Early life

Musto was born in Brooklyn to an Italian American family. He attended Columbia University graduating in 1976. During his studies, he was a theater critic for the Columbia Spectator.

Career

Musto began his Village Voice column in 1984, after having already written features for the publication. He is a recurring guest on several nationally broadcast television programs including "Theater Talk" on PBS, also having appeared on A&E, E!, VH1, Real Housewives of New York, The Daily Show, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He is gay and is published regularly in several LGBT publications. He appeared in drag in a blue dress in the all drag queen music video for Cyndi Lauper's single "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want To Have Fun", and as a reporter in the film Garbo Talks. He wrote several articles in The Village Voice about the murder of Angel Melendez, bringing national attention to a case that resulted in the trial and conviction of Michael Alig and Robert "Freez" Riggs. He was the first to report Alig's firing from the Limelight club by owner Peter Gatien, and to allude to a missing club kid. When his blind item describing the buzz on the details of the crime got picked up by The New York Post's "Page Six" gossip column, the story took on more prominence.

On the June 14, 2007 episode of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Musto coined the word 'celebutard' (combination of the words celebrity, debutante, and retard) to describe Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. In 2008, Musto played a psychoanalyst in the semi-autobiographical short film It's Me, Matthew! . He gave a cameo appearance in Erasure's 2010 re-release of A Little Respect (HMI Redux)', the proceeds of this release were donated to help students attending the Harvey Milk Institute.

Musto added "Theater Producer" to his resume in 2010, when he produced the musical comedy Perfect Harmony about the search for truth, love, and high school a cappella championship glory, which played Off-Broadway in New York City.

In 2011, Musto was named one of the "Out 100" of the country's most influential LGBT personalities. He's appeared in documentaries about actor/writer Charles Busch, Paris Hilton, Warhol star Jackie Curtis, restaurateur Florent, Michael Alig, camp performer Divine, clubs like the Roxy and Squeezebox, and many more.

Musto writes the weekly, entertainment-related "Musto! The Musical!" column for Out.com and has had bylines in The New York Times, W magazine, and Daily Beast.

Published works

Musto has authored four books:

• Musto, Michael (June 12, 1986). Downtown-V285, Vintage. ISBN 0-394-74285-0
• Musto, Michael (September 1989). Manhattan on the Rocks, Henry Holt & Co. ISBN 0-8050-1032-7
• Musto, Michael (January 1, 2007). La Dolce Musto: Writings by the World's Most Outrageous Columnist, Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-1879-X
• Musto, Michael (September 1, 2011). "Fork on the Left, Knife in the Back", Vantage Point Books

Musto has contributed to four works published by others:

• Contributed foreword to Gary Lee Boas's (January 2000). Starstruck: Photographs from a Fan, Dilettante Press. ISBN 0-9664272-5-4
• Contributed as an author to Patrick McMullan's (November 2003), so8os: A Photographic Diary of a Decade, powerHouse Books. ISBN 1-57687-187-8
• Contributed as an author to Kim Hastreiter's (September 14, 2004), 20 Years of Style: The World According to Paper, Amazon Remainders Account. ISBN 0-06-072302-5
• Provided afterword in Anthony Haden-Guest's (October 2, 2006) Disco Years, powerHouse Books ISBN 1-57687-325-0

[ Source: Wikipedia ]