Actor B.D. Wong celebrates his brithday
B.D. Wong is best known for playing Dr George Huang for nine seasons of the long-running cop show Law & Order: SVU, but he is also an acclaimed stage actor with an enviable list of awards.
The actor was born on this day in 1960 in San Francisco.
Wong first came to prominence in 1988 with his Broadway debut in David Henry Hwang’s play M. Butterfly. Acting opposite John Lithgow, he received widespread acclaim and won an impressive collection of honours, including the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award and Theatre World Award. He remains the only actor to have won all of these major theatre awards for the same role.
M. Butterfly, which draws on themes from the opera Madama Butterfly, tells the story of René Gallimard, a French diplomat who falls in love with Chinese opera performer Song Liling. Gallimard is unaware of Song’s true identity, a revelation that forms a central part of the play’s exploration of gender, culture and perception.
Born Brad Darryl Wong, he was raised in San Francisco and studied acting at San Francisco State University.
Wong went on to appear in a range of films, including The Freshman, Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride Part II, Seven Years in Tibet and several films in the Jurassic Park franchise. He was also a cast member of the prison drama Oz, playing Father Ray Mukada.
He later stepped away from his long-running role on Law & Order: SVU to join the television series Awake, which starred Jason Isaacs. Despite strong reviews, the series lasted only one season.
Throughout his career, Wong has appeared in many queer-themed productions, including the 1993 film And the Band Played On and Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of The Normal Heart. Both works focus on the AIDS crisis.
His more recent credits include Mr. Robot, American Horror Story, Gotham, Madam Secretary and Nurse Jackie.
In 1988, Wong began a long-term relationship with talent agent Richie Jackson. In 2000, the couple faced tragedy when one of their twin sons, born via surrogacy, died shortly after birth. Wong later shared the experience in his book Following Foo: The Electronic Adventures of the Chestnut Man.
The couple’s relationship ended in 2004, but they continued to co-parent their surviving son, Jackson Foo Wong. Jackson later married theatre producer Jordan Roth.
In 2018, Wong married his partner, Richert John Frederickson Schorr. He has also spoken publicly about supporting his son after he came out as gay during his teenage years.
When he is not acting, Wong dedicates significant time to LGBTQIA+ charities and community causes.
ANOHNI was born on this day too
Musician ANOHNI was born on this day in 1971. ANOHNI was born in England, when she was ten years old her family moved to San Francisco.
She first came to prominence as the lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons, the band released several highly acclaimed albums and won the Mercury Music Prize in 2005 for their second album I Am A Bird Now.
The singer has gone to have a successful solo career, and became a prominent campaigner for transgender rights, and has also been a supporter of the Martu people of Parnngurr in Western Australia and their campaign to stop a Uranium mine being established on their tranditional lands.
In 2023 they reformed their backing band The Johnsons and released a new album as ANOHNI and The Johnsons
