Billy Porter

William Ellis Porter II (born September 21, 1969) is an American actor and singer. Porter gained notice performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer and actor. Porter won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in ''Kinky Boots''. He credits the part for "cracking open" his feminine side to confront toxic masculinity. For the role, Porter also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.

In 2014, Porter won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for ''Kinky Boots''. Porter starred in all three seasons of the television series ''Pose'', for which he was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, becoming the first gay black man to be nominated and win in any lead acting category at the Primetime Emmys. In 2020, he was included on ''Time''s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2022, he won another Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for the musical ''A Strange Loop''.

He made his directorial debut in 2022 with the romantic comedy film ''Anything's Possible''. Porter received the Isabelle Stevenson Award at the 77th Tony Awards for his humanitarian work with the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and Entertainment Community Fund. Provided by Wikipedia