Billy Porter | |
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![]() Porter in 2017 | |
Born | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | September 21, 1969
Education | |
Occupation | Actor, singer |
Spouse(s) | Adam Smith (m. 2017) |
Billy Porter (born September 21, 1969) is an American actor, singer, and author. [1] [2] He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, and achieved fame performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer and actor. [3]
Porter won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in Kinky Boots . He credits the part for "cracking open" his feminine side to confront toxic masculinity. [4] For the role, Porter also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. In 2014 Porter won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for Kinky Boots. Porter starred in all three seasons of the television series Pose , for which he was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, becoming the first gay black man to be nominated and win in any lead acting category at the Primetime Emmys. In 2020, he was included on Time 's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. [5]
Porter was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to William E. Porter and Cloerinda Jean Johnson Porter Ford. [6] [7] His sister is Mary Martha E. Ford. [8] [9] [10] He grew up in a "very religious" Pentecostal family [11] and has described being sexually abused by his stepfather between the ages of 7 and 12. [11]
He attended Reizenstein Middle School and Allderdice High School, before graduating from the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School in 1987. [12] He graduated from the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama and earned a certification from the graduate-level Professional Program in Screenwriting [13] at UCLA.
During the summers of 1985 through 1987, Porter was a member of entertainment groups "Spirit" and "Flash," which performed daily at Kennywood, a Pittsburgh-area amusement park. [14]
Porter appeared on American Talent Show Star Search in 1992 and won $100,000. He appeared on the same show as other future stars, such as a young Britney Spears. [15]
Porter played Teen Angel in the 1994 Broadway revival of Grease . Other shows he has been in include Topdog/Underdog at City Theatre (2004), [16] Jesus Christ Superstar and Dreamgirls at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (2004), [17] and the song cycles Myths and Hymns and Songs for a New World (Off-Broadway, 1995). [18]
Porter wrote and performed in his one-person autobiographical show, Ghetto Superstar (The Man That I Am) at Joe's Pub in New York City in February and March 2005. [18] [19] [20] He was nominated for "Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off Broadway Award" at the 17th GLAAD Media Awards. [21]
In September 2010, Porter appeared as Belize in Signature Theatre Company's 20th Anniversary production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America . [18] [22]
Porter originated the role of "Lola" in Kinky Boots on Broadway in 2013, with songs by Cyndi Lauper, book by Harvey Fierstein and directed/choreographed by Jerry Mitchell. Porter won both the 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for this role. [23] [24]
Porter has also appeared in many films. He played a major role as Shiniqua, a drag queen who befriends Angel (David Norona) and Lee (Keivyn McNeill Graves) in Seth Michael Donsky's Twisted (1997), an adaptation of Oliver Twist . [25] He has also appeared on The RuPaul Show .
He has had a musical career with three solo albums released, Billy Porter on DV8/A&M Records in 1997, At the Corner of Broadway + Soul in 2005 on Sh-K-Boom Records and Billy's Back on Broadway (Concord Music Group) in 2014. He featured in a number of songs in the tribute album; It's Only Life: The Songs of John Bucchino in 2006 released on PS Classics. [26] He sings on Adam Guettel's 1999 album Myths and Hymns studio cast album on Nonesuch Records. [27] He also covered "Only One Road" that was included on the Human Rights Campaign compilation album Love Rocks .
