Recently in Birthdays Category

...the great star, Lanie Kazan.

The singer-actress who first made a name for herself as Barbra Streisand's understudy in "Funny Girl" (She only subbed for two performances but the world took notice!) turns 68 years old young today. She's had an amazing life which I learned all about when we had lunch back in February, My favorite part of our chat was when the star of such films as "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "My Favorite Year" talked about why gays love her so: "They love me and I love them. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I am a little larger than life and I say what I feel and I sing what I feel. I have an big emotional range and I think a lot of gay men and gay women - at least more in the past and I think it's still holds true - have been caught in that inability or the fear of self expression, of really being who they are. And that's what try and do. I'm me and I'm full blown. I think a lot of gay people identify with that part of me, not afraid to express my feelings - my joy, my pain. All of it."

Related posts:
-- Exclusive: Lainie Kazan talks about singing in LA again, Greek Wedding, and going on for Streisand...

-- Part 2: Lainie Kazan talks about a career low point and how she came back...

-- Lanie Dazzles in Concert...

...Beatrice Arthur, who turns 86 today!

All that cheesecake she ate with Rue McClanahan, Betty White and Estelle Getty on "The Golden Girls" must have really helped because the Tony winner ("Mame) and two-time Emmy winner ("Maude" and "Golden Girls") is still going strong. She sure has superb comedy timing and, she can also carry a tune!

...Darren Hayes who turns 36 today!

The Australian singer-songwriter debuted in 1996 as the frontman and singer of the pop duo Savage Garden which had the hots "I Want You", "To the Moon and Back," "Truly Madly Deeply," "I Knew I Loved You" and "The Animal Song." Savage Garden sold more than 23 million albums worldwide before parting ways in 2001. Hayes released his first solo album, "Spin" in 2002 and last year released "This Delicate Thing We've Made," his most personal collection of songs - ever.

Darren entered into a civil partnership with his boyfriend of three years, Richard Cullen, on June 19, 2006 in London and announced it on his official website the next month. I interviewed him last fall and here is what he had to say about being an out singer:

"I don't see myself as a gay artist at all. I see myself as a human being. On the surface, I don't think my marriage or being gay reeally colors my music. But being out and being in a beautful relationship has made me feel better about myself. What that has done is made me brave in every area of my life. From launching my own label, making a double album. It's made me really brave and i think that kind of shows in the music that I''m making."

...Kyan Douglas, of "Queer Eye" fame! Like Paul McCartney of the Fab Four, Kyan was known as "the cute one" of the Fab Five who helped straight men clean up their acts and give them some style.

Kyan turns 38 today...and he's still the cute one!

The former member of 'NSync turns 29 today!

It was two summers ago that Lance came out publicly as a gay man and I can only imagine his life has gotten better and better both personally and professionally. Personally because he has been involved with a series of hot men (not so easy to do when you're in the closet) and professionally because he got his memoirs published ("Out on Sync") and landed a role in the current Boradway production of "Hairspray."

I think there are many good things ahead for this talented and personable young star.

...the fabulous Leslie Jordan! The man best known as Karen Walker's nemesis Beverly Leslie on "Will & Grace" turns 53 today. He's one of the stars of the upcoming Logo series "Private Lives" (based on the cult fave movie). I will update this post later today with an interview I did with Leslie a few nights ago at the GLAAD Media Awards.

...the legend turns 66 today. So many of us have loved Barbra for so long - virtually all our lives - and stuck with her through every hairstyle, every musical genre, every husband or boyfriend. She's always sang one helluva number and there really is no one else like her - no one.

Some Barbra videos, through the years:

Here is a wonderful 1997 visit to "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" where Rosie was overcome with emotion to be welcoming her childhood idol to the show. Barbra's music filled Rosie's house when she was a kid and was an absolute favorite of her late mother:

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One of my favorites: Streisand singing "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from "Sunset Boulevard" during her 1994 comeback tour...It's like buttah...

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Another fave: Barbra, in character as Esther Hoffman, singing "I Believe in Love" in a concert scene from 1976's "A Star is Born." Love the curly hair!

..."Ugly Betty" star Eric Mabius!!! So what the heck am I doing in this picture? Hey, it's my birthday too! We're both Earth Day babies! Yeah, I'm blogging on my birthday because, to me, Out In Hollywood is the real gift...

