Lebanese-American actor and producer Peter Macdissi was BOTD in 1974. Born in Beirut, Lebanon to a Lebanese father and an Armenian mother, he grew up during the Lebanese civil war, and began performing for his family to distract them from gunfire and bombing. He studied acting at the Institut De Beaux Arts in Beirut, until the war lead to the school’s closure. He moved to Sweden for three years, becoming fluent in Swedish and considering a career as a dancer, before being accepted to the Lee Strasberg Institute in Los Angeles. After minor roles in the film Three Kings and TV series The X Files, his breakthrough came in the second season of TV drama serial Six Feet Under, written and produced by his future husband Alan Ball. Macdissi stole his scenes as the witty, manipulative and rampantly bisexual teacher Olivier Castro-Staal, remaining with the show until its final season in 2005. He also appeared in three further projects written and directed by Ball: the films Towelhead and Uncle Frank and the short-lived 2018 TV series Here and Now. He and Ball co-produced the TV series Banshee and a TV film adaptation of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks starring Oprah Winfrey. He and Ball live in Los Angeles.

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