Porter wrote the play While I Yet Live, which premiered Off-Broadway at Primary Stages in September 2014 in previews, officially on October 12. In addition to Porter, the cast included Lillias White and S. Epatha Merkerson. [18] [28]
Porter released Billy Porter Presents the Soul of Richard Rodgers in April 2017. [29] The album, which features new, soulful takes on classic Richard Rodgers songs, includes solos and duets from the following artists (in addition to Porter himself): Tony and Grammy Award winners Cynthia Erivo ( The Color Purple ), Renée Elise Goldsberry ( Hamilton ) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Tony Award-winner Patina Miller ( Pippin ), Grammy Award winners Pentatonix, India Arie and Ledisi, Tony Award nominees Brandon Victor Dixon ( Shuffle Along ), Joshua Henry ( Violet ), and Christopher Jackson (Hamilton), alongside YouTube and Kinky Boots star Todrick Hall and multiple Grammy Award nominee Deborah Cox. [30]
Porter reprised the role of Lola in Kinky Boots in September 2017 on Broadway, where he did a 15-week run. [31]
In 2018, Porter starred in the FX show Pose in the role of Pray Tell. In 2019, Pose earned its renewal for a third season after airing just one episode from the second season. In August 2018, Porter confirmed via Instagram that he was joining the cast of American Horror Story for its eighth season, subtitled Apocalypse . [32] [33] Porter duetted with Pose co-star Dyllón Burnside and sang from his album in a benefit concert emceed by Burnside on July 23, 2018, to celebrate the season 1 finale and to raise money for GLSEN. [34] [35] [36] In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, sparking the start of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, Queerty named him one of the Pride50 "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance, and dignity for all queer people". [37] Also in June 2019 he presented the Excellence in Theatre Education Award at the 73rd Tonys at Radio City Music Hall. However, he earned media coverage for his haute couture red and pink gown, upcycled from Kinky Boots' stage curtains, in a uterine shape, [38] and his impromptu performance of "Everything's Coming up Roses" from Gypsy, for host James Corden's "Broadway karaoke". [39] In September 2019, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Pose, becoming the first openly gay black man to be nominated and win in any lead acting category at the Primetime Emmys. [40]
Also, in 2019, Porter had a cameo appearance in Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" music video that featured twenty LGBTQ icons. [41]
Porter performed "For What It's Worth" with Stephen Stills during the 2020 Democratic National Convention. [42]
His memoir, Unprotected, was released in 2021. [43]
Porter attributes his love of fashion from an early age to growing up in the black church which he describes as "a fashion show". [44] His style has gone through many phases over the years, including vintage, Abercrombie and Fitch and geek chic. [45] He has said that he intentionally set out to use fashion in a political way, to be a "walking piece of political art". [46] Porter's stylist Sam Ratelle estimated that as of January 2020 they had worked on 150 red carpet looks together [47] many designed by Porter himself. [48] As of 2021 [update] , Porter's stylist is Ty Hunter who has previously worked with Beyoncé. [45]
At the 2019 Golden Globes, Porter gained attention for wearing an embroidered suit and pink cape designed by Randi Rahm. [49] He said the fact that people were surprised that he wore a cape inspired him to ask Christian Siriano if he could create him a ball gown because it was something he had always wanted to wear. He felt it seemed like a way to challenge people's ideas of masculinity. [50] He continued to make fashion waves that year when he wore a fitted tuxedo jacket and a velvet gown by Christian Siriano with 6" Rick Owens boots to the 91st Academy Awards. [51]
In February 2019, Porter was an Official Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Ambassador for New York Fashion Week: Mens. [52] Porter attended the 2019 Met Gala and embraced the Camp: Notes on Fashion theme by being carried on a litter by six shirtless men while sporting a "Sun God" ensemble. The Blonds designed Porter's outfit, and it included a bejeweled catsuit outfitted with 10 ft (3.0 m) wings, a 24-karat gold headpiece, as well as custom gold-leaf Giuseppe Zanotti shoes and fine jewels by Andreoli, John Hardy, and Oscar Heyman. [53]
In 2020, Porter wore a floor-length pink poncho style gown with a wide brimmed black hat, a look he characterized as " Handmaid's Tale realness", to the AFI Awards and to the Golden Globes he wore an all-white ensemble that included a tuxedo jacket with a feathered train. [54] He wore a sparkling turquoise bodysuit with matching bolero [55] and a motorised hat to the Grammy awards. [56]
Porter has performed at various venues in New York City, including Lincoln Center, which was broadcast on PBS in 2015 [57] and Joe's Pub in New York City. [58] In 2019 Porter headlined at London Pride. [46]
Porter performed "For What It's Worth" with Stephen Stills at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Porter is openly gay, having come out at the age of 16, "in the middle of the AIDS crisis". [11] He married his husband, Adam Smith, on January 14, 2017, after meeting him in 2009. [59] He was very keen to get married "while Obama was still president and before January 20th, 2017" so the two got engaged on December 29, 2016, and married 2 weeks later. [59]
Porter shared his views on race in the US in a 2020 interview with Vanity Fair , saying, "The reason why our country is in the mess we're in is simply because of whiteness. White supremacy. White people choke-holding power and sucking the life out of humanity". [60]
