Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming , is a
Scottish film, television and stage
actor, best known for his film roles in
GoldenEye is the seventeenth James Bond [i] film [i] and the first to star Pierce Brosnan [i] as Ian Fleming [i] ...
, as
Boris Grishenko; in
, as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler; and on the stage with his Tony Award-winning performance as the Master of Ceremonies in the highly successful revival of
Cabaret.
Cumming has directed, produced, and written films, TV series and plays, voiced on several soundtracks, written a book, developed a stand-up show at the Edinburgh Fringe, and formed his own production company.
Cumming is openly bisexual, a
LGBT rights activist, and has promoted gay rights on both sides of the Atlantic with organisations such as GLAAD and the
HRC, as well as working for several
Encyclopedia
Alan Cumming , is a
Scottish film, television and stage
actor, best known for his film roles in
GoldenEye is the seventeenth James Bond [i] film [i] and the first to star Pierce Brosnan [i] as Ian Fleming [i] ...
, as
Boris Grishenko; in
, as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler; and on the stage with his Tony Award-winning performance as the Master of Ceremonies in the highly successful revival of
Cabaret.
Cumming has directed, produced, and written films, TV series and plays, voiced on several soundtracks, written a book, developed a stand-up show at the Edinburgh Fringe, and formed his own production company.
Cumming is openly bisexual, a
LGBT rights activist, and has promoted gay rights on both sides of the Atlantic with organisations such as GLAAD and the
HRC, as well as working for several AIDS charities. He is also a member of the Creative Coalition, an organisation to bring public awareness of social issues.
Early life
Cumming was born in
Aberfeldy,
Perth and Kinross, Scotland, to Mary and Alex Cumming, a forester. He has an older brother named Tom. He had a strict upbringing, and was hit by his father if he didn't complete his chores. Alan maintains a good relationship with his mother.
Cumming attended Monikie Primary School and Carnoustie High School, originally wanting to be a vet - however, a personality clash with his biology teacher put him off the idea and he soon wanted to became an actor. After he left school, he spent a year and a half employed as an editor on Scottish pop magazine TOPS before entering the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Career
Alan Cumming has spread his career evenly between film, television, and stage. He has also regularly worked both on and off-camera, as well as developing his own personal projects.
Screen
Cumming's first professional acting role was as a minor character, Jamie, in the miniseries
The Travelling Man, in 1984, which he filmed while attending the Academy. Alan recalled "I had never been on a film set before,I was completely green and utterly in awe of the whole thing. I thought that you had to act really small because it was television and so as a consequence I hardly moved!"
After graduating in 1985 with a BA in Dramatic Studies, Cumming began his career proper by appearing in the long-running Scottish
soap opera Take the High Road, in 1986. He made his film debut in 1985, with Passing Glory. In 1992, he starred in
Prague, in which he played Alexander Novak, a young Scot who is searching for a piece of film of his grandparents being taken by the Nazis. His performance won him Best Actor at the Atlantic Film Festival, and a nomination for a Scottish
BAFTA Best Film Actor award.
Cumming has often been utilised as a character actor; he was the hedonistic Lord Rochester in
Plunkett and Macleane and the misguided scientist Fegan Floop in
Spy Kids and its sequels. A versatile actor, in 1991, he played the comedic lead in the BBC film,
Bernard and the Genie opposite Lenny Henry, and in 1993 appeared as a villain in the
The Airzone Solution is a 1993 British [i] science fiction [i] film, produced direct- ...
. The following year, he starred as airline steward Sebastian Flight in the Scottish
sitcom,
The High Life, which he wrote with co-star Forbes Masson, and for which he also wrote the theme tune and much of the music. His friendship with Masson went back to their days at drama school together, and in their first term, Alan had co-written and performed in Victor and Barry with him, a comedy act revolving around two members of a
Glasgow amateur theatre group.
Developing his talents off-camera as well, Cumming co-wrote and co-directed, co-produced, and co-starred in the ensemble film
The Anniversary Party is a 2001 movie [i], written, directed, and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh [i] ...
with friend and former
Cabaret co-star
Jennifer Jason Leigh, in 2001. The two starred in the movie as a
Hollywood couple. During his career, Alan has also directed two short films,
Butter and
Burn Your Phone.
In 2004, Cumming starred in Showtime's . He played the role of The Lecturer, a versatile character who narrates the story and transforms himself into several other minor characters. Shortly afterwards, he had a short role in Richard Bell's provocative feature film Eighteen, which was narrated by
Ian McKellen. Having also worked together on , and also linked by their work for gay rights, both have become friends.
