Born September 17: Bryan Singer

Adopted at two months, an only child, a child of divorce, Jewish in a largely Catholic neighborhood, and gay, Bryan Singer has often spoken about feeling like an outsider as he grew up and how that awareness has made him a better filmmaker. His first movie to be widely released, The Usual Suspects, won two Oscars. His next was Apt Pupil, and after that he made the record-shattering X-Men, in which all kinds of minority moviegoers saw an allegory about themselves. Openly gay, he often hires family, giving bit parts to his mother, father, and stepmother, and major roles to Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, and Kevin Spacey. His next film stars Tom Cruise with Stephen Fry and Eddie Izzard. It is Singer's second Nazi movie and it looks as awful as its abysmal buzz. Officially, it has had five different release dates, from June 08 to February 09, and is currently scheduled for December 26. Although his movies have homoerotic moments, homo-friendly subtexts, and a really serious uniform fetish, Singer has yet to make a gay movie. He was attached to direct The Mayor of Castro Street but was beat out by Gus van Sant's Milk. He is also executive producer of the smash hit tv show House, the most watched series of the 2007-08 season.