Scottish actor, singer and writer Alan Cumming was BOTD in 1965. Born in Aberfeldy to a middle-class family, he suffered years of physical and emotional abuse from his father, recounted later in his memoir Not My Father’s Son. After studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, he appeared onstage in Scotland and London, winning an Olivier Award in 1991 for Accidental Death of an Anarchist. In 1993, he played the MC in Sam Mendes’ celebrated revival of John Kander and Fred Ebb‘s musical Cabaret, winning a Tony Award when he reprised the role on Broadway in 1998. An eclectic career followed, including Joe Mantello’s queer-inflected Broadway revival of Noël Coward‘s comedy Design For Living; Broadway productions of The Threepenny Opera and The Seagull; a supporting role in the 1996 comedy film Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion; and the 2001 indie film The Anniversary Party, which he co-wrote, directed and starred in with Jennifer Jason Leigh. In the 2000s, he starred in a revival of Martin Sherman‘s gay-themed play Bent, a celebrated revival of The Bacchae at the Edinburgh Festival, a one-man adaptation of Shakespeare‘s Macbeth and a revival of his role in Cabaret. He is best known for his recurring role in TV drama series The Good Wife, wining him multiple awards. Recent projects include the TV series Lost in Scotland, in which he and actress Miriam Margoyles travel through Scotland in a campervan, and the American reality show The Traitors for which he won an Emmy in 2024. He also received a Tony in 2024 as the co-producer of Michael R. Jackson‘s queer-themed musical A Strange Loop. Openly bisexual since forever, he was briefly married to Hilary Lyon and in a relationship with Saffron Burrows. He lives in Manhattan with his husband Grant Schaffer, where he runs the queer cabaret bar Club Cumming.