...Patti Lupone! The great star who has played Eva Peron ("Evita"), Maria Callas ("Master Class"), Mrs. Lovett ("Sweeney Todd") and now Mama Rose ("Gypsy") on Broadway as well as Norma Desmond ("Sunset Boulevard") on the London stage, turns 59 today. What a magnificant talent. Still, to my old pal Danny Sullivan, visiting from London this month, she will always be Libby from TV's "Life Goes On."

..."Star Trek" icon George Takei who turns 71 years old today. It's only been in recent years that George has been quite public about being gay but he's been in a committed relationship for more than 20 years. He's also been enjoying a terrific resurgence professionally with a recurring role on NBC's "Heroes" and a frequent gig on Howard Stern's radio show and the announcer and foil...

...the sensational Cynthia Nixon! She turns 42 today and continues to dazzle us with her amazing acting talent and her advocacy for gay causes and public education. She's forever Miranda on "Sex and the City" but if you've seen her in "Warm Springs" and other movies or on stage (she won the Tony for "Rabbit Hole"), you realize what a great actress she is and how she will continue have a very long and successful career. She also started very young, appearing in "Little Darlings" with Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol!

Holy cow! I was so excited about Doris Day's 84th birthday today that I totally neglected David Hyde Pierce! The Tony winner ("Curtains") and multiple Emmy winner ("Frasier") has always been a genius as a performer but my respect for him grew by leaps and bounds when he quietly acknowledged his longtime relationship with a man. He surprised no one but it helps us all each time someone famous comes out.

...movie legend Doris Day who turns 84 today!

Both my parents were big fans of Miss Day so whenever her movies were showing on television, we watched them. Particular favorites of ours were "Move Over Darling," "With Six You Get Egg Roll" and "Pillow Talk." Later, as an adult, I became more familiar witrh her pre-60s films including "On Moonlight Bay," "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," "Tea For Two" and - most significantly - "Calamity Jane" and "Love Me or Leave Me."
Here is Doris singing the Oscar-winning song "Secret Love" in a scene from "Calamity Jane"

And here is a funny scene from "Move Over Darling": with Polly Bergen who marries James Garner who doesn't realize his last-at-sea first wife (Doris) is not dead:

Miss Day followed up her movie career with five seasons of "The Doris Day Show" then later several pet-themed talk shows. She was also a major recording star for decades as well as the top box office star for a time.

So here's an idea: Why not award the great Doris Day with an honorary Academy Award next year. She was only nominated once and her body of work is stellar. Also, it is ridiculous that she has never been among those selected for the annual Kennedy Center Honors.

Let's honor this legend while we still have her around!

...the unsinkable Debbie Reynolds! On-screen, she was Grace's mom on "Will & Grace" (we all love the "I Told You So" dance!) and off-screen, the mother of Carrie Fisher who is just an interesting in her own right. I love Debbie in "Singing in the Rain" and really love Debbie in her Oscar-nominated role in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." But It's been so great to see her later role including playing Albert Brooks' mother in... "Mother" which my sister swears was really about our own mother and me.

She also played Kevin Kline's mother in "In & Out" and starred with Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine and Joan Collins in the critically-panned "These Old Broads" written by Carrie Fisher. "Broads" is worth watching mostly for the touching scene between Debbie and Elizabeth when they talk about the ex-husband they have in common: "Freddie Hunter." It was a poke at Eddie Fisher who famously left Debbie (and their two kids) for Elizabeth in the late 50s. It made her the Jennifer Aniston in the Brad and Angelina triangle. Whatever her private pain, Debbie always had a sense of humor about it in public and never stopped smiling.

Debbie, a star for nearly six decades, 76 today. She's still performing on stage and on screen, still dazzling us with her unsinkable personality.

The star of "Doing Time on Maple Drive" turns 43 today! He's still got that boyish face as I found out when I literally came face-to-face witn him at an ATM machine in Woodland Hills on a rainy day a few years back.

Sometimes credited as Billy McNamara, this handsome actor was a cast member (along with Tuc Watkins, Charlotte Ross and Brian Kerwin) on Showtime's late, great series "Beggars and Choosers." I also loved him opposite Jodie Foster in the late 80s flick "Stealing Home" as the younger version of Mark Harmon's character. Billy's other credits include playing Montgomery Clift in "The Elizabeth Taylor Story," a killer in "Copycat" opposite Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter, and Jeff Bridges' son in "Texasville." He also co-starred with Richard Chamberlain (today's other birthday boy) in the 1990-91 series "Island Son."

