Anglo-American actor and model Jaye Davidson was BOTD in 1968. Born Alfred Amey in Riverside, California to a Ghanaian father and an English mother, he was raised in Borehamwood in Hertfordshire. Identifying as gay from an early age, he cultivated an androgynous appearance, renaming himself Jaye. Relocating to London in the 1980s, he was spotted by a talent agent at the wrap party for Derek Jarman’s film Edward II and invited to audition for Neil Jordan’s upcoming film The Crying Game. Despite having no acting experience, he won the role of Dil, a trans woman who becomes the love interest of a renegade IRA assassin. Released in 1992, The Crying Game became an unlikely international hit, notable for a sex scene in which Dil strips nude and reveals male genitalia to her shocked lover (and the camera). Much of the film’s success relied on Davidson’s ability to pass convincingly as female and maintain audience sympathy as the love story progressed. His performance was highly praised, earning an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor – a categorisation prompting a number of transphobic jokes at his expense. Some queer audiences were less impressed, notably the English critic Mark Simpson, who criticised Dil’s stereotypical presentation as an emotionally unstable queen who murders a cis-gendered woman she perceived as a sexual rival. Davidson followed his success with a starring role in the 1994 sci-fi adventure film Stargate, playing an alien posing as the Egyptian sun god Ra. He retired from acting soon after its release, citing discomfort with his newfound celebrity. Largely disappearing from public life, he relocated to Paris where he worked as a model and fashion stylist. He married his long-term partner Thomas Clarke in 2017.