Who's That Queer? [Neil Patrick Harris]

Neil Patrick Harris is probably best known for his philandering womanizing character, Barney Stinson, on CBS television's 'How I Met Your Mother.'

Neil’s acting career started when he was 16, he landed the lead role in Steven Bocho's television series about a teen prodigy doctor at a local hospital, "Doogie Howser, M.D." which launched Harris into teen-heartthrob status. When "Doogie Howser, M.D." stopped production in 1993, Harris took up stage acting, which he had always wanted to do. After a string of made-for-television movies, Harris acted in his first big screen roles in nine years, Starship Troopers with Casper Van Dien and thenThe Proposition. In July 1997, Harris accepted the role of Mark Cohen for the Los Angeles production of the beloved musical, Rent.

In 1999, Harris returned to television in the short-lived sitcom "Stark Raving Mad," with Tony Shalhoub. He was also in the big-screen projects The Next Big Thing and Undercover Brother, and he can be heard as the voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the newest animated "Spider-Man" series. Harris has continued his stage work, making his Broadway debut in 2001 in "Proof." He has also appeared on stage in "Romeo and Juliet," "Cabaret," "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert" and, most recently, "Assassins." In 2005, Harris returned to the small screen in a guest-starring role on"Number3rs" and a starring role in the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother.”

Neil is openly gay and is a recipient of the 2009 The Trevor Life Award, which annually honors an "individual who, through his or her example, support, volunteerism and/or occupation, is an inspiration to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Questioning youth." The award is presented by The Trevor Project, a national crisis and suicide prevention organization helping LGBTQ young people who are facing familial rejection or considering suicide. The next year, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Trevor Project.

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Who's That Queer? [Stephen Fry]

Stephen Fry is an actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director. He is probably best known for his portrayal of Oscar Wilde in the movie adaptation of his life 'Wilde,' a role he was very well born to play.

Although his comic persona was often smug, occasionally overbearing and sometimes even mannered, the multi-talented Stephen Fry exuded an easy charm and rapier wit while successfully mining numerous mediums - film, television, theatre, novels and even Twitter. Fry first made a name for himself alongside fellow Cambridge chum Hugh Laurie on popular British comedies like "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" (BBC2/BBC1, 1989-1995), while also co-starring opposite Rowan Atkinson in the "Blackadder" series. Following another hit with Laurie, "Jeeves & Wooster" (BBC, 1990-93), Fry became a frequent presence on films in both his native England and in America, including an acclaimed portrayal of Irish playwright Oscar Wilde in "Wilde" (1997).

Fry became a powerful wielder of social media with his well-followed Twitter account, where he generated a huge amount of traffic with his pithy observations. By the end of 2010, Fry began rivaling Ashton Kutcher with over two million followers. Fry was next cast as the incredibly gifted, but unambitious Mycroft Holmes in the sequel "Sherlock Holmes 2" (2011), starring Robert Downey, Jr. as the famed detective and Jude Law as Dr. Watson.

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Who's that Queer? [Raymond Burr]

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American actor Raymond Burr will probably be forever associated with two successful TV roles - Perry Mason (1957-66 & 1985-93) and Ironside (1967-1975). Although he notably appeared in A Place In the Sun (1951) and as the murderer in Hitchcock`s Rear Window (1954).

An intensely private man, it would appear that Burr created a smokescreen to conceal his homosexuality by inventing two wives and a son. One of his fictional wives died in a plane crash, one from cancer, his son from leukemia aged 10. He was actually briefly married, but that marriage was annulled.

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Who's that Queer?

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Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American actor whose body of work spanned over half a century. He is considered one of the greatest actors of all time, and was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. In addition to his long film career, the openly bisexual actor was a major supporter of the Civil Rights and Native American Rights movements.


As a young sex symbol, he is best known for his roles in A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront from the 1950's. In his middle ages, his well-known roles include his Academy Award-winning performance in The Godfather, Colonel Walter Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, and an Academy Award-nominated performance as Paul in Last Tango in Paris.

In the early 1960s Brando contributed thousands of dollars to both the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.) and to a scholarship fund established for the children of slain Mississippi N.A.A.C.P. leader Medgar Evers. In August 1963, Brando participated in the March on Washington along with fellow celebrities Harry Belafonte, James Garner, Charlton Heston, Burt Lancaster, and Sidney Poitier. Brando also, along with Paul Newman, participated in the freedom rides.

James Baldwin and Brando at the March on Washington (1963)

At the 1973 Academy Awards ceremony, Brando refused to accept the Oscar for his performance in The Godfather. Sacheen Littlefeather represented Mr. Brando at the ceremony. She appeared in full Apache clothing. She stated that owing to the "poor treatment of Native Americans in the film industry" Mr. Brando would not accept the award. At this time the 1973 standoff at Wounded Knee occurred, causing rising tensions between the government and Native American activists.

In Gary Carey's 1976 biography The Only Contender, Brando is quoted as saying, "Homosexuality is so much in fashion it no longer makes news. Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences and I am not ashamed. I have never paid much attention to what people think about me. But if there is someone who is convinced that Jack Nicholson and I are lovers, may they continue to do so. I find it amusing." An alleged long-time lover was fellow actor Wally Cox, who was also Brando's best friend since their childhood. Brando is also quoted as saying: "If Wally had been a woman, I would have married him and we would have lived happily ever after." After Cox died, Brando kept his ashes for 30 years; they were eventually scattered with his own. Another alleged lover was the French actor Christian Marquand, whom Brando named his son after. Other Brando biographies detail alleged affairs with Carey Grant, Rock Hudson, and Stewart Granger.

Source: Wikipedia.org

Who's that Queer?

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Harris Glenn Milstead was an American singer and actor known by his drag persona Divine and his appearance in several of John Waters' films. The New York Times said of Milstead's films in the 1980s, "Those who could get past the unremitting weirdness of Divine's performance discovered that the actor/actress had genuine talent, including a natural sense of comic timing and an uncanny gift for slapstick."

Born in Baltimore on October 19, 1945, Milstead was raised as an only child. At the age of twelve, his family moved to Lutherville, a Baltimore suburb, where Milstead attended Towson High School and became acquainted with John Waters, who lived in his neighborhood.

In the 1970s, Milstead starred as Divine in a number of New York City theater pieces, including the classic camp women's prison drama, Women Benhind Bars, which was a major off-Broadway hit in 1976, playing the lead role of the evil matron, Pauline. Divine returned to the stage in another play, The Neon Woman, where he played the role of Flash Storm, the owner of a sleazy strip club plagued by a series of murders.

Milstead is most notably remembered for his numerous starring roles in film, for which he was a part of the regular cast known as the Dreamlanders. The Dreamlanders appeared in many of John Waters' earlier works such as Pink Flamingos (in 1972), Female Trouble, Polyester and Hairspray.

In the mid 1980’s, Milstead visited Bergen, Norway. At that time, Polyester had been a great success at the local cinema and he was treated as a real superstar by the press and by his live-show audience. In an interview with Bergen Gay Radio, Milstead mentioned that it was one of only a few times when he had experienced such immense appreciation. Usually he felt he was just some kind of industrial entertainer.

On the evening of March 7, a week after Hairspray was released, he was in Los Angeles staying in the Regency Hotel. The next day, he was due to audition for a part in the Fox network's television series Married... with Children. Known for his punctuality when working, people became concerned when he did not appear on the set the next morning. His manager, Bernard Jay, went to the hotel at noon to check on him. The autopsy found he had died in his sleep of heart failure, or an enlarged heart brought on by sleep apnea. He was 42 years old.