Name
Billy Porter
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1969-09-21 (57 years old)
Place of Birth
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Biography
William Ellis Porter II (born September 21, 1969) is an American actor and singer. Porter gained notice performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer and actor. For his role as Lola in Kinky Boots, Porter won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He credits the part for "cracking open" his feminine side to confront toxic masculinity. Porter also won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for the musical's accompanying album.
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. In 2022, he won another Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for the musical A Strange Loop.
He made his directorial debut in 2022 with the romantic comedy film Anything's Possible. Porter received the Isabelle Stevenson Award at the 77th Tony Awards for his humanitarian work with the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and Entertainment Community Fund.
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Known For
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- 2020 Together in Pride: You Are Not Alone as Self
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- 2014 The Humbling as Prince
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- 2021 That's My Jam ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
- 2021 The Circuit ( 1 episode ) as Self - Singer/Actor
- 2021 Middlemost Post ( 1 episode ) as Recycle King (voice)
- 1996 The Daily Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
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- 1997 The View ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
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- 1953 The Oscars ( 1 episode ) as Self
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- 2019 The Twilight Zone ( 1 episode )
- 2014 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2020 The Drew Barrymore Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2020 Equal ( 4 episodes ) as Narrator
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- 2014 Late Night with Seth Meyers ( 2 episodes ) as Self - Guest
- 2003 Jimmy Kimmel Live! ( 2 episodes ) as Self - Guest
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