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. For his role as Lola in Kinky Boots, Porter won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He credits the part for "cracking open" his feminine side to confront toxic masculinity. Porter also won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for the musical's accompanying album. 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Billy Porter, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Credits
- 2026 · The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping as Magno Stift
- 2025 · Christmas Karma as
- 2025 · I Was Born This Way as Self
- 2025 · My Happy Place as Self
- 2024 · Live from the Other Side with Tyler Henry as Self
- 2024 · Disco’s Revenge as
- 2024 · Eric André Live Near Broadway as Self
- 2023 · Queen of New York as
- 2023 · Our Son as Gabriel
- 2023 · Truth Be Told as
- 2023 · Let the Canary Sing as Self
- 2023 · Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love as Self - Guest
- 2023 · Little Richard: I Am Everything as Self
- 2023 · 80 for Brady as Gugu
- 2022 · Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All! as Self
- 2022 · Who's Talking to Chris Wallace? as Self
- 2022 · Sherri as Self - Guest
- 2022 · The Jennifer Hudson Show as
- 2022 · Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon as Self
- 2022 · PRIDE: To Be Seen - A Soul of a Nation Presentation as Pray Tell (archive footage)
- 2022 · The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder as Randall (voice)
- 2022 · RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs The World as Self - Special Guest
- 2021 · That's My Jam as Self
- 2021 · Never Mind the Buzzcocks as Self - Panellist
- 2021 · Cinderella as Fabulous Godmother
- 2021 · Smoke, Lilies and Jade as
- 2021 · The Circuit as Self - Singer/Actor
- 2021 · Middlemost Post as Recycle King (voice)
- 2021 · Gossip Girl as Singer
- 2021 · That Damn Michael Che as
- 2021 · Where Love Lives: A Story of Dancefloor Culture & Expression as (Himself)
- 2021 · 25 Years of Rent: Measured in Love as
- 2020 · Equal as Narrator
- 2020 · The Drew Barrymore Show as Self
- 2020 · Pose-a-Thon for Pride as
- 2020 · Dear... as Self
- 2020 · Together in Pride: You Are Not Alone as Self
- 2020 · Stars in the House as Self
- 2020 · Visible: Out on Television as Self
- 2020 · Like a Boss as Barrett
- 2019 · The Kelly Clarkson Show as Self
- 2019 · Tamron Hall as Self - Guest
- 2019 · The Twilight Zone as
- 2019 · Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star as Self - Guest Judge
- 2019 · Desus & Mero as Self - Illustrious Guest
- 2018 · POSE as Pray Tell
- 2018 · Every Act of Life as Self
- 2017 · Broadway: The Next Generation as Self
- 2017 · Big Mouth as Ocean (voice)
- 2017 · Big Mouth as
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- 2015 · Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter as Self
- 2015 · Celebrity Family Feud as Self
- 2015 · The Late Late Show with James Corden as Self - Guest
- 2014 · The Humbling as Prince
- 2014 · Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
- 2014 · Trailblazer Honors as Self - Speaker
- 2014 · Last Week Tonight with John Oliver as Self - Guest
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- 2014 · The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Self
- 2014 · The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as
- 2011 · American Horror Story as Behold Chablis
- 2011 · Heart of Broadway: The Ensemble Behind Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS as Himself
- 2011 · The Shoe as
- 2010 · Who Do You Think You Are? as Self
- 2009 · Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as Self - Guest
- 2007 · Keeping Up with the Kardashians as Self
- 2007 · Indie Sex as Self
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2006 · All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise as Himself
- 2006 · Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema as Self
- 2005 · Dancing with the Stars as Self - Guest Judge
- 2004 · Project Runway as Self - Guest Judge
- 2004 · Noel as Randy
- 2000 · The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy as Taylor
- 2000 · Intern as Sebastian Niederfarb
- 1999 · Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Jackie Walker
- 1999 · Colorz of Rage as Street Performer
- 1997 · Anastasia as Ensemble and Character Vocals (voice)
- 1997 · The View as Self - Guest
- 1997 · The View as Self
- 1996 · Twisted as Shiniqua, Angel's friend
- 1996 · The Daily Show as Self
- 1996 · The Rosie O'Donnell Show as Self - Guest
- 1991 · Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story as Little Richard
- 1990 · Law & Order as Greg Ellison
- 1989 · The Simpsons as Desmond (voice)
- 1988 · LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self - Guest
- 1984 · MTV Video Music Awards as Self
- 1975 · Saturday Night Live as Self - Cameo (uncredited)
- 1972 · Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest as Self - Co-Host (New Orleans)
- 1959 · The Grammys as Self
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self
- Future · Camp as Mark
- 1984 · Raquel: Total beauty and fitness as
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Presenter