast-and-crew).
## Performance style and artistry
Putnam distinguishes "Ben," the private man, from "DeLa," the public drag persona; DeLa is characterized as a retro, relentlessly optimistic queen[5](https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/womans-werk/). Her stated philosophy is truth-telling through artifice: "Artifice isn't lies, it's a way to express truth through heightened form"[6](https://www.chicagostarmedia.com/arts_and_entertainment/zinzanni-zeal-and-zensational-bendelacreme-frank-and-fabulous/article_d3244049-2f65-482e-a840-0885749ee861.html).
Her agency profile notes her work as a puppeteer, live singer, choreographer, production designer, and costume designer, alongside a reputation for quick wit[9](https://innovativeartists.com/bendelacreme/).
## Recent work (2024–2026)
In 2024, *The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show* won the Queerties Award for "Best Live Theatre"[1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/). BroadwayWorld reported in May 2025 that BenDeLaCreme would join Chicago's Teatro ZinZanni summer show as special guest performer and creative consultant, running May 30 through July 19, 2025[10](https://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/BenDeLaCreme-Joins-Teatro-ZinZannis-Summer-Show-in-Chicago-20250506), and Chicago Star Media covered her starring role in that Chicago residency[6](https://www.chicagostarmedia.com/arts_and_entertainment/zinzanni-zeal-and-zensational-bendelacreme-frank-and-fabulous/article_d3244049-2f65-482e-a840-0885749ee861.html). The same BroadwayWorld report notes she completed a tour of the UK and Europe as emcee for burlesque icon [Dita Von Teese](https://www.edgepedia.org/dita-von-teese)[10](https://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/BenDeLaCreme-Joins-Teatro-ZinZannis-Summer-Show-in-Chicago-20250506). On television, the Fisher Center at Bard lists appearances on *After Midnight* (CBS) and *Family Feud* (ABC)[7](https://fishercenter.bard.edu/series/bendelacreme/). The Fisher Center has also billed an intimate new solo show, "DeLa unplugged; an intimate evening with the campiest of queens," described as her most candid personal work to date[7](https://fishercenter.bard.edu/series/bendelacreme/).
## Reception and commercial record
Sold-out runs are stated for the 2019 holiday tour[8](https://jinkxanddelamovie.com/cast-and-crew), for Jinkx Monsoon's Carnegie Hall show she directed and co-wrote[10](https://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/BenDeLaCreme-Joins-Teatro-ZinZannis-Summer-Show-in-Chicago-20250506), and for the international *Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show* tours[1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/); IMDb notes live performances playing to sold-out audiences for over a decade[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4451586/bio/). The 2020 film led to an exclusive Hulu licensing deal and is described as a critical and commercial success[4](https://innovativeartists.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/BenDeLaCreme-2022-Updated-Resume.pdf) and as a cult classic[8](https://jinkxanddelamovie.com/cast-and-crew). IMDb also credits her with a cameo as Miss L'Teau alongside Jinkx Monsoon in *Happiest Season* (2020), which it describes as Hulu's biggest film debut to date[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4451586/bio/).
Recognition since 2020 documented in the record includes the 2024 Queerties "Best Live Theatre" win[1](https://www.bendelacreme.com/) and presenting invitations such as the Bard Fisher Center booking[7](https://fishercenter.bard.edu/series/bendelacreme/).
## References
1. [BenDeLaCreme! – Terminally Delightful! (official website)](https://www.bendelacreme.com/)
2. [About: BenDeLaCreme, Carnegie Hall name authority record](https://data.carnegiehall.org/names/135275/about)
3. [Benjamin Putnam – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4451586/bio/)
4. [BenDeLaCreme 2022 Updated Resume, Innovative Artists](https://innovativeartists.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/BenDeLaCreme-2022-Updated-Resume.pdf)
5. [This Woman's Werk, City Arts Magazine](https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/womans-werk/)
6. [BenDeLaCreme in Chicago: Art, drag, and the power of truth, Chicago Star Media](https://www.chicagostarmedia.com/arts_and_entertainment/zinzanni-zeal-and-zensational-bendelacreme-frank-and-fabulous/article_d3244049-2f65-482e-a840-0885749ee861.html)
7. [BenDeLaCreme, Fisher Center at Bard](https://fishercenter.bard.edu/series/bendelacreme/)
8. [Cast & Crew – The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special (official film site)](https://jinkxanddelamovie.com/cast-and-crew)
9. [BenDeLaCreme, Innovative Artists agency profile](https://innovativeartists.com/bendelacreme/)
10. [BenDeLaCreme Joins Teatro ZinZanni's Summer Show in Chicago, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/BenDeLaCreme-Joins-Teatro-ZinZannis-Summer-Show-in-Chicago-20250506)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Stage practitioners and craft › Acting: theory, technique, and teachers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
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