Described as a “pure, gifted and highly creative artist”, the man behind renowned Wellington drag queen, Pamela Hancock, has died.
Cole Hampton – also known as Pam Hancock and Aunty Pam from the Bulls – died suddenly Thursday at the age of 24, causing shock and a “huge outpouring” of grief in many of the communities she has affected, her brother said. and Jon Livesey.
Ollie Dempsey, a close friend of Hampton, said his “whole world was destroyed” at his death.
“He was a pure and intelligent artist and one of the kindest and kindest people I have ever met, he said.
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“I know I’m not the only person who is completely heartbroken. There were many, many times that Cole and I were in town, day or night, and people came up to him and thanked him for being such an incredible person and an inspiration to them at some point in their lives.
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Cole Hampton died last week at the age of 24.
More than 90 tributes have been posted online about Hampton, who has performed as Aunty Pam for several years. She started dressing at age two, Livesey said.
“He started dressing as Steve from Blues Clues and Murray from The Wiggles. That went into dressing as Suzy Cato and Julie Andrews,” he said.
“He has been performing ever since he was a baby. It is always in the works. He has nothing else to do and everyone knows. “
Aden Meser/Provided
Hampton is “incredibly entertaining” as Pamela Hancock, her former music teacher said.
Hampton attended Onslow College, where he first met music teacher Justin Pearce as a nine-year student.
“It was early in the year and people had just come back from nine camps this year about this year singing Frank Sinatra and everyone was shocked. That’s Cole. I didn’t think much of that until he came to music class and started singing. He worked for me for the next five years. “
Pearce described Hampton’s voice as “quite special”.
SUPPLIED/Stuff
Cole Hampton was described by his close friend as a “pure and gifted artist”.
“It’s a performance voice. He’s born to be a performer above all. The biggest challenge is to find what he is.”
In year 12, Hampton tried out the school’s production, The Pajama Game, set in a pajama factory.
“I knew when I was looking for the half of the comic book leader couple, the secretary, Cole would be very good for it. I just immediately had in mind the picture of what he would look like and what he would do,” he said. Pearce.
“He did that character to Mabel, which became a stepping stone to Pam. He was an absolute smash hit on the show. He is incredible. Cole always has an amazing attention to detail.
“When he played Mabel, people were just shocked, because those who didn’t know Cole, were really stuck, was it a boy or a girl? They can’t tell. But people who know him just think ‘well that’s just so him, or her, in this case, it’s just so right’. And this is.”
Jeff Tollan/Provided
A character called Mabel in a school production became the “stepping stone” to Pamela Hancock.
Pearce said Hampton is extremely creative, has a great visual eye and is “extremely driven to create this world and these ideas”.
“Then I transferred all of that to Pam and created that character with so much backstory and bottomlessness as well as being incredibly entertaining … having a voice that could make a lot of different thing and sing as a mature woman, which is really amazing. Really. “
Pearce remembers when Hampton’s mother approached her before she performed as Liza Minnelli in another school show, worried that she might be tempted by her peers.
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Pamela with mother Judy, who passed away in 2020.
“Then he sang, and he saw that it was far from the truth, respected and revered by all [him] and he was shocked at his ability. “
His life was hit by tragedy after the death of his mother in 2020. His father, Craig Hampton, disappeared in Brooklyn, Wellington in 1999, when Hampton was six months old.
A memorial event for Hampton will be held at Eva Beva on Thursday night, open for anyone to attend, Livesey said.
