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RuPaul Praises "Queen Of The Night" Susanne Bartsch: "You Gave Me My Big Break"

Ru joined the nightlife legend's lineup at the Copacabana in the 1980s.

Susanne Bartsch: On Top screened Thursday night at NewFest, New York's LGBT film festival, where RuPaul was on hand—well, on video—to fete the empress of nightlife.

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NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 19: (L-R) Robert Kushner, David Barton, Susanne Bartsch and Candy Ken attend NewFest 2017 Opening Night - Susanne Bartsch: On Top at SVA Theater on October 19, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for NewFest 2017)

“Susanne, you gave me my big break at the Copacabana back in the ’80s, and today you continue to inspire all of us,” Ru said in a taped message.

“You provided a platform, and safe spaces, where LGBT artists can express themselves," Ru gushed. "You brought our tribe together.”

Portrait of Ru Paul, talk show host, drag queen, actor and television personality, impersonating Foxy Brown blaxploitation character. New York City, New York. May 11, 1990. (Photo by Michel Delsol/Getty Images)

Born in Switzerland, Bartsch has been a force to be reckoned with since the early 1980s, bringing together uptown and downtown at unforgettable parties, store openings, product launches, and more. (Her Love Ball raised millions for AIDS research.)

You're just as likely to bump into a Grammy winner or top designer at a Susanne Bartsch event as you are a drag queen or streetwalker.

Shane Gritzinger/FilmMagic

NEW YORK - DECEMBER 11: Susanne Bartsch and Designer Marc Jacobs Attend The Toy Drive For St. Jude's on December 11, 2007 in New York City, New York. (Photo by Shane Gritzinger/FilmMagic)

Anthony&Alex’s new documentary chronicles Bartsch's impact on nightlife, celebrity and New York itself, with interviews with Ru, Michael Musto, Amanda Lepore, and of course, Bartsch.

"You were really the one who championed me in New York—and really got me propelled to a place where I could pay my bills," Ru told Susanne in a 2014 episode of RuPaul Drives.

"We were a good team," the nightlife icon replied. "You were just such an addition to what I was doing. I started out with just me dressing up and eventually I wanted hookers and looks and god knows what and in the end it was Lady Hennessy. You were somewhere in between."

Below, check out some of Susanne's show-stopping moments with Marc Jacobs, Joey Arias, Cyndi Lauper, Pat Fields, Donna Karen, and, yes, Cher.

Shane Gritzinger/FilmMagic

Designer Traver Rains of Heatherette, Susanne Bartsch and Designer Richie Rich of Heatherette (Photo by Shane Gritzinger/FilmMagic)
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 25: (L-R) Nicky Ottav, Kyle Farmery, Ryan Burke and Susanne Bartsch attend "Like One Of Your French Girls" book signing - release party at The New York Edition Hotel on May 25, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Chance Yeh/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - CIRCA 1991: Atmosphere at Susanne Bartsch's Love Ball 2 circa 1991 in New York City. (Photo by Sonia Moskowitz/IMAGES/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 09: Susanne Bartsch (L) and Zaldy Goco attends the 7th Annual amfAR Inspiration Gala at Skylight at Moynihan Station on June 9, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 27: Singer/actress Cher, event producer Susanne Bartsch and a drag queen attend Q Thursdays at Marquee on June 27, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage)
NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 12: Launch Party for Yves Saint Laurent Fragrance 'Champagne' on September 12, 1994 at Statue of Liberty in New York City, New York, United States. Pictured, L-R: Michael Musto, Susanne Bartsch and David Barton. (Photo by Catherine McGann/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - DECEMBER 1991- Party promoters Chip Duckett and Susanne Bartsch pose for a photo at Gossip columnist and author Michael Musto's birthday party at the Limelight nightclub in December of 1991 in New York City, New York. (Photo by Catherine McGann/Getty Images)
Monica Casanova, Suzanne Bartsch and Patricia Field (Photo by Djamilla Rosa Cochran/WireImage)
Monica Casanova and Suzanne Bartsch during Olympus Fashion Week Fall 2004 - Seen at Bryant Park - Day 5 at Bryant Park in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Djamilla Rosa Cochran/WireImage)
Donna Karan and Husband Stephan Weiss, and Suzanne Bartsch (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)
Suzanne Bartsch during Oscar Viewing Party - March 30, 1992 at Paramount Hotel in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)
NEW YORK - DECEMBER 15: Susanne Bartsch, David Barton, and Amanda Lepore pose at Barton's Annual Toy Drive for Children Living with HIV/AIDS at David Barton Gym on December 15, 2006 in New York City. (Photo by Rob Loud/Getty Images)
Susanne Bartsch and designer Thierry Mugler at Barsch Fashion Show/Wedding, held at the Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, ca.1990s. (Photo by Rose Hartman/Getty Images)
Suzanne Bartsch during CFDA Honors Pauline Trigere's 50 Years of Fashion at New York State Theater Lincoln Center in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)
Suzanne Bartsch during 16th Annual CFDA Awards Gala at New York State Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)

Evan Agostini/Getty Images

Susanne Bartsch with Cyndi Lauper at the Stella McCartney store opening party on 14th Street in New York City. September 20, 2002. Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images
Suzanne Bartsch during London Now and the British Invasion at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)

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