When he was 16 and growing up in the Bronx, N.Y., Clinton Leupp was an angry kid dealing with the fact that he was different. He was 26 year-old when he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in his first show Miss Coco Peru in My Goddamn Cabaret, which ran for two years in New York at Rose's Turn, and became a downtown cult favorite. Coco Peru was born.

Miss Coco Peru is now the alter ego of actor Clinton Leupp. Starting out in the clubs of New York City's West Village, Leupp brought Miss Coco to life to small but enthusiastic audiences who hadn't before seen a drag queen quite like her. Quiet, thoughtful, sometimes even poignant, but always hysterically funny, Miss Coco simply shared stories of her life... and audiences responded.

Miss Coco Peru is best known for her stage show Miss Coco Peru's Universe, and the film Trick (1999). A passionate traveler, Leupp's Miss Coco has appeared in London, Lisbon, and Mexico.

A storyteller and monologist, Clinton also wrote and performed Miss Coco Peru: A Legend in Progress, which received a 1992 Manhattan Association of Cabaret (MAC) Award and a Backstage Bistro Award. In New York, Miss Coco Peru's Liquid Universe received a nomination for a 1998, 1999 and 2001 GLAAD Media Award... but he lost.

Most recently, Leupp/Coco received, along with his two co-stars, the Best Actress Award at the U.S. Comedy Festival in Aspen for his performance in Richard Day's film Girls Will Be Girls! (2003).

Leupp/Coco has appeared on TV in New York Undercover, Showtime's Rude Awakening, and most recently on NBC's Will and Grace.