Fierstein is the gravelly-voiced Broadway veteran who most recently appeared in productions of Hairspray and Fiddler on the Roof.

A native of Bensonhurst, Fierstein attended Pratt and began his career in the mid-1970s performing in drag bars under the stage name Virginia Hamm. It was Fierstein's collection of interconnected, semi-autobiographical one-act plays in the late '70s, Torch Song Trilogy, that landed him on Broadway (making him the first person to win a Tony for a performance and writing for the same project). The self-described "first real, live, out-of-the-closet queer on Broadway" went on to write the book for the musical La Cage aux Folles, and has had parts in films like Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway, Mrs. Doubtfire, Death to Smoochy, and Independence Day.

Fierstein's return to Broadway (and cross-dressing) in Hairspray earned him a Tony award in 2003. But although Fierstein virtually owned the role of Edna Turnblatt, he was ultimately dissed when the time came to cast the movie version of Hairspray. In 2005, he played Tevye in the revival of Fidder on the Roof and has recently worked on writing the stage adaptation of Newsies.

Fierstein has long been active on the gay rights scene; he's a longtime backer of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, an organization that supports gay and lesbian political candidates. [Image via Getty]