14 Facts About Bunny Breckinridge

John Cabell "Bunny" Breckinridge was an American actor and drag queen, best known for his role as "The Ruler" in Ed Wood's film Plan 9 from Outer Space, his only film appearance.

Bunny Breckinridge was the great-great-great-grandchild of US Attorney General John Breckinridge.

In 1956, Bunny Breckinridge agreed to play the role of an alien leader in the film Graverobbers from Outer Space, directed by his friend, Ed Wood.

Wood and Bunny Breckinridge were introduced to one another by their mutual friend Paul Marco, who played Kelton the Cop in three Wood films.

Bunny Breckinridge and Marco were living together in the latter's modest home at the time, despite the fact that he was a struggling B-movie actor and Bunny Breckinridge was an independently wealthy socialite.

Bunny Breckinridge continued his theatrical career throughout the 1950s, but in small local productions, such as playing the role of The Inquisitor in Richard Bailey's production of The Lark in Carmel.

In 1994, Bunny Breckinridge was surprised to find himself portrayed as a character in a major motion picture, played by Bill Murray in Tim Burton's 1994 biopic Ed Wood.

Bunny Breckinridge died on November 5,1996, at age 93, in a nursing home in Monterey, California.

Openly gay at a time when it was daring to be so, Bunny Breckinridge was well known for his flamboyant lifestyle, his outrageous sense of humor, and his penchant for perfume and costume jewelry.

Bunny Breckinridge performed in Shakespearean plays in England before moving to San Francisco in the late 1920s.

Bunny Breckinridge was committed to the Atascadero State Hospital for the criminally insane, and released the following year.

Bunny Breckinridge frequently opened his home to members of the growing hippie movement, who were enthralled not only by his stories of his flamboyant youth, but his favorable opinions on free love and his encyclopedic knowledge of both gay history and the lives of closeted Hollywood stars.

Bunny Breckinridge was by this time a grandparent, and his granddaughter supported him in his efforts.

Bunny Breckinridge gave up his pursuit of the matter afterwards.