Stage
Cumming's most acclaimed performance was as the charismatic Emcee in the 1998
Broadway revival of the popular stage musical
Cabaret, for which he won a Tony, as well as other awards. He had previously played the role to great acclaim in a production at
London's famed Donmar Warehouse theatre, for which he had been nominated for an Olivier Award. Both the Broadway and Donmar Warehouse productions were directed by
Sam Mendes.
Other stage roles have included Otto in the 2001 Broadway production of
Design for Living by
Noel Coward, the title role in the 1993 English Touring Theatre's
Hamlet is a tragedy [i] by William Shakespeare [i] and is one of h ...
, and "The Madman" in the 1990
Royal National Theatre production of
Accidental Death of an Anarchist by
Dario Fo, for which he won an Olivier Award..
In 2002, Cumming, with then-boyfriend British director Nick Philippou, formed the production company
The Art Party. The company's first play was the first English production of Jean Genet's play
Elle, which Alan had adapted from a literal translation by Terri Gordon. The play was hugely sucessful, however, the company folded in 2003.
In 2006, Cumming returned to the stage, performing in a revival of the
Bertolt Brecht-Kurt Weill musical
The Threepenny Opera was a revolutionary piece of musical theatre [i] adapted from an 18th-century ...
.
Other
Cumming has also dabbled in other mediums. His first novel, Tommy's Tale, was published in 2002. He has also written many articles for magazines, notably as a contributing editor for Marie Claire magazine, writing articles about the haute couture shows in Paris. In addition to various film and musical soundtracks in which he has appeared, in 2001, he recorded a duet of "Baby, It’s Cold Outside" with Liza Minnelli to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the September 11th Fund. He also has his own range of beauty products, the initial product being a cologne called "Cumming: the Fragrance".
Cumming also served as a delegate for The Creative Coalition during the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. In this same vein, he contributed to
If You Had Five Minutes with the President, an original non-partisan collection of 55+ essays by members or supporters of The Creative Coalition.
Current work
His current projects include adapting his novel for the screen, and several gay-themed films:
Gray Matters,
Coming Out and
Suffering Man's Society. He will appear in the West End on 5th October to play the lead role in Bent, a play about homosexuals in Germany under the Nazis.
Personal life
Cumming currently divides his time between
Manhattan,
New York City and
London with his dog, Honey. He has publicly stated he is an
atheist.
Alan has dated both men and women, and
The Observer has described him as "a frolicky pan-sexual
sex symbol for the new millennium." However, he has stated that he thinks of himself as
bisexual.
In 1985, he married Hilary Lyon. However, after his mental breakdown, shortly after performing in the play
Hamlet, they divorced in 1993. He then had several short term relationships, including one with Saffron Burrows, herself bisexual, for two years. He currently in a relationship with artist Grant Shaffer, whom he met in 2004. In a profile for
The Times, he recently stated he was looking at adopting a child.
Cumming is also an activist for
gay rights organisations and
AIDS charities including GLAAD, AMFAR and Broadway Cares/
Equity Fights AIDS. He was presented with the 2005 Humanitarian Award at the San Francisco
Human Rights Campaign Awards.
Selected Works
- Shadow of the Stone
- Mr. Bean was a British comedy [i] television [i] series of 14 half-hour episodes starring Rowan Atkinson [i] ...
- Bernard and the Genie
- Prague
- Micky Love
- Second Best
- Circle of Friends
- GoldenEye is the seventeenth James Bond [i] film [i] and the first to star Pierce Brosnan [i] as Ian Fleming [i] ...
- The High Life
- Emma is a comic [i] novel [i] by Jane Austen [i], first published in 1816, about the perils o ...
- Romy and Michele's High School Reunion
- Spiceworld
- Titus
- Annie
Annie is a musical [i] based upon the popular Harold Gray [i] comic strip [i] Little Orphan Annie [i] ...
Eyes Wide Shut is a feature-length motion picture directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick [i], b ...
Urbania God, the Devil and Bob was a short-lived animated television series [i] that was broadcast on NBC in ...
The Anniversary Party is a 2001 movie [i], written, directed, and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh [i] ...
Investigating Sex Josie and the Pussycats Spy Kids...
-
- X2
-
- Shoebox Zoo
- Garfield is a comic strip [i] created by Jim Davis [i], featuring the cat Garfield, the p ...
- Son of the Mask is the 2005 [i] sequel [i] to the 1994 comedy film [i], The Mask [i] ...
- Reefer Madness, originally titled Tell Your Children, is a 1936 drama film directed by Louis Gasnier [i] ...
- Eighteen
- Sweet Land
- The Ant Bully
- Suffering Man's Charity
- The L Word
References
External links