In May 2021, Porter told The Hollywood Reporter that he had been diagnosed with HIV in June 2007; [11] he was also diagnosed with type-2 diabetes in February 2007 and filed for bankruptcy in March 2007. [11] In the same interview, he talked about renting a house on Long Island during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a pre-existing health condition [11] and about having intermittently attended psychotherapy since the age of 25. [11]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | Twisted | Siniqua | [66] |
1996 | The First Wives Club | Singer | |
1997 | Anastasia | Ensemble and character voices | Voice role |
2000 | The Intern | Sebastian Niederfarb | [67] |
The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy | Taylor | [68] | |
2004 | Noel | Randy | [69] |
2014 | The Humbling | Prince | [70] |
2020 | Like a Boss | Barrett | |
2021 | Cinderella | Fabulous Godmother | [71] |
TBA | Little Shop of Horrors | Audrey II | Voice role |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Another World | Billy Rush | Unknown episodes |
1999 | Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story | Little Richard | Television movie |
2004 | Law & Order | Greg Ellison | Episode: "Cry Wolf" |
2007–12 | So You Think You Can Dance | Performer | 4 episodes |
2012 | The Big C | Eric | Episode: "Thin Ice" |
2013 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Jackie Walker | Episode: "Dissonant Voices" |
Land of Lola: Backstage at Kinky Boots | Host | 8 episodes | |
2014 | Christmas at Rockefeller Plaza | Performer | Television special |
2015 | Billy Porter: Broad & Soul | Performer | Television special |
2016 | The Get Down | DJ Malibu | Episode: "Where There Is Ruin, There Is Hope for a Treasure" |
2018–21 | Pose | Pray Tell | 24 episodes Black Reel Award for Outstanding Actor, Drama Series (2019) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (2019) Nominated—Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series (2019–2020) Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (2019–2020) Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (2020) Nominated—Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (2021) |
2018 | American Horror Story: Apocalypse | Behold Chablis | 5 episodes |
2019 | Saturday Night Live | Himself | Episode: "David Harbour/Camila Cabello" |
2019–present | Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve | Himself | New Orleans correspondent (2019–20, 2021–22), Times Square correspondent (2020–21) |
2020 | The Simpsons | Desmond | Voice role; Episode: "Highway to Well" |
The Twilight Zone | Keith | Episode: "The Who of You" Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role on Television | |
Saturday Night Seder | Himself | Television special | |
2021 | That Damn Michael Che | Atomic Twan / Security Guard | 2 episodes |
Middlemost Post | Recycle King | Voice role; Episode: "BURT! The Musical" [72] | |
Gossip Girl | Himself | Episode: "Hope Sinks" | |
Fairfax | Hiroki Hassan | Voice role | |
2022 | The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder | Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins | Voice role |
Sources: Playbill Vault; [73] Off-Broadway Database [74]
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his theater work in Torch Song Trilogy and Hairspray and movie roles in Mrs. Doubtfire, Independence Day, and as the voice of Yao in Mulan and Mulan II. Fierstein won two Tony Awards, Best Actor in a Play and Best Play, for Torch Song Trilogy. He received his third Tony Award, Best Book of a Musical, for the musical La Cage aux Folles and his fourth, the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, for playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. Fierstein also wrote the book for the Tony Award-winning musicals Kinky Boots, Newsies, and Tony Award-nominated, Drama League Award-winner A Catered Affair. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2007.
Brian Stokes Mitchell is an American actor and singer. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central leading men of the Broadway theater since the 1990s. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2000 for his performance in Kiss Me, Kate.
Carolee Ann Carmello is an American actress best known for her performances in Broadway musicals and for playing the role of Maple LaMarsh on the television series Remember WENN (1996–1998). She is a three-time Tony Award nominee and a five-time Drama Desk nominee, winning the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her role in Parade.
Kinky Boots is a 2005 British comedy-drama film directed by Julian Jarrold and written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth. Based on a true story, the film tells of a struggling British shoe factory's young, strait-laced owner, Charlie, who forms an unlikely partnership with Lola, a drag queen, to save the business. Charlie develops a plan to produce custom footwear for drag queens, rather than the men's dress shoes that his firm is known for, alienating many in the process.
Brian d'Arcy James is an American actor and musician. He is known primarily for his Broadway roles, including Shrek in Shrek The Musical, Nick Bottom in Something Rotten!, King George III in Hamilton, and Quinn Carney in The Ferryman, and has received three Tony Award nominations for his work. On screen, he is known for his recurring role as Andy Baker on the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, Officer Krupke in West Side Story, and reporter Matt Caroll in Spotlight.
Stark Bunker Sands is an American actor. He is known for his role as Tunny in the original Broadway cast of American Idiot, and originating the role of Charlie Price in Kinky Boots on Broadway. He is a two-time Tony Award nominee. He is also known for the roles of Lance Sussman in Die, Mommie, Die! and Lt. Nathaniel Fick in Generation Kill. He starred as Dash Parker in FOX's series Minority Report.
