American actress Elaine Stritch was BOTD in 1925. Born in Detroit, she moved to New York City to study acting at the New School, going on a disastrous date with classmate Marlon Brando. She made her Broadway debut in 1944, turning heads with appearances in the musical comedy Pal Joey and William Inge’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Bus Stop. She originated the role of Mimi Paragon in the 1961 musical Sail Away, beginning a long friendship and professional association with writer-director Noël Coward. Her career was continually frustrated by her alcoholism, including dismissal from several high-profile productions. She made a spectacular comeback in the 1970s, starring in the original New York and London productions of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Company. As Joanna, she performed the hit song The Ladies Who Lunch, which became a personal anthem throughout her career. After moving to England, she starred in the popular TV sitcom Two’s Company, playing a raucous American who hires an English butler to manage her home. Stritch famously lost out on the part of Dorothy in 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls after offending the screenwriter at her audition; her former classmate (and nemesis) Bea Arthur was cast instead, to Stritch’s eternal fury. She scored her greatest professional success in her one-woman show At Liberty, an unsentimental voyage through her career, relationships and struggles with alcoholism. Performed to great acclaim in London and New York, the show earned her a long-coveted Tony Award in 2002. She made sporadic appearances in films throughout her career, including A Farewell to Arms, September, Cocoon and Monster-in-Law, and endeared herself to younger audiences with recurring roles in TV comedies Law and Order and 30 Rock. Stritch married actor John Bay in 1973, remaining together until his death in 1982. She continued performing, on and off-stage, until her death in 2014 aged 89. Though her romantic relationships were entirely with men (including a crush on Rock Hudson), her gravelly voice, acidic timing and world-weary cynicism endeared her to generations of gay fans, earning Honorary SuperGay status.