I'd say I loved him most in "Chasers" (above) but that's just because he hardly wore any clothes in several of the scenes! I really can't print some of the stills but I can provide this link to Kennethinthe212 from a few years back!
Billy still works in smaller movies and TV guest spots but it really seemed like he was poised to be a bigger star in the 90s.

I wish him much success in whatever he does in the future and pay tribute to what I believe was his best role to date as the closeted college student in "Doing Time on Maple Drive." Jim Carrey played his alcoholic older brother and Lori Laughlin his fiancee in this emotionally wrenching TV movie from the early 90s. It was directed by Ken Olin and if you haven't seen it, do so and have a box of tissue handy!

The handsome and out star of "Dr. Kildare," "Shogun" and "The Thorn Birds" turns 74 today! He still makes out hearts skip a beat!

The great sax player Dave Koz who turns 45 today! Dave has been very candid about the fact that once he came out publicly (about 3-4 years ago I think), life has never been better.

I try not to miss the birthdays of my favorite stars but I'm on vacation in Palm Springs this week so my focus is not what is usually is! Yesterday, the wonderful actor and person TR Knight turned 35 years old. It must be wonderful to reach that milestone as a man who is experiencing his biggest professional success with his Emmy-nominated performance on "Grey's Anatomy." And off screen, he has become one of the most visible out actors in Hollywood and he makes us all so proud.

...Sir Elton John turns 61 years young today.
I love Elton for being outspoken, for being an out and proud gay man, for all he does to raise money for his AIDS foundation. He's also close friends with my all-time hero, Billie Jean King, and theirs is the most beautiful of friendships that dates back to the early 70s.

Mostly, I love Elton because of his music. It was the soundtrack to my childhood with an older brother who played Elton's 70s records (yes, they were LPs!) over and over and over again. Years later, I have memories of several Elton concerts including one in San Diego that he did with Billy Joel, then a three-song set he did after a special screening of "The Lion King" in Hollywood, and best of all, a 10-song set Elton did for Billie Jean last year at the Beverly Hilton during an awards ceremony for female athletes called, The Billies.

I've interviewed Elton a few times. One was for a freelance magazine article and I was told he would call "sometime Monday or Tuesday" so it was a matter of having my cellphone on me at all times. Can you imagine? Of course Elton called while I was stuck in rush hour traffic on the 101 Freeway. I pulled off into a gas station parking lot and scrawled down some notes on a yellow legal pad.
OTHER BIRTHDAYS TODAY: If Elton wanted to have a birthday dinner with olther famous people born today, it would be a pretty awesome evening! I figure Elton would be seated in between two legendary ladies: Aretha ("The QUEEN of Soul") Franklin to his left and the great feminist and author Gloria Steinem to his right. Aretha turns 66 while Miss Steinem is 74.
Others at the table: Sarah Jessica Parker (43), young hunks Lee Pace (29) and Sean Faris (26), Desperate Housewives Marcia Cross (46) and Brenda Strong (48), my "Starsky & Hutch" crush Paul Michael Glaser (65) and Bonnie Bedelia (60) who was so good in "Private Lives." Elton could have Katherine McPhee (24) perform a few songs before dinner then the infamous anti-gay activist Anita Bryant (68) could be trotted out later so everyone could throw pies at her face.

I'd love to attend THAT party!

The greatest creative talent in American musical theater turns 78 years young today. This seven-time Tony winner is responsible for virtually all my favorite Broadway shows.

His most famous scores include (as composer/lyricist) "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Company," "Follies," "A Little Night Music," "Sweeney Todd," "Sunday in the Park with George," "Into the Woods," and "Assassins," as well as, get this, the lyrics for "West Side Story" and "Gypsy."

The one, the only Rosie O'Donnell turns 46 today.

After she left "The View" last year, we wondered what Rosie would do, how she would make herself heard. Well, that has not been a problem with her Rosie.com blog which is honest and open and hard-hitting. Rosie also published her book "Celebrity Detox," is preparing for her second "True Colors" tour with Cyndi Lauper and company, and has her ocean cruise business for LGBT families.

Whatever Rosie does, we wish her the best because she is a courageous woman - absolutely one of a kind.