The Del Rubio Triplets

The Del Rubio Triplets were an American variety/musical act who rose to fame in the 1980s due mostly to their campy style of dress and their goofy interpretations of standards and songs of the era.

Biography

The Del Rubio triplets were born as the Boyd triplets (Edith, Elena and Mildred Boyd) on 23 August 1921 in the Panama Canal Zone. Their great-aunt was Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, the wife of United States President Woodrow Wilson.^[1] The girls grew up in the Panama Canal Zone and Washington, D.C.. Their stage name comes from the color they dyed their hair; the word "rubio" means "blonde" in Spanish.

They first achieved fame in the U.S. in the 1950s, when they were popular night club performers, appearing often on television, including several Bob Hope programs on NBC.

Grammy winning songwriter Allee Willis is credited with re-discovering the Del Rubio Triplets in 1985 and presenting them at her parties where they garnered much notable attention.^[2] Their biggest "hit" was an acoustic-guitar cover version of the song "Whip It" by Devo.

They made various television appearances such as Married... with Children (as aunts of Peggy), Full House (called REM), The Golden Girls (called the Donatello Triplets on the show), Night Court, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, New Monkees, Square One TV, Ellen (performing the musical intro for Season 3, Episode 16, "Witness") and Pee-wee's Playhouse wearing bouffant hair-dos and gaudy blue eyeshadow. They often appeared scantily clad (usually showing off their legs) despite the fact that they were in their sixties at the time. They are often remembered for their contribution of "Winter Wonderland" to the Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special that originally aired in 1988. They also briefly appeared in the motion picture Americathon, playing "America the Beautiful" behind several posing bodybuilders. They also appeared in Sliders, season 1 episode 8, "The King Is Back" as themselves, performing "Whip It". In the late 1980s they were featured in a McDonald's fast food advertisement.

The three performed until Eadie was diagnosed with cancer in 1996; she died that year at Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Torrance, California. After Eadie's death, Elena and Milly never performed again, but lived together until Elena died of cancer in 2001. Milly died from respiratory failure July 21, 2011. All three triplets are interred in a family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California next to their father.

Members

References