Arturo Galster, 55, San Francisco drag performer

With curly brown hair, red lipstick, and much devotion, Arturo Galster performed for years as the incarnation of country-music superstar Patsy Cline.

"He was hilarious. He was ridiculous. He was a genius," entertainer D'Arcy Drollinger remembered on Facebook. And producer Marc Huestis said: "He was THE MOST brilliant performer and loyal to the core."

Mr. Galster, 55, a popular star of San Francisco's drag performance scene and a Philadelphia native, died Monday, Aug. 25, in his adopted city. He suffered a head injury three days earlier in an incident at San Francisco's Dolores Park. Police are investigating, and the San Francisco County coroner has not established the cause of death.

Mr. Galster was born Arthur Francis Galster and grew up in Philadelphia. His interest in musical theater started at Father Judge High School, from which he graduated in 1977. He began college at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University and moved in 1978 to San Francisco's Art Institute, which he attended for four years.

Mr. Galster appeared in plays, musicals, cabaret shows, and films from the early 1980s and until his death, including two cult-classic drag films - Vegas in Space, in which he played Noodles Nebula, and Virtue II, in which he played Patsy Cline.

The latter character stuck. From 1982 to 1989, Mr. Galster toured every summer as the country star at nightclubs in several American cities as well as in London and Tokyo, accompanied by a tribute band called the Memphis G-Spots.

In 1996 he appeared as a drag-queen streetwalker in an episode of the television series Nash Bridges.

Onstage in San Francisco, Mr. Galster performed in several productions from the mid-1980s on. From 1995 to 2012 he was a regular performer in shows presented by producer Huestis at the Castro Theatre there.

"His influence is extensive. His inspiration impacts through decades and cities across the globe," his close friend Helen Shumaker said. "And he was most fun on stage as a co-performer. His capacity was so broad."

He even studied for two years the hula dance at a nonprofit school in San Francisco. And he performed traditional Japanese theater, which he had learned living in Japan from 1986 to 1990.

Mr. Galster eventually returned to San Francisco, a city that had commanding influence on him. "Arturo embodied what have become the iconic and defining qualities of his adopted city: passion, fearlessness, and an unwavering zest for life," his sister Cate Fetterman said.

Mr. Galster is survived by his brothers, Rod, Gerry, Rick, Joseph, and Greg; and sisters, Miriam, Helen, and Cate.

Mr. Galster's theater colleagues plan a public tribute show to honor his memory at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco on Monday, Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m.

The Galster family is also making plans for a private memorial service in Philadelphia.

215-854-2817 @ZiskaH