Candis Cayne

Bio:
Candis Cayne (born Brendan McDaniel in Maui, Hawaii in 1971) is an American actress and performance artist. Candis gained national fame in 2007 when she took on the role of transgender mistress, Carmelita Rainer, on ABC’s prime time drama, Dirty Sexy Money. That role made Candis the first transgender actress to be playing a recurring transgender role on network television. She also had a recurring role as the transgender character Alexis Stone in season six of Nip/Tuck. Candis has appeared as a judge and Dean of Dance on RuPaul’s Drag U. As a dance teacher, she taught contestants original choreography to “No Scrubs” by TLC and Kelis’s song “Milkshake”. In 2011, she guest-starred on the TV show Necessary Roughness as Geraldine.

Best Known For:
Being the first transgender woman to play recurring transgender roles on TV.

Personal Life:
Candis transitioned into a woman between 1996 and 1997. Since then, she had used her celebrity as a platform to raise awareness for LGBT causes. She proudly supports the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. She has most recently struck up a friendship with fellow trans woman, Caitlyn Jenner.