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'Alan Cumming' (born 27 January 1965) is a Scottish film and stage actor best known for his roles of Boris Grishenko in ''GoldenEye'', Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in '' and on the stage with his Tony Award-winning performance as the Emcee in the highly successful revival of ''Cabaret''. He has directed, produced, and written films, TV series and plays, voiced several soundtracks, written a book, developed a stand-up show at the Edinburgh Fringe, and formed his own production company.
| Contents |
| Biography |
| Early life |
| Screen work |
| Stage career |
| Other |
| Personal life |
| Filmography |
| References |
| Bibliography |
| External links |
Biography
Early life
Cumming was born in Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, to Mary and Alex Cumming, a forester.[1] He has one older brother, Tom. The boys endured a strict upbringing, and Cumming has described how he was beaten by his father if he didn't complete his chores.[2] Alan reportedly maintains a good relationship with his mother, however.[3]
Cumming attended Monikie Primary School and Carnoustie High School and originally aspired to a career in veterinary medicine, but a personality clash with his biology teacher put him off the idea and he subsequently set his sights on becoming an actor.[4][5] Following graduation, he spent a year and a half employed as an editor for the Scottish pop magazine TOPS before entering the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Screen work
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.
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. He recalls, "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!"[6]
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 had 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''. 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, Cumming had co-written and performed in Victor and Barry with him, a comedy act revolving around two members of a Glasgow amateur theatre group.
Cumming's autobiography "Cumming Soon" was released on Christmas Day 2005 and was a poor seller.
Developing his talents off-camera as well, Cumming co-wrote, co-directed, co-produced, and co-starred in the ensemble film ''The Anniversary Party'' with friend and former ''Cabaret'' co-star Jennifer Jason Leigh, in 2001.[7] The two starred in the movie as a Hollywood couple. During his career, Cumming has also directed two short films, ''Butter'' and ''Burn Your Phone'' - the latter was firstly a one-off drama on BBC Radio 4, however the nature of the narrative meant that it translated poorly to television.
2003 saw him playing a cameo role in the successful American sitcom Frasier. Playing the Niles' yoga instructor in season 10.
In 2004, he starred in Showtime's ''Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical'' in which 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, they have become friends.
Cumming plays a psychotic ex-amusement park employee with a "little matter to settle with the management" in David Munro's upcoming ''Full Grown Men''.
Stage career
Cumming's most acclaimed performance was as the impish Emcee in the 1998 Broadway revival of the popular stage musical ''Cabaret'', for which he won a Tony, as well as other awards.[8] 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.[9] 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, Valere in David Hirson's multi award-winning ''La Bete'', the title role in the 1993 English Touring Theatre's ''Hamlet'' (playing opposite his then-wife, Hilary Lyon, in the role of Ophelia), 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.[10]
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 Cumming had adapted from a literal translation by Terri Gordon. The play was hugely successful, however, the company folded in 2003.
In 2006, Cumming returned to the stage, firstly performing in a revival of the Bertolt Brecht-Kurt Weill musical ''The Threepenny Opera'', then in late 2006, he appeared in the West End playing the lead role in ''Bent'', a play about homosexuals in Germany under the Nazis.[11]
In 2007 he took the lead role in the National Theatre of Scotland's production of The Bacchae, which premiéred at the Edinburgh Festival in August, transferring to the Lyric Theatre in London during September.
Other
Cumming has also dabbled in other media. His first novel, ''Tommy's Tale'', was published in 2002.[12] 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 on 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 11 Fund.
Cumming also has his own range of beauty products, the initial product being a cologne called "Cumming: the Fragrance", as well as a series of other bath/body products, many with suggestive names such as "Cumming All Over" body wash.[13]
Cumming served as a delegate for the Creative Coalition during the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.[14] 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.[15]
His current projects include adapting his novel for the screen, and several gay-themed films: ''Gray Matters'', ''Coming Out'' and ''Suffering Man's Charity''.
Personal life
Cumming divides his time between New York City and London with his dog, Honey.[16] He has publicly stated he is an atheist.[17] Alan has dated both men and women, and was once described in ''The Observer'' as "a frolicky pan-sexual sex symbol for the new millennium," though he has stated that he thinks of himself as bisexual.[18]
In 1985, he married Hilary Lyon. They divorced in 1993, however, after his mental breakdown, and he subsequently became involved in several shorter relationships over the next two years, including one with Saffron Burrows, herself openly bisexual. He has a civil partnership with artist Grant Shaffer, whom he met in 2004 and dated for two years. The civil ceremony was performed at the Old Royal Naval College. Greenwich,[19] on January 7, 2007 . In a profile for ''The Times'', he recently stated he was considering adopting a child.[20] In March 2005, he was honoured with the Vito Russo Award at the 16th Annual GLAAD Media Awards for outstanding contributions toward eliminating homophobia.[21]
In November 2006, he was made a Doctor of Arts when given an honorary degree from the University of Abertay Dundee.