Annaleigh Amanda Ashford is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She is known for her work on television as Betty DiMello on the Showtime period drama Masters of Sex, and on Broadway as Lauren in Kinky Boots (2013–2014) and her Tony Award–winning performance as Essie Carmichael in You Can't Take it With You (2014–2015). In 2017, Ashford starred in the critically acclaimed, limited-run revival of Sunday in the Park with George opposite Jake Gyllenhaal.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) is an American nonprofit organization that raises funds for AIDS-related causes across the United States, headquartered in New York City. It is the theatre community's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community, BC/EFA has raised over $300 million for critically needed services for people with AIDS, HIV, and other critical illnesses since its founding in 1988. The organization awards annual grants to over 450 AIDS and family service organizations across all 50 states, Puerto Rico & Washington D.C., and is the single largest financial supporter of the social service programs of The Actors Fund.
Nicolas Putvinski is a Russian fashion designer. He was a contestant on the US reality television series Project Runway, in which he finished in 7th place.
Killian Donnelly is an Irish tenor. He has appeared in musicals and plays, such as Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, The Commitments, Memphis and Kinky Boots.
Kinky Boots is a musical with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and book by Harvey Fierstein.
The 67th Annual Tony Awards were held June 9, 2013, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2012–13 season. The ceremony returned to Radio City Music Hall in New York City, after two years at Beacon Theatre, and was broadcast live on CBS television. Neil Patrick Harris hosted for the third consecutive year, his fourth time as host. Awards in four of the eight acting categories, were given to African-American performers. Furthermore, it is the second time in Tony history that both directing prizes went to women. Garry Hynes and Julie Taymor had previously won in 1998. Kinky Boots had a season best 13 nominations and 6 awards. Cyndi Lauper, composer of the score for Kinky Boots, is the first solo female winner for Best Original Score.
A Broadway original cast album for the musical Kinky Boots was released on May 28, 2013, less than two months after the show opened on Broadway. It was produced by Cyndi Lauper, who wrote the songs, Stephen Oremus, the orchestrator and conductor, and William Wittman. On release it premiered at number one on the Billboard Cast Albums Chart and number fifty-one on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the highest charting Broadway cast recording since The Book of Mormon's album was released two years earlier. Vocalists on the album include Stark Sands, Billy Porter and Annaleigh Ashford,.
Celina Consuela Gabriella Carvajal, known professionally as Lena Hall, is an American actress and singer. She originated the role of Nicola in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots and won the Tony Award for her performance as Yitzhak in the 2014 revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which also earned her a Grammy nomination for the musical's official album. She made history by becoming the first person to play both Hedwig and Yitzhak in the same production during the national tour of the musical in 2016. Her other Broadway credits include Cats, 42nd Street, Dracula, the Musical and Tarzan, the Musical. Hall has also starred in Off-Broadway productions such as Radiant Baby, Bedbugs!!!, Rooms: A Rock Romance, The Toxic Avenger, Prometheus Bound, Chix6, and the 2017 original play How to Transcend a Happy Marriage.
Taylor Elizabeth Louderman is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She is best known for originating the role of Regina George in the Broadway musical Mean Girls, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 2018.
The 73rd Annual Tony Awards were held on June 9, 2019, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2018–19 season. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and was broadcast live by CBS. James Corden served as host.
David Hunter is a British actor and singer best known for his work in musical theatre. He is originally from Warrington. Hunter played Dr Pomatter in the Tony Award winning musical Waitress at The Adelphi Theatre, West End from 2019 to 2020. He trained at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA).
Ron Kellum is an American producer, director, artist and choreographer known for being a Broadway veteran and the first African-American artistic director for the award-winning Cirque du Soleil. He was the artistic director for the productions of Koozå from 2015 through 2016 and Volta from 2018 through 2020.
Actor Billy Porter wore a black velvet tuxedo dress designed by Christian Siriano on the red carpet of the 91st Academy Awards on February 24, 2019. At the time, Porter had recently come into public view for his breakout role in the FX television series Pose, and had been receiving attention for his boundary-pushing red carpet attire during the 2018–19 film awards season. Following his appearance at the 76th Golden Globe Awards in a custom silver suit with fuchsia-lined cape, he was invited to host red carpet interviews at the upcoming Oscars pre-show. Porter approached Siriano and they conceived the tuxedo gown in collaboration.
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