Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor who portrays Mitchell Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. Previously he played the role of Richie Velch in the CBS sitcom The Class.

Ferguson was born in Missoula, Montana and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico as a child. At age eight, he decided to become an actor and joined the Albuquerque Children's Theater where he was a member for six years. In high school, Ferguson played Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie and General Bullmoose in Li'l Abner. He also joined his high school speech and debate team and worked as a dancer/singer at Cliff's Amusement Park.

Ferguson graduated from high school in 1994 and attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York City. He worked mainly in off-Broadway and Broadway shows, including the Tony Award-winning The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, where he originated the role of Leaf Coneybear.

In the summer of 2007, Ferguson starred in the Public Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He recently starred in the 2008 thriller Untraceable. Ferguson currently appears in the ABC sitcom Modern Family. and like his character in Modern Family, Ferguson is openly gay. He has been nominated for Outstanding Supporting Role in a Comedy Series at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards for this role. He submitted the season one-finale episode "The Family Portrait" to receive the nomination.

Filmography

• Untraceable
• Ordinary Sinner
• Arthur James Elmer
• Ogden
• Gregory Hoblit
• John Henry Davis

Television

• The Class
• Ugly Betty
• Sally Hemings: An American Scandal
• Rosie O'Donnel Show
• Richie Velch
• Dr. Farkas
• Tom Hemings
• Self
• James Burrows
• Jeff Melman
• Charles Haid

Theater

• The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• On The Town
• The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told
• Little Fish
• newyorkers
• Leaf Coneybear
• Chip
• Adam
• Marco
• Jesse
• James Lapine
• George C. Wolfe
• Christopher Ashley
• Graciella Daniele

Awards

• Drama Desk , Best Ensemble : The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, 2005
• Drama Lague, Distingushed Performance : The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Nomination), 2005 For creating the role of "Leaf Coneybear"
• Screen Actors Guild Award: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series - Modern Family
  

Krystian Legierski

Krystian Legierski (born April 22, 1978 in Koniaków) is a Polish LGBT activist, entrepreneur, member of the Greens 2004. In local elections in 2010 he won a seat in the Warsaw City Council, thus becoming the first openly gay politician elected to a political office in Poland.

Krystian Legierski is a Polish-born black gay activist. He is 27 years old and the owner of Le Madame, the influential Warsaw club that was recently shut down by the government. He is an activist of Poland’s Green Party 2004. From 2004-2006, he was a member of the National Council of the Poland’s Green Party 2004. He was a candidate of Greens in Warsaw district during the election to the European Parliament in 2004. He was a candidate to the Sejm in 2005 representing the Greens and starting from the list of the Social Democratic Party of Poland in Warsaw. During election to the European Parliament in 2009, Krystian Legierski was a candidate of Warsaw starting from the 8th place on the list of the PdP – Centre-left list, and he gained 1601 votes, that placed him on the 4th location compared to the results obtained by the rest candidates. In June, 2009, he brought an action against activists from The Rights of Republic of Poland for their statements considering homosexuality as a disease. Since 2009 he has been a member of the informal Initiative Group for Partner Relationships.

In November 2010 he won a seat in Warsaw City Council. He ran on a Social Democratic ballot, following an official electoral agreement between the Greens and the Democratic Left Alliance.

Richard Chamberlain

George Richard Chamberlain

Born : 31-Mar-1934
Birthplace : Los Angeles, CA
Father : Charles Chamberlain
Mother : Elsa
Boyfriend : Martin Rabbett (actor/etc, together 27 years)
Occupation : Actor
Nationality : United States
Executive summary : Dr. Kildare and Shogun
Military service : US Army (Korean War, discharged 1959)

George Richard Chamberlain (born March 31, 1934) is an American actor of stage and screen who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare (1961–1966).

Richard Chamberlain is the second son of Charles and Elsa Chamberlain, brother Bill is six years older. RC's family were relatively well-off (although they weren't anywhere near as wealthy as some residents of Beverly Hills), his father being the owner of a successful business which manufactured fixtures for supermarkets. Actor Richard Chamberlain was THE leading TV heartthrob of the early 60s. Most people know Richard Chamberlain from the television series "Dr. Kildare" in which Richard played the part of Dr. James Kildare. Richard starred in the series for five seasons from 1961 to 1966. However, those too young to have seen "Dr. Kildare" it was Richard Chamberlain's performance in the mini television series "Shogun" in 1980 and "The Thorn Birds" in 1983 in which Richard played the part of Ralph de Bricassart that bought him to the attention of many people.