Cumming is openly bisexual, an 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, including AMFAR and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. He is also a member of the Creative Coalition, an organisation to bring public awareness of social issues. He was presented with the San Francisco Human Rights Campaign's Humanitarian Award in 2005.
Cumming has recently become a patron of NORM-UK [2], a UK registered charity concerned with the foreskin and genital integrity.[22][23][24]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | ''Shadow of the Stone'' | Tom Henderson | (TV Series) |
| 1991 | ''Bernard and the Genie'' | Bernard Bottle | (TV Movie) |
| 1992 | ''Prague'' | Alexander Novak | |
| 1993 | ''Micky Love'' | Greg Deane | (TV Movie) |
| ''Mr. Bean'' | Bachelor #2 (uncredited) | (TV Series) | |
| 1994 | ''Second Best'' | Bernard | |
| 1995 | ''Circle of Friends'' | Sean Walsh | |
| ''GoldenEye'' | Boris Ivanovich Grishenko | ||
| ''The High Life'' | Sebastian Flight | (TV Series) | |
| 1996 | ''Emma'' | Mr. Elton | |
| 1997 | ''Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'' | Sandy Frink | |
| ''Spiceworld'' | Piers Cuthbertson-Smyth | ||
| 1999 | ''Titus'' | Saturninus | |
| ''Plunkett and Macleane'' | Lord Rochester | ||
| ''Eyes Wide Shut'' | Hotel Desk Clerk | ||
| 2000 | ''Urbania'' | Brett | |
| ''God, the Devil and Bob'' | The Devil | (TV Series) | |
| ''The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas'' | Mick Jagged/Gazoo | ||
| 2001 | ''The Anniversary Party'' | Joe Therrian | |
| ''Investigating Sex'' | Sevy | ||
| ''Josie and the Pussycats'' | Wyatt Frame | ||
| ''Spy Kids'' | Fegan Floop | ||
| 2002 | ''Spy Kids 2: Island Of Lost Dreams'' | Fegan Floop | |
| 2003 | ''X2'' | ''Nightcrawler''/''Kurt Wagner'' | |
| ''Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over'' | Fegan Floop | ||
| 2004 | ''Shoebox Zoo'' | Bruno the Bear | (TV Series) |
| ''Garfield'' | Persnikitty | (voice) | |
| ''Eighteen'' | Father Chris | ||
| 2005 | ''Son of the Mask'' | Loki | |
| ''Reefer Madness'' | Lecturer/Goat-Man/FDR | ||
| ''Sweet Land'' | Frandsen | ||
| (2006) | ''The L Word'' | Billie Blaikie | (TV Series) |
| ''Full Grown Men'' | The Hitchhiker | ||
| 2007 | ''Suffering Man's Charity'' | John Vandermark | |
| ''Tin Man'' | Glitch | (TV miniseries) | |
| 2008 | ''Jackboots on Whitehall'' | Hitler | (voice) |
References
1. http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,896362,00.html
2. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-2274013.htm
3. http://www.filmscouts.com/scripts/interview.cfm?File=ala-cum
4. http://gaylife.about.com/od/gaycelebrityprofiles/p/alancumming.htm
5. http://www.thenitmustbetrue.com/acumming/acumming.html
6. AlanCumming.com, The Actor, Film.
7. http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/interview.asp?z=y&ctr=588643
8. http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=16130&mod=bio
9. http://www.cinema.com/people/007/747/alan-cumming/index.phtml
10. http://entertainment.lycos.com/movies/celeb_bio.php?id=11848
11. http://arts.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1181498.php/Alan_Cumming_to_head_Bent_cast
12. (Cumming, 2002) see References
13. http://www.cummingthefragrance.com
14. http://www.thecreativecoalition.org/press/DNCgala07-28-04.htm
15. AlanCumming.com, The Renaissance Man
16. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_1999_Sept_28/ai_56459828
17. http://www.celebatheists.com/index.php?title=Alan_Cumming
18. ''New York Post''
19. http://tv.yahoo.com/news/article/urn:newsml:cp.org:20070109:tv-28398022__ER:1
20. Times July 18 2006 The face, "Odd man out: Alan Cumming", David Mattin
21. [1] GLAAD Press Release on 7 March 2005
22. [3] NORM-UK News Item: "Film Star Wants the Foreskin to be with you"
23. [4] Alan Cumming Official Website: "Up and Cumming"
24. [5] News Item: "X-Man Nixes Circs"
Bibliography
★ Tommy's Tale, , Alan, Cumming, HarperCollins, , ISBN 0718144899
External links
★ Official Website
★
★ 2006 Article on Alan Cumming on Theatre.com
★
★ Alan Cumming - ''Downstage Center'' interview at American Theatre Wing.org
★ Alan Cumming's Queer Sensibility
★ TonyAwards.com Interview with Alan Cumming
★ Knightatthemovies.com 2007 interview with Alan Cumming
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