Pittsburgh

Award-Winning Broadway Actor

b. September 21, 1969

“Pride is a protest. It’s a march, not a parade.”

Billy Porter is an Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award-winning actor and singer whose roles are frequently LGBT-themed. He was the first openly gay black man to win a Primetime Emmy Award in a lead acting category.

Porter was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father abandoned the family, and his stepfather sexually abused him. His mother suffered from a neurological disorder. A flamboyant child, Porter was suspected of being mentally ill and frequently bullied.

Porter found his escape in performing. He graduated from the Musical Theater Program at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School. He earned a BFA in drama from Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama in 1991 and completed a professional certificate in screenwriting from UCLA.

Porter received his first major national award 1992, winning Male Vocalist Grand Champion on the television program “Star Search.” In the following decade, he established himself as a rising star, performing on Broadway in the revival of “Grease” (1994), Off Broadway in “Myths and Hymns and Songs for a New World” (1995), and at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera in “Dreamgirls” (2004). He also starred in several films, including the gay-themed “Twisted” (1996) and in “The Broken Hearts Club” (2000), which portrayed stories of gay romance.

In 2005 Porter performed a one-man autobiographical show, “Ghetto Superstar: The Man That I Am,” at Joe’s Pub, a noted Manhattan performance space. “Ghetto Superstar” earned Porter an Outstanding New York Theater nomination at the 2006 GLAAD Media Awards.

In 2013 Porter originated the principal role of Lola, the cabaret drag queen, in the hit Broadway musical “Kinky Boots.” The same year, he captured both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. In 2014, as part of the cast performance of “Kinky Boots,” he won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

In 2018 Porter began starring as the character Pray Tell in the television series “Pose” about 1980s New York ballroom culture. In 2019 the role earned him a Golden Globe nomination and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. The Emmy made him the first gay black man to be nominated and to win in a lead acting category. On the red carpet, Porter’s often wild, gender-bending fashion statements have added to the media attention he attracts.

Porter lives in Manhattan with his spouse, Adam Smith.

Composer

b. November 29, 1915

d. May 31, 1967

“If you want something hard enough, it just gets done.”

Billy Strayhorn was a celebrated composer and arranger. Best known for his collaborations with bandleader Duke Ellington, Strayhorn had an important influence on the American jazz movement.

The youngest of five children, Strayhorn spent his early years in Hillsborough, North Carolina. His grandmother, who was active in her church choir, encouraged Strayhorn’s musical interests. In 1924, his mother moved the family to Pittsburgh. At the Pittsburgh Musical Institute, he took piano lessons and studied classical music. Strayhorn’s musical focus shifted when he was introduced to jazz, a genre dominated by innovative and successful black musicians.

In 1937, he began to compose in the jazz style and formed his first jazz group. The following year, he was introduced to Duke Ellington, who took him on as a protégé. Strayhorn worked with Ellington for the next 25 years as a composer, arranger and pianist. He composed the band’s best-known theme song, “Take the A Train.” Although Strayhorn and Ellington collaborated on numerous pieces, Strayhorn remained fairly anonymous and was rarely credited or compensated for his work.

In 1946, he received the Esquire Award for Outstanding Arranger. Ellington and Strayhorn were equally credited on “Drum is a Woman” (1957). In 1965, Strayhorn played his only solo concert to a sold-out theater at the New School in New York City. Some of his best-known compositions are “Chelsea Bridge,” “Day Dream,” “Johnny Come Lately,” “Clementine” and the Ellington Band’s “Lotus Blossom.”

Strayhorn was openly gay. There is speculation that his sexual orientation motivated his decision to avoid the spotlight. He was actively involved in the African-American civil rights movement. For the musical revue “My People” he arranged “King Fought the Battle of ‘Bam,’” dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

At 53, Strayhorn died from cancer. Although relatively unknown during his career, his complex arrangements and classical elements have inspired generations of jazz musicians.

Artist, filmmaker and publisher

b. August 6, 1928

d. February 22, 1987

"They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."

With his pioneering image-appropriating Pop Art, Andy Warhol is one of the most influential artists of the 20^th century.

Born Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he studied pictorial design at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). He moved to New York City and worked in advertising for Tiffany & Co., Columbia Records, Vogue, NBC and The New York Times.

Galleries rejected his early drawings due to their overt homosexual content. In the 1960’s, Warhol appropriated images from popular culture to create his iconic "Campbell Soup Can," "Disasters" and "Marilyn" series. He made avant-garde films including "Sleep," "Chelsea Girls" and "Empire." Warhol’s studio, The Factory, attracted artists, art critics and celebrities.

In the 1970’s, he focused on celebrity portraits using screen printing and paint. Mick Jagger, Liza Minnelli, John Lennon and Diana Ross were among his subjects. Warhol founded the magazine Interview, dedicated to the "cult of celebrity." He wrote in "The Philosophy of Andy Warhol" (1975) that "Making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art."

Following routine gall bladder surgery, Warhol suffered a heart attack and died. His will stipulated that his estate create a foundation for the advancement of the arts. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts helps secure Warhol’s legacy and is one of the preeminent national funders of innovative contemporary art.

Warhol’s work is exhibited in modern art institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Whitney Museum, all in New York City, the Tate Museum in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh is the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single artist.