Birthdays: June 2008 Archives

It's so nice that on his 45th birthday, George Michael is out on your again, sharing his talent with his fans - a talent he had kept locked away for far too long. He's had his silly scrapes with the law and seems to have emerged intact and focused. Loved seeing him on "Eli Stone" this year and on the "American Idol" finale and look forward to seeing more of him in the future...

...and we wish her the very best on this and every day. Cyndi turns 55 today and still has the energy of someone half her age. She is currently on the "True Colors Tour" which is dedicated to promoting LGBT awareness and equal rights. Cyndi, whose sister is gay, has long been one of our most important straight allies and we love her for that and for being one of the more authentic stars around. Love, love, love her!

I think Cyndi's "True Colors" is one of the best songs ever about accepting and embracing yourself. Here are some of the lyrics and a video of Miss Lauper singing thos most wonderful of songs::

You with the sad eyes
don't be discouraged
oh I realize
it's hard to take courage
in a world full of people
you can lose sight of it all
and the darkness inside you
can make you fell so small

But I see your true colors
shining through
I see your true colors
and that's why I love you
so don't be afraid to let them show
your true colors
true colors are beautiful
like a rainbow

The magnificant Meryl Streep (pictured at the 2007 Academy Awards) turns 59 today. While she is the one who deserves gifts on this day, it is she who continues to give us the gift of her immense talent. Her next to films, the musical "Mama Mia" and the drama "Doubt" are highly anticipated and she showed us in "The Devil Wears Prada" a few summers ago that she can still pull off things that we've never seen her do before.

As part of an Out In Hollywood birthday tribute to Miss Streep, here are some clips from some of my very favorite performances of hers over the years. Each are so different, all are wonderful.

1. Devil Wears Prada

2. Postcards From the Edge

3. The Bridges of Madison County

4. Ironweed

5. Best of all, Meryl as herself accepting the Golden Globe Award for "Adaptation"

The talented actor of stage and screen turns 39 today!

We will forever love Peter Paige as Emmet on "Queer as Folk" but since the series ended, the actor has been mighty busy with other projects. He starred last year in a Los Angeles production of "The Hkstory Boys," directed and starred in his own movie ("Say Uncle") and did one of the more memorable guest spots ever on "Grey's Anatomy" as a patient with a brain tumor who had no censor and would say whatever popped into his head like telling Dr. McDreamy that he's HOT!

Here's some of his scenes:

He doesn't dwell on it, but Neil Patrick Harris' coming out as a gay an nearly two years ago seems to have done wonders for his career. The Emmy-nominated star of "How I Met Your Mother" and the "Harold and Kumar" movies was already on a career upswing when he was compelled to confirm his sexuality when certain bloggers began applying pressure. He did so with grace and, for the first time, began to let us know him as NPH the man, not just the actor. He's witty and charming and utterly self-confident and his presence on talk shows, a game show like "Password" or as a guest host for Regis Philbin, have become a very welcome treat.

So happy 35th birthday Neil and thanks for letting us in a bit, you're a credit to us all.

There was a time when I really admired Boy George's candor and his guts. But for far too long now, he's lost his way getting arrested for everything from drugs to keeping some dude hostage! C'mon!

So, I wish George a happy birthday and hope he can stay on the straight and narrow and create some good music again!

I love this picture of the great Steffi Graf from Wimbledon a few years ago when she was honored as a past champion along with Martina and Billie Jean. Steffi reminds me of Glenn Close in that scene from "The Natural."

The great Graf turns 39 years old today. She retired from tennis nine years ago after winning seven Wimbledons, six French Opens, five US Opens and four Australian Opens as well as the Olympic gold medal. She did it with grit and grace and was ranked number one longer than anyone in the history of the sport.

Now Steffi is married to Andre Agassi and the mother of two children. I think gay men, like me, always loved her for many reasons, but mostly because of her indomitability.

Happy birthday Steffi!

...I've posted any beefcake pictures of Chris Evans. Well, today is as good a day as any since it is Chris' birthday! The star of the "Fantastic Four" franchise and such flicks as "Cellular" and "The Nanny Diaries" turns 27 today.

Ya gotta figure that Chris pretty much has everything he wants or needs as far as gifts go so let's consider this photo his gift to us!

So she's had a little nip and tuck, Joan Rivers still looks terrific and today is her birthday!

Saw her one-woman show at the Geffen a few months back and could not believe how full of energy she was, timing still expert. Gays love a survivor, right? Well Joan is certainly that and has always found a new and different way to put herself out there ...and make gobs of money! From stand-up to movie director("Rabbit Test") to author ("Enter Talking" and "Still Talking") to Emmy Award winnng talk show host to Tony Award nominated actress to red carpet queen to jewelry mogul.

You go Joan! And as Lucy Ricardo once famously said to Ethel Mertz during one of their catfights: "Happy Birthday. And I hope you live another SEVENTY-FIVE years!"

Before there was TR, Neil Patrick, Luke MacFarlane and all those other wonderful guys who are now out and proud actors, there was Chad Allen. The man who was cruelly outed by a tabloid while starring in "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" as a young man, has become an extraordinary actor and spokesman for LGBT causes. His "Donald Strachey" movies for Here! have been terrific and his performance in "Save Me" will finally be seen by the masses this summer. Chad's other roles include a lead in the feature "End of the Spear" and a role in the recently-completed "For Better of for Worse."

He has also been a very busy stage actor and will appear this summer in "Looped" opposite Valerie Harper at Pasadena Playhouse officially opening July 8 and run through Aug. 3.

Chad turns 34 today...Here are some highlights from one of his "Donald Strachey" movies which cast him as a gay private eye.

...the sensational Sam Harris who turns 46 today!

I love, love, love Sam whose musical gifts are off the charts. We got to know him on the original ":Star Search" all those years ago and he went on to conquer Broadway and become best pals with Liza Minnelli, Rosie O'Donnell and Bridget Moynahan. Sam was the best thing about the CBS comedy "The Class" (I still miss Perry Pearl) and is making a talk show pilot for Lifetime. He's also a new dad.

It must be so fun being Sam...

...tennis stud Rafael Nadal. When I posted a picture earlier today of Rafa after his quarterfinal win at the French Open, I forgot to mention that he also turned 22 years old today. Two appears to be his lucky number - or unlucky deoending on hows you look at it - he has been the number two ranked player in the world for longer than any other male player in history (three full years) but has never been ranked number one.

...that silver fox, Anderson Cooper. The CNN anchor turns 41 today and I hope he has a lot of fun celebrating. I think Anderson is smart and sexy and have chosen not to badger him about being more forthcoming about his personal life. I hope he's happy and I'm glad he's out there telling stories and filling in for Regis every once in awhile.