Early life

Cumming was born in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland, the son of mother Mary Darling, an insurance company secretary, and of father, Alex Cumming, the head forester of Atholl Estate. He has a brother, Tom, who is six years older, and a niece and two nephews. His brother is a property manager who lives in Southampton, England. Brought up in Angus, Cumming attended Monikie Primary School and Carnoustie High School. Cumming grew up on a country estate called Panmure Estate near Carnoustie on the east coast of Scotland. He describes the environment as "feudal". In his autobiography Not My Father's Son, Cumming describes emotional and physical violence his father inflicted on him in childhood. His mother found it impossible to obtain a divorce until she was financially independent. Cumming said that after he reached his early 20s, he did not have any communication with his father until just before the filming of his episode of the series Who Do You Think You Are? He then found out that his father had believed that Cumming is not his biological son. Later, Cumming and his brother took DNA tests that proved they were indeed his biological children.

Cumming said that his difficult childhood taught him how to act by "needing to suppress my own emotions and feelings around him when I was a little boy."

Film

Main article: Alan Cumming filmography

Cumming made his film debut in Gillies MacKinnon's Passing Glory in 1986. His feature film debut came in 1992 when he starred alongside Sandrine Bonnaