Born December 24: Kevin Killian, Lee Daniels

Queer national treasure Kevin Killian is 60. A native of New York, a survivor of Catholic schooling, he moved to San Francisco in 1980 and by the end of that decade published two novels Shy (readers of which, said PW, "will be richly compensated by its intellectually stimulating and emotionally gripping prose") and Bedrooms Have Windows. Seven years later he released his debut collection of stories, Little Men, and the following year came his third novel, Arctic Summer. His second collection, I Cry Like a Baby, appeared in 2001. His third collection, the brilliant Impossible Princess, won a Lammy in 2010, the same year he published his fourth novel, Spread Eagle. He shared an American Book Award for co-editing My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer. A co-founder of the Poets Theater, he is said to have written more than 30 plays. Queering matrimony, he is married to lesbian Dodie Bellamy.

In 2003, when Halle Berry had her Oscar moment for Monster's Ball, as the first black Best Actress, it was also the first time an Academy Award-winning film was solely produced by a black person: Lee Daniels, 43. He followed it in 2004 with the triple-Independent Spirit Award nominated, Kevin Bacon child molester movie The Woodsman. In 2005 he produced and acted in his directoral debut, Shadowboxer, starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Helen Mirren, Macy Gray, and Joseph Gordon-Leavitt. Then came Precious. Nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, it won two, supporting actress and adapted screenplay. It was nominated for five major Independent Spirit Awards and won all five. It won awards from the Golden Globes, BAFTA, and the NAACP, among many others. Daniels' followup, this year's pulpy, violent, Zac Efron starrer The Paperboy, was largely panned, though it was selected for Cannes and Nicole Kidman's performance is nominated for SAG and Golden Globe awards. Brace yourself for next year when he releases The Butler, in which Forest Whitaker is a real-life White House servant whose career spanned six First Families: the Eisenhowers (Robin Williams, Melissa Leo), the Kennedys (James Marsden, Minka Kelly), the Johnsons (Liev Schreiber), the Nixons (John Cusack), the Carters, and the Reagans (Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda). Amping the star power, the film also has roles for Vanessa Redgrave, Alex Pettyfer, Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, and Oprah.

Daniels was partners with longtime casting director Billy Hopkins and together they adopted and raised Daniels' niece and nephew. Since their breakup Daniels has been with Andy Sforzini (in purple), still raising their children.

Comments

[Sandy]

Whoa! That casting info for 'The Butler' is making my head spin.