He is an actor, known for Mrs. Sign In. Edit Harvey Fierstein. Showing all 26 items. These four awards tie him with Tommy Tune for the most Tony Awards in different categories. The essence of Fierstein's landmark "Torch Song Trilogy" was autobiographical, since he began performing as a drag queen in Manhattan clubs as early as age The play was such a personal success for him that when he had to leave the show for four days for his father's funeral, the show closed. With his Tony Award win for "Hairspray", along with his three previous wins, he ties with Tommy Tune for most Tony Awards for different categories. Claus, dressed in drag.

Being Bella? Harvey Fierstein Doesn’t Need a Dress to Try

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Outspokenly homosexual, Fierstein has successfully smashed previous "gay" stereotypes with his deep, ratchety voice and his engaging "You got a problem with that? In , Fierstein wrote and starred in the stage play Torch Song Trilogy, a bittersweet three-part comedy concerning the homosexual experience in the AIDS era; the play won two Tony Awards and became one of the longest-running Broadway productions in history, toting up 1, performances. Fierstein repeated his stage characterization of Arnold Beckoff for the heavily rewritten and severely shortened movie version of Torch Song Trilogy.
Harvey Fierstein
He often spoke out about gay rights issues. Fierstein was born into a strict Jewish family. He graduated from the Pratt Institute , Brooklyn , with a bachelor of fine arts degree and soon made a career in New York theatre and playwriting. Seen all at once on Broadway , in a production starring the author himself, the trilogy proved to be a powerful, profoundly moving statement that took audiences into the then little-known world of gay families and their struggle for self-acceptance and love. He later appeared in Broadway revivals of Fiddler on the Roof , in —06, and La Cage aux folles , in In addition, he wrote the librettos for the musicals A Catered Affair , in which he also starred; Newsies, the Musical ; and Kinky Boots All three works were based on films. Fierstein also wrote and produced Casa Valentina , a play based on the true story of a group of heterosexual married men in the early s who met on the weekends at a rundown resort in the Catskill Mountains of New York, where they could freely indulge in their shared desire to dress and act like women. He then wrote and starred in Bella Bella , which debuted in
He is best known for his roles as Frank Hillard in Mrs. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in Fierstein occasionally writes columns about gay issues.