1. Harvey Forbes Fierstein is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice.
28 Facts About Harvey Fierstein
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Harvey Fierstein gained notice for his theater work in Torch Song Trilogy, winning both the Tony Award for Best Play and Best Actor in a Play.
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Harvey Fierstein was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2007.
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Harvey Fierstein was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Jacqueline Harriet, a school librarian, and Irving Fierstein, a handkerchief manufacturer.
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Harvey Fierstein graduated from the High School of Art and Design and received a BFA from the Pratt Institute in 1973.
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Harvey Fierstein has authored op-eds for The New York Times and the PBS series In the Life.
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Harvey Fierstein began working in the theater as a founding member of The Gallery Players of Park Slope before being cast in Andy Warhol's only play, Pork.
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Harvey Fierstein performed his own drag routine in Greenwich Village, including an impersonation of Ethel Merman singing "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun".
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Harvey Fierstein is known for the play and film Torch Song Trilogy, which he wrote and starred in both off-Broadway and on Broadway.
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Harvey Fierstein is the first openly gay actor to win a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.
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Harvey Fierstein wrote the book for La Cage aux Folles, winning another Tony Award, this time for Best Book of a Musical, and a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Book.
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Harvey Fierstein was praised for his 1990 role as the voice of Karl, Homer Simpson's assistant, in the "Simpson and Delilah" episode of The Simpsons.
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Harvey Fierstein portrayed Mark Newberger in Cheers, earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1992.
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In 1993, Harvey Fierstein co-starred with Mara Wilson, Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, and Robin Williams in Mrs Doubtfire.
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In 1994, Harvey Fierstein became the first gay actor to play a principal gay character in a television series when he appeared as fashion designer Dennis Sinclair in the short-lived CBS series Daddy's Girls.
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Harvey Fierstein voiced the role of Yao in Disney's animated feature Mulan, a role he later reprised for the video game Kingdom Hearts II and the direct-to-DVD sequel Mulan II.
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Harvey Fierstein voiced the character of Elmer in the 1999 HBO special based on his children's book The Sissy Duckling, which won the Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation.
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Harvey Fierstein's Broadway acting credits include playing the mother, Edna Turnblad, in Hairspray, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.
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Harvey Fierstein later replaced Alfred Molina as Tevye in the 2004 revival of Fiddler on the Roof.
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In 2007, Harvey Fierstein wrote the book to the musical A Catered Affair; he starred in the production.
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Harvey Fierstein returned to the theater when he reprised the role of Tevye, replacing an injured Chaim Topol, in the national tour of Fiddler on the Roof starting in December 2009.
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Harvey Fierstein wrote the book for the stage musical Newsies, along with Alan Menken and Jack Feldman.
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Harvey Fierstein was nominated for the Tony Award for Book of a Musical.
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Harvey Fierstein wrote the book for a stage musical version of the film Kinky Boots with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper.
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Harvey Fierstein wrote and starred in Bella Bella, a solo monologue play about New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug.
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Harvey Fierstein reportedly dated journalist Ted Casablanca from 1987 to 1992.
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Harvey Fierstein's distinctive gravelly voice is a result of an overdeveloped vestibular fold in his vocal cords, essentially giving him a "double voice" when he speaks.
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Harvey Fierstein avoided identifying as non-binary in the interview, saying he had thought about it a lot and "it's the term that bothers me", but concluded that "I don't think I've missed anything by not making up my mind".