Happy birthday to...

...Tony winner Stockard Channing, who turned 64 years old today!

Why we love her: She was Rizzo in "Grease" for starters. And for those who can remember, she was also "The Girl Most Likely To..." and first-rate (and Oscar-nominated) for her role in "Six Degrees of Separation." She's also a two-time Emmy winner who had a lengthy run on "The West Wing" and was wonderful and wacky on the criminally-cancelled sitcom "Out of Practice."

Why we really love her: Stockard has always embraced queer-friendly projects including her Emmy winning roile as Judy Shepard in "The Matthew Shepard Story," the mother of a teenage lesbian in "The Truth About Jane," and the wife of a man who comes out of the closet in "Jack."

She's also appeared in such gay faves as "The First Wives Club," "To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" and "Heartburn." I also recommend you check out Stockard's delicious performance in the little-seen Bette Midler flick "Isn't She Great." The Divine Miss M played novelist Jacqueline Susanne in the movie and was fine, but it was hard not to think about how good Channing would have been in that role. As it is, she steals the film...not an easy thing when Bette Midler is involved.