American actor Nathan Lane was BOTD in 1956. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey to a troubled working-class family, he studied drama at Saint Joseph’s University before relocating to New York, working as a stand-up comic. He made his Broadway debut in the 1982 revival of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter, and had a long professional association with playwright Terrence McNally, appearing in productions of The Lisbon Traviata, Love! Valour! Compassion! and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. An old-time song-and-dance man, he made a splash as Nathan Detroit in Broadway revivals of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and The Producers, winning Tony Awards for both performances. His first starring film role was as Armand the world-weary drag queen in The Birdcage, the 1996 film adaptation of musical La Cage aux Folles. Other film work included voicing Timon the Meerkat in the animated film The Lion King and playing Lurch in The Addams Family. In 2017, he played Roy Cohn in the London revival of Tony Kushner‘s play Angels in America, winning his third Tony Award for the production’s Broadway transfer. Though primarily a stage actor, he has made cameo appearances in television sitcoms including Frasier, Mad About You, Sex and the City, 30 Rock, Modern Family and The Good Wife. His recent work includes the comedy-horror film Beau Is Afraid and a recurring role on TV series Only Murders in the Building, winning him his first Primetime Emmy Award. Lane avoided discussing his sexuality for much of his career. When promoting The Birdcage, he dodged questions about his sexual orientation by quipping that he was “40, single, and works in musical theatre”, leading to a well-publicised grilling from Oprah Winfrey in a television interview. He finally came out as gay in 1997 following the murder of Mathew Shepard, and has since been involved in a number of LGBTQ charities. In 2002, he received the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, presented to an openly gay media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality for the LGBTQ community. He married his long-term boyfriend Devlin Elliott in 2015.