Billy Porter was born William Ellis Porter II in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 21, 1969. He has a sister named Mary and is the son of Cloerinda Jean Johnson Porter Ford and William Ellis Porter. Billy grew up in a Pentecostal family that was “very religious.” Porter revealed that he was in trauma therapy in a 2021 interview with “The Hollywood Reporter,” saying, “I started peeling back all these layers: being sent to a psychologist at age 5 because I came out of the womb a big old queen; being sexually abused by my stepfather from the time I was 7 to the time I was 12; coming out at 16 in the middle of the AIDS crisis.”
Billy attended Reizenstein Middle School, Allderdice High School, and Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School before graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama. Porter later attended UCLA and graduated from the Professional Program in Screenwriting. Billy spent his summers at Kennywood amusement park performing with the entertainment groups Flash and Spirit from 1985 to 1987.
Personal Life
Billy proposed to Adam Smith on December 29, 2016, and the couple married on January 14, 2017, in order to marry “while Obama was still president.” Porter discussed race in a 2020 interview “Vanity Fair” interview, stating, “The reason why our country is in the mess we’re in is simply because of whiteness. White dominance. White people are choking power and sucking humanity’s life away. Orangina 45, cancer in our White House, has been given the unfettered authority to spread his hatred throughout the country.”
Billy revealed in a May 2021 interview with “The Hollywood Reporter” that he was diagnosed with HIV in 2007, the same year he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and filed for bankruptcy. Porter will be honoured with the Elizabeth Taylor Commitment to End AIDS award in September 2021 by the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
Career
Porter won $100,000 on “Star Search” in 1992, and he played Teen Angel in “Grease” on Broadway in 1994. He made his film debut in 1996 with “Twisted,” and his song “Love Is on the Way” was featured in the hit comedy “The First Wives Club” that same year. Billy provided the voice for the animated film “Anastasia,” then appeared on the soap opera “Another World” (1998) and portrayed Little Richard in the television film “Shake, Rattle, and Roll: An American Love Story” (1999). He had roles in the films “The Intern” (2000), “The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy” (2000), and “Noel” (2004), as well as a guest appearance on “Law & Order” in 2004.
Porter received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off-Broadway in March 2005 for his autobiographical one-man show “Ghetto Superstar (The Man That I Am)” at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan. In celebration of the play’s 20th anniversary, he played Belize in a Signature Theatre Company production of Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America” in 2010. Billy debuted as Lola in the new Broadway musical “Kinky Boots” in 2013, winning a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.
Porter appeared as a guest star on “The Big C” (2012), “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (2013), and “The Get Down” (2016), as well as hosting “Land of Lola: Backstage at Kinky Boots” (2013) and starring in the special “Billy Porter: Broad & Soul” (2013). (2015). In 2014, he co-starred in the film “The Humbling” with Al Pacino and Dianne Wiest, and his play “While I Yet Live” (which he wrote) premiered at Primary Stages in New York City. Billy starred as Pray Tell on the FX series “Pose” from 2018 to 2021, a drama about New York City’s ballroom culture in the 1980s and 1990s.
“Pose,” created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canals, aired 26 episodes over three seasons and earned Porter a Primetime Emmy and several other awards and nominations. Billy also appeared in five episodes of FX’s “American Horror Story: Apocalypse” as Behold Chablis, alongside Murphy and Falchuk.
Porter co-starred in 2020’s “Like a Boss” with Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Coolidge, and Salma Hayek, and he played the Fabulous Godmother in 2021’s “Cinderella.” He appeared as a guest star on “The Twilight Zone” (2020), “That Damn Michael Che” (2021), and “Gossip Girl” (2021), and in 2022, he began voicing Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins on the Disney+ animated series “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.” He directed and produced the Amazon Prime Video film “Anything’s Possible” in 2022, and he co-starred in “80 for Brady” in 2023 with Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field, and Tom Brady.
Awards
Porter was nominated three times for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for “Pose,” and he won in 2019. He was nominated for several awards for “Pose,” including three Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama, and he won a Black Reel Award for Television (2019), a Gold Derby Award (2019), and a Hollywood Critics Association Television Award (2021). Billy has received five GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics nominations, winning TV Performance of the Year – Actor for “Pose” in 2019 and 2020, as well as TV Musical Performance of the Year (shared with his “Pose” co-star Michaela Jaé Rodriguez for “Home”) in 2019.
He was also nominated for Wilde Wit of the Year and Wilde Artist of the Decade (2020). In 2017, he received the Vito Russo Award from the GLAAD Media Awards, which is given to “an openly LGBTQ media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality and acceptance.”
Billy has been nominated for five NAACP Image Awards: Entertainer of the Year (2020), Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for “Pose” (2020 and 2022), and Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Television) for “Fairfax” (2022) and “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” (2020). (2023). He was named Badass of the Year at The Queerties in 2020, and he was nominated for a Dorian TV Award for Best TV Musical Performance (shared with Janelle Monáe) for the opening number of “The Oscars.”
Porter received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Guest Performance in a Television Series for “The Twilight Zone” in 2021, and “Smoke, Lilies, and Jade” (which he narrated) received a Best Short Film nomination at the OUTshine Film Festival. Billy will be honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2022.
Net Worth
Billy Porter has a net worth of $5 million as an American actor, singer, director, producer, and writer. Since the early 1990s, Billy Porter has been a popular Broadway performer, appearing in “Miss Saigon” (1991; 1998-1999), “Five Guys Named Moe” (1992-1993), “Grease” (1994-1998), “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” (1995-2000), “Kinky Boots” (2013-2019), and “Shuffle Along, Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed” (2016). Billy co-produced “A Strange Loop” (2022-2023), which won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2022. Porter’s performance in “Kinky Boots” also earned him a Tony, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award.
Billy played Pray Tell on the FX show “Pose,” for which he won a Primetime Emmy in 2019. He has over 30 acting credits, including “The First Wives Club” (1996), “Like a Boss” (2020), “Cinderella” (2021), and “80 for Brady” (2023), as well as the television series “American Horror Story: Apocalypse” (2018), “The Twilight Zone” (2020), and “That Damn Michael Che” (2023). (2021).
Porter directed and executive produced the 2022 film “Anything’s Possible,” as well as the “Robyn’s Story” episode of Fox’s “Accused” (2023). Porter also produced the 2016 miniseries “Mess,” the 2022 films “Black as U R” and “A Tree of Life,” and the 2023 BET documentary series “Black + Iconic: Style God.” Billy Porter’s albums include “Billy Porter” (1997), “At the Corner of Broadway + Soul” (2005), “Billy’s Back on Broadway” (2014), and “Billy Porter Presents the Soul of Richard Rodgers” (2017), and his memoir “Unprotected” will be released in 2021.
Billy was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people by “Time” magazine in 2020. Porter is also well-known for his fashion sense, and he is always one of the best-dressed celebrities on any red carpet. In 2019, he was named an Official Ambassador for New York Fashion Week: Mens by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Facts
| Net Worth | $5 Million |
| Date of Birth | Sep 21, 1969 (53 years old) |
| Place of Birth | Pittsburgh |
| Gender | Male |
| Profession | Actor, Singer, Vocal coach, Performer |
| Nationality | United States of America |