Richard headed for Hollywood soon after his discharge and within a couple of years had worked up a decent resumé with a number of visible guest spots on such series as "Gunsmoke" and "Mr. Lucky". With the arrival of "Dr. Kildare" (1961), however, he became an "overnight" sensation, a huge pin-up favorite and source of idol-worship for teenagers everywhere. It also sparked a brief singing career for the actor. The attention Richard received was phenomenal. He subsequently advanced into the usual soap-styled leads on film befitting his image but Twilight of Honor (1963) with Joey Heatherton and Joy in the Morning (1965) opposite Yvette Mimieux did not score for him the screen fame expected. Crossover stardom is elusive and at the time he was considered strictly a TV commodity with a glossy "Prince Charming" image to shoulder on top of that.

Richard Chamberlain resided in Hawaii with his partner, actor-writer-producer Martin Rabbett, from the mid-1970s to 2010. Rabbett and Chamberlain starred together in Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold, in which they played brothers Allan and Robeson Quatermain. Richard Chamberlain was outed by the French women's magazine Nous Deux in December 1989 but it was not until 2003, at the age of 69, that he came out in his autobiography, Shattered Love (ISBN 0060087439). In the spring of 2010 Chamberlain moved from Maui to Los Angeles because of work possibilities, leaving Rabbett in Hawaii, at least temporarily.

In later years he devoted a great deal of his time to musical stage tours as Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady", Captain Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music" and Ebenezer Scrooge in "Scrooge: The Musical". Enormously private, Richard moved to Hawaii quite some time ago and at age 69 decided to "come out" with a tell-all biography entitled "Shattered Love," in which he quite candidly discussed the anguish of hiding his homosexuality to protect his enduring matinée idol image. Recently he has shown himself to be a good sport, appearing in the gay-themed comedy film I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007) and in TV episodes of "Will & Grace" and "Desperate Housewives".

In 1962 Chamberlain won the Golden Apple award for Most Cooperative actor. In 1963 he won a Golden Globe award for Best TV Star - Male for: Dr. Kildare (1961). He won the Photoplay Award for Most Popular Male Star for three consecutive years, including 1962, 1963, 1964. In 1980 he won the Golden Apple award for Male Star of the Year. In 1981 he won a Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Drama for: Shogun (1980). In 1982 he won the Clavell de Plata award at the Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival as Best Actor for The Last Wave (1977). In 1984 he won a Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for: The Thorn Birds (1983). In 1985 he won the Aftonbladet TV Prize (Sweden) for Best Foreign TV Personality - Male. On 12 March 2011, Chamberlain received the Steiger Award (Germany) for accomplishments in the arts.

Peter J. Gomes

Rev. Peter John Gomes (May 22, 1942 – February 28, 2011) was an American preacher and theologian, and a professor at Harvard University's Divinity School.

Gomes, an American Baptist minister, served in the Memorial Church since 1970. He was a member of both the Divinity School faculty and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. Gomes authored many books, including the best-sellers “The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart” and “Sermons: Biblical Wisdom for Daily Living,” as well as numerous articles and papers.

He was the son of a cranberry bog worker who went on to pray at the inaugurations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. And he was a devoted minister who urged Christians to look beyond a literal interpretation of the Bible to capture its spirit.

The cause was complications of a stroke, Harvard said. His death, which was first reported by The Harvard Crimson, was confirmed by Emily Lemiska, a spokeswoman at Massachusetts General Hospital, where Mr. Gomes had recently been treated. He lived in Cambridge and Plymouth, Mass.

At Harvard, Mr. Gomes was the Plummer professor of Christian morals at the School of Divinity and the Pusey minister of Memorial Church, a nondenominational center of Christian life on campus. For decades, he was among the first and the last to address undergraduates, greeting arriving freshmen with a sermon on hallowed traditions and advising graduating seniors about the world beyond the sheltering Harvard Yard.

He taught the popular course Religion 1513: “History of Harvard and Its Presidents” and delivered prayers at the inaugurations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

“He’s been a brilliant preacher and has carried the Memorial Church and the heart of the College for decades now,” Memorial Church Associate Minister and longtime friend Dorothy A. Austin said of Gomes in January.

Gomes also served as an advocate for gay rights since he came out in 1991.

He was a prolific author, writing New York Times bestsellers such as “The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart” and “Sermons: The Book of Wisdom for Daily Living”.

He said that he planned to retire in 2012 after more than 40 years at Harvard.

The Massachusetts native was almost impossible to categorize. He was baptized a Catholic but grew up in the Baptist church before graduating from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and Harvard Divinity School. He was an African-American man raised in a Republican family who ministered at Harvard University and who came out as gay in 1991.

“No one epitomizes all that is good about Harvard more than Peter J. Gomes,” said Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard’s Alphonse Fletcher University Professor. The pair met in 1991 when Gomes was part of a recruiting committee that helped to bring Gates to the University. Gates quipped it was “love at first sight,” and said Gomes had been a loyal friend and adviser for 20 years.

In January 2010, Rev. Gomes announced he was planning to retire from Harvard in 2012. He suffered a stroke on December 10, 2010 and was hospitalized. He hoped to return to the pulpit of Harvard's Memorial Church, possibly even in time to give the Easter 2011 sermon.[18] He died from a brain aneurysm and heart attack on February 28, 2011 at the age of 68. Speakers at his memorial service, at the Memorial Church on April 6, 2011, included Derek C. Bok, a former president of Harvard University, Drew Gilpin Faust, president of the University, and Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts.

Harvard University announced on its website that it had named Wendel W. Meyer, who had originally served as associate minister for administration in December 2010, as the acting Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church, while the University searches for a qualified minister and academic to succeed Reverend Gomes.

Steven Davies

Full name : Steven Michael Davies
Born : June 17, 1986, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire
Major teams : England, England Lions, Marylebone Cricket Club, Surrey, Worcestershire, Worcestershire Cricket Board
Nickname : Davo
Playing role : Wicketkeeper
Batting style : Left-hand bat
Fielding position : Wicketkeeper
Education : King Charles 1 School

Davies is openly gay. He came out publicly on 27 February 2011 in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. He had come out to his family five years earlier, and he was also already out to his teammates. He became the first international cricketer to announce his homosexuality.

"I'm comfortable with who I am - and happy to say who I am in public," Davies said. "To speak out is a massive relief for me, but if I can just help one person to deal with their sexuality then that's all I care about."

Davies came out to his friends and family five years ago and confided in England coach Andy Flower ahead of the Ashes tour, with Flower and captain Andrew Strauss then letting the rest of the squad know.

"It was a fantastic thing to do, telling the lads," he said. "The difference is huge. I am so much happier. I told Andy Flower first. It was a tough thing for me to do, to tell him face-to-face, but I had to do it. He supported me 100%, [both] him and Andrew Strauss. It was the right thing to do as I felt I couldn't live like this anymore.

"I didn't enjoy going on tour too much because of the secret, and the Ashes was going to be a 3½-month tour. That's a long time and I would have really struggled to finish it. My sexuality is an essential part of who I am, so I wanted the boys to know."

Strauss said that he would tell half the squad, with Flower telling the others. Two days later, Davies met his team-mates at Lord's, where their reaction could not have been more supportive.

"I was so nervous," he said. "I got there really early -- I was the first one. I couldn't think of anything except what they were going to say and how they would react. In fact, everyone was great. They just said it wasn't an issue."

Matt Prior, who was his rival for the wicketkeeping position and is playing that role in the World Cup, came over to give Davies a hug. "He couldn't believe I had kept it to myself for this long," Davies said. "He said I should have told him. That was special."

On 19 September 2005 Davies was named in the 17-man ECB National Academy squad. In March 2006, he was called up to the England A squad to replace Chris Read, who had returned home after a burglary at his house. He was named in the England A squad touring Bangladesh in 2007.

He made his Twenty20 International debut for England, opening the batting along with Ravi Bopara against the West Indies in Port of Spain on March 15, 2009, top-scoring with 27 from 21 balls as England reached 55 for 1, before collapsing to 121 all out.

In October 2009, Davies was called up to England's Test squad for the first time. Geoff Miller, England's chairman of selectors, said "Steven is a player of great potential who has been a consistent performer for his county and he will act as understudy to Matt Prior in South Africa". Although part of the Test squad, Davies was not selected for the ODI squad on the tour.

Davies made his ODI debut in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia on 2 October, after regular wicket-keeper Matt Prior fell ill, but only scored 5 runs in a 9-wicket defeat. Davies had to wait nearly a year for his next appearance. After both Prior and Craig Kieswetter were dropped, Davies was given the gloves for the Pakistan ODI series during September 2010. England won the ODI series 3-2, with Davies earning himself a man-of-the-match award in the first game after top-scoring with 87.

After the series, Davies was selected along with Prior as a keeper in England's squad for the 2010-11 Ashes series in Australia, although he was not required to play as England retained the Ashes with a 3-1 victory. In the one-day games that followed, he played in two Twenty20s before scoring 42 in the first ODI. However, when the squad for the 2011 World Cup was announced before the second ODI, Davies was left out in favour of Prior, who then joined up with the ODI side despite not originally being selected in the squad.

Derek Jarman British Film Director

Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.

Jarman was born in Northwood, Middlesex. His father was a military officer, born in New Zealand, and his mother was half-Jewish. He boarded at Canford School in Dorset, and from 1960 studied at King's College London. This was followed by four years at the Slade School of Art, University College London, starting in 1963. He had a studio at Butler's Wharf, London, and was part of the Andrew Logan social scene in the 1970s. Jarman was outspoken about homosexuality, his never-ending public fight for gay rights, and his personal struggle with AIDS.

On 22 December 1986, Jarman was diagnosed as HIV positive, and discussed his condition in public. His illness prompted him to move to Prospect Cottage, Dungeness in Kent, near the nuclear power station. In 1994, he died of an AIDS-related illness in London, aged 52. He is buried in the graveyard at St. Clements Church, Old Romney, Kent.

Jarman made his debut in “overground” narrative filmmaking with the groundbreaking Sebastiane (1976), arguably the first British film to feature positive images of gay sexuality, and the first (and to date, only) film entirely in Latin. He follwed this with the film many regard as his first masterpiece, Jubilee (shot 1977, released 1978), in which Queen Elizabeth I of England is transported forward in time to a desolate and brutal wasteland ruled by her twentieth century namesake. Jubilee was arguably the first UK punk movie, and amongst its cast featured punk groups and figures such as Wayne County, Jordan and Adam and the Ants.

The band Chumbawamba subsequently released Song for Derek Jarman in his honour. Andi Sexgang, another music artist, released the CD Last of England as a Jarman tribute. The ambient experimental album The garden is full of metal, by Robin Rimbaud, includes Jarman speech samples. Manic Street Preachers' Bassist, Nicky Wire, also recorded a track titled Derek Jarman's Garden as a b-side to his single Break My Heart Slowly in 2006.

Jarman's work broke new ground in creating and expanding the fledgling form of 'the pop video' in England, and in gay rights activism. Several volumes of his diaries have been published.

Jarman also directed the 1989 tour by the UK duo Pet Shop Boys. By pop concert standards this was a highly theatrical event with costume and specially shot films accompanying the individual songs. Jarman was the stage director of Sylvano Bussotti's opera L'Ispirazione, first staged in Florence in 1998.

Jarman is also remembered for his famous shingle cottage-garden, created in the latter years of his life, in the shadow of Dungeness nuclear power station. The house was built in tarred timber. Raised wooden text on the side of the cottage is the first stanza and the last five lines of the last stanza of John Donne's poem, The Sun Rising. The cottage's beach garden was made using local materials and has been the subject of several books. At this time, Jarman also began painting again (see the book: Evil Queen: The Last Paintings, 1994).

Jarman was the author of several books including his autobiography Dancing Ledge, a collection of poetry A Finger in the Fishes Mouth, two volumes of diaries Modern Nature and Smiling In Slow Motion and two treatises on his work in film and art The Last of England (also published as Kicking the Pricks) and Chroma. Other notable published works include film scripts (Up in the Air, Blue, War Requiem, Caravaggio, Queer Edward II and Wittgenstein: The Terry Eagleton Script/The Derek Jarman Film), a study of his garden at Dungeness Derek Jarman's Garden, and At Your Own Risk, a defiant celebration of gay sexuality.