Estelle Asmodelle
Encyclopedia
Estelle Asmodelle formerly known as Estelle Maria Croot, is an Australian model, belly dancer
, writer, musician and actress. She is known as Australia's first legal transsexual with the Births, Deaths and Marriages Department of New South Wales
.
Estelle is an Australian transsexual who was instrumental in gaining recognition for transsexual and transgender
people through her solo campaign to gain rights for transsexuals. In 1986, she was labelled "Australia’s First Sex-Change Pin-up Girl". She is said to be the most photographed transsexual in Australia today.
, Estelle is the first child of Barry and Sylvia Croot. Her name at birth has not been disclosed. She has a sister, Belinda. She attended Chevalier College
(then a boys-only school) and Moss Vale High School, where she frequently won first place in various subjects. When she was 16 years old she became seriously ill with spinal meningitis and spent almost one year in hospital. She used a wheelchair for some months and made a complete recovery.
After working briefly in Sydney, she moved to Wollongong and attended Wollongong University where she studied towards two degrees, a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Mathematics
, with the hope of becoming a research scientist. As a student she also worked in music ensembles, such as N-lettes and Miscellaneous Music composing and playing experimental and sometimes avant-garde
musical art.
During the university period she experienced discrimination
by members of the academic staff because of her transsexuality. For this reason, she left the University to focus on art and music. She became a dancer, believing that dance was the true artistic synthesis of art and music.
and also with an Authentic Egyptian Dance instructor. Six weeks after starting belly dance classes she gained work as a dancer.
As time passed she worked in many shows both in Australia and Asia. She was typically featured as the variety act for such shows as Esma Duo, Paris by Night
, Las Vegas Under Lights and Les Girls
. She returned to Australia and worked as a solo belly dancer.
where she was detained, because her passport denoted an M (for male). She suffered serious problems with various customs officials and became determined to change the laws in Australia so as she could live as a normal woman. Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade policy was to issue passports bearing the gender designation F only to those transsexuals who could demonstrate that they had completed sex reassignment surgery.
Estelle continually sent letters and requests to the Attorney's General's Department of the Australian Government and eventually received confirmation that her requests were answered. Others had also been lobbying for changes to the New South Wales government, especially the Attorney-General of N.S.W., for the right to amend birth certificates. Estelle was asked to go to the NSW Department of Births Deaths and Marriages and have her birth certificate amended. It was the first such amendment, making Estelle Asmodelle the first Legal Transsexual by recognition of the new name in the new gender. Months later, as a result of this action, passport sex designation was allowed to be amended as well. A year later Estelle lobbied for anti-discrimination laws to be amended and also for the state hospitals ethics boards to allow research into ectopic pregnancy
for sex-change women.
She made more than 100 radio interviews and dozens of television appearances in Australia and Japan as well, including:
On returning to Australia, her next film was The Enchanted Dance, a documentary film about authentic belly dancing. It went international on video but was not released on DVD.
Current Productions
IMBD has Estelle down for only the Japanese cinema title but also lists the actress as a composer and Cinematographer as well.IMDB listing
However it seems, although Estelle has modelled for some magazines, some of her work of late is with recording of electronic music. Many music magazines feature her CDs and often write reviews such as an review in Evil Sponge. Perhaps her fame has assisted Estelle's music career - in any case - there is continuing publicity about her activity, two examples are: Vents Magazine and Urban Mainstream Magazine.
To date Estelle has written two books – which are still seeking publication:
She has also written two screenplays, which have not been optioned at this time:
Estelle is a member of Australian Society of Authors http://www.asauthors.org/
Estelle has a blog on one of her websites, namely; Asmodelle's Blog for updates on her activities. There is also an electronic music
website that offers her electronic compositions as well (Asmodelle's Music).
To date Estelle has released 4 albums, which are available at iTunes, Amazon and most other online outlets, while her website also said they were released physically:
In early 2011 Estelle was signed to a major music distribution label: Blue Pie Records as a featured artist, for world wide distribution of her albums. It seems Estelle is working full time on her music and is getting some press in the US with electronic sounds she makes. According her albums seem to be available in some record stores but extensively online. An example is part of the catalogue on iTunes. iTunes listing
Australian radio has started to pick up her music and she is a featured artist on Triple J's Unearthed as well. Triple J UnEarthed
Three academic papers published by Estelle during 2010-2011 are:
Estelle is also an active member of the Institute of Physics in the UK http://www.iop.org/, and also runs her own Astronomy & Cosmology blog http://www.physics.ellenet.net/wordpress/?page_id=1500.
Belly dancer
A belly dancer is one who performs a belly dance. The phrase may also refer to:*"Belly Dancer" , a single by R&B singer Akon*"Belly Dancer" , a hip hop song*The Belly Dancer, a 2001 Turkish drama film...
, writer, musician and actress. She is known as Australia's first legal transsexual with the Births, Deaths and Marriages Department of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
.
Estelle is an Australian transsexual who was instrumental in gaining recognition for transsexual and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
people through her solo campaign to gain rights for transsexuals. In 1986, she was labelled "Australia’s First Sex-Change Pin-up Girl". She is said to be the most photographed transsexual in Australia today.
Early life
Born in Bowral, and raised in Berrima, New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Estelle is the first child of Barry and Sylvia Croot. Her name at birth has not been disclosed. She has a sister, Belinda. She attended Chevalier College
Chevalier College
Chevalier College is a Catholic co-educational school in Bowral, New South Wales conducted by the priests and brothers of the international religious order, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart...
(then a boys-only school) and Moss Vale High School, where she frequently won first place in various subjects. When she was 16 years old she became seriously ill with spinal meningitis and spent almost one year in hospital. She used a wheelchair for some months and made a complete recovery.
After working briefly in Sydney, she moved to Wollongong and attended Wollongong University where she studied towards two degrees, a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Mathematics
Bachelor of Mathematics
A Bachelor of Mathematics is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for successfully completing a program of study in mathematics or related disciplines, such as computer science or statistics....
, with the hope of becoming a research scientist. As a student she also worked in music ensembles, such as N-lettes and Miscellaneous Music composing and playing experimental and sometimes avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
musical art.
During the university period she experienced discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
by members of the academic staff because of her transsexuality. For this reason, she left the University to focus on art and music. She became a dancer, believing that dance was the true artistic synthesis of art and music.
Dance career
After working briefly in Sydney as an assistant photographer, she attended dance classes at Sydney Dance CompanySydney Dance Company
The Sydney Dance Company is one of Australia's most successful and well-known contemporary dance companies. The company was founded in 1969 as the dance-in-education group Ballet in a Nutshell by Suzanne Musitz , later changing its name to Athletes and Dancers, and Dance Company ...
and also with an Authentic Egyptian Dance instructor. Six weeks after starting belly dance classes she gained work as a dancer.
As time passed she worked in many shows both in Australia and Asia. She was typically featured as the variety act for such shows as Esma Duo, Paris by Night
Paris by Night
Paris By Night is a popular Vietnamese language musical variety show, produced by an Overseas Vietnamese company Thúy Nga and hosted by Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên, featuring musical performances by modern pop stars, traditional folk songs, one-act plays, and sketch comedy...
, Las Vegas Under Lights and Les Girls
Les Girls
Les Girls, also known as Cole Porter's Les Girls, is a 1957 musical comedy film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by George Cukor, produced by Sol C...
. She returned to Australia and worked as a solo belly dancer.
Activism
During Estelle's dance career she travelled to Asian countries and experienced many legal difficulties, especially in SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
where she was detained, because her passport denoted an M (for male). She suffered serious problems with various customs officials and became determined to change the laws in Australia so as she could live as a normal woman. Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade policy was to issue passports bearing the gender designation F only to those transsexuals who could demonstrate that they had completed sex reassignment surgery.
Estelle continually sent letters and requests to the Attorney's General's Department of the Australian Government and eventually received confirmation that her requests were answered. Others had also been lobbying for changes to the New South Wales government, especially the Attorney-General of N.S.W., for the right to amend birth certificates. Estelle was asked to go to the NSW Department of Births Deaths and Marriages and have her birth certificate amended. It was the first such amendment, making Estelle Asmodelle the first Legal Transsexual by recognition of the new name in the new gender. Months later, as a result of this action, passport sex designation was allowed to be amended as well. A year later Estelle lobbied for anti-discrimination laws to be amended and also for the state hospitals ethics boards to allow research into ectopic pregnancy
Ectopic pregnancy
An ectopic pregnancy, or eccysis , is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo implants outside the uterine cavity. With rare exceptions, ectopic pregnancies are not viable. Furthermore, they are dangerous for the parent, since internal haemorrhage is a life threatening complication...
for sex-change women.
Career
After a media storm during that period she decided to focus on her career. However her appearances were very extensive including hundreds of newspapers articles, and hundreds of magazine articles, including:- Cleo (May 1987)
- People (Nov 1985 & 1993)
- Post (Dec 1988 Sep 1992)
- Penthouse Forum (1986 & 1991)
- New Idea (March 1986)
- She (July 1996)
- New Woman (June 1992 & 1998)
- Naughty Sydney (Cover – November 1991)
- Tomadachi (June 1991)
- Wellbeing (May 1989 & 1993)
- Nature & Health (November 1997)
She made more than 100 radio interviews and dozens of television appearances in Australia and Japan as well, including:
- Where Are They Now? (Channel 7)
- Sex/Life (Channel 10 TEN)
- Midday Show with Kerri Anne (Channel 9)
- World View (NHK Japan)
- Beat Takeashi (NHK Japan)
- Good Morning Australia (Channel 10)
- Day by Day (Channel 9)
- Vox Populi (SBS)
- A Current Affair (Channel 10)
- Midday Show with Ray Martin (Channel 9)
- Terry Willisee|Terry Willisee Tonight (Channel 9).
Film Work
After the media attention she garnered considerable publicity in Australia, but decided to live in Japan for a couple of years. It was there that she made her film debut, a walk in and walk out part, in a film by Japanese director Yoshimitsu Morita. It was made for the local Japanese market and never made it out of Japan.On returning to Australia, her next film was The Enchanted Dance, a documentary film about authentic belly dancing. It went international on video but was not released on DVD.
Filmography
Previous films:- 1989 – Ai to heisei no iro – Otoko
- 1992 – Secret FantasiesSecret FantasiesSecret Fantasies is an R-Rated film made by Night Star Pictures .-The Synopsis:Simply a fantasy film about the secret fantasies of a transsexual...
- 1994 – The Enchanted Dance
- 2010 – Sleep Tight
Current Productions
- 2012 – The Edge of Fear
- 2013 – Pleasure Girl
IMBD has Estelle down for only the Japanese cinema title but also lists the actress as a composer and Cinematographer as well.IMDB listing
Modelling
Earlier on in her modelling career she became "Australia's First Transsexual Pin-up" by appearing nude in Australian Playgirl, unlike the US version of the magazine, the publication featured girls and not men, and it was the first time a transsexual had appeared in a mainstream magazine in Australia being nude. Estelle Asmodelle is also the face of the Supermodel Agency in Australia – she has been their spokesmodel and main model since 1996.Currently
These days Asmodelle runs her network of modelling websites and now owns her own internet company, Ellenet Pty. Ltd. She has also acquired Night Star Pictures, an Australian film production company. According to media reports Estelle has become something of an internet entrepreneur and continues to build a significant online presence.However it seems, although Estelle has modelled for some magazines, some of her work of late is with recording of electronic music. Many music magazines feature her CDs and often write reviews such as an review in Evil Sponge. Perhaps her fame has assisted Estelle's music career - in any case - there is continuing publicity about her activity, two examples are: Vents Magazine and Urban Mainstream Magazine.
Music and writing
Estelle has worked on her film career and hopes to launch her new cinema feature early 2012 as well a the proposed publishing of her Autobiographical novel, Anaesthetic Dream.To date Estelle has written two books – which are still seeking publication:
- 2010 – Anaesthetic Dream
- 2009 – Sex Business
She has also written two screenplays, which have not been optioned at this time:
- Edge of Fear
- Pleasure Girl
Estelle is a member of Australian Society of Authors http://www.asauthors.org/
Estelle has a blog on one of her websites, namely; Asmodelle's Blog for updates on her activities. There is also an electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
website that offers her electronic compositions as well (Asmodelle's Music).
To date Estelle has released 4 albums, which are available at iTunes, Amazon and most other online outlets, while her website also said they were released physically:
- 2009 – Electronic Mischief
- 2010 – Transelectric
- 2010 – Dark Universe
- 2011 – Asmelectrix
- 2011 – Electronic Mischief II
- 2011 – Near Earth Landscape
In early 2011 Estelle was signed to a major music distribution label: Blue Pie Records as a featured artist, for world wide distribution of her albums. It seems Estelle is working full time on her music and is getting some press in the US with electronic sounds she makes. According her albums seem to be available in some record stores but extensively online. An example is part of the catalogue on iTunes. iTunes listing
Australian radio has started to pick up her music and she is a featured artist on Triple J's Unearthed as well. Triple J UnEarthed
Academia
It appears that Estelle has returned to academia, and is undergoing study at the University of Central Lancashire UCLAN in the field of astrophysics Academia and has published 3 papers with the Journal of the Institute of Science and Technology IST. Furthermore she has joined the part time staff of COSMOS magazine as a science writer, in the field of Physics/Space, and has published a couple of related articles: Neptune and Milky wayThree academic papers published by Estelle during 2010-2011 are:
- Australian Telescopes: a Retrospective.
- Origins: The Special Theory of Relativity.
- 10 Vital Questions to 10 Notable Physicists - Part 1: An interview with Professor Lawrence M. Krauss.
Estelle is also an active member of the Institute of Physics in the UK http://www.iop.org/, and also runs her own Astronomy & Cosmology blog http://www.physics.ellenet.net/wordpress/?page_id=1500.
External links
- Official Site of Estelle Asmodelle
- Music portal with Estelle's Music
- Anaesthetic Dream (Autobiographical Novel)
- Sex-Business (Semi-autobiographical Novel)
- The Official website of The Enchanted Dance (Belly Dance film with Estelle)
- Estelle's Art Website
- Corporate website of her Ellenet company
- Estelle's listing on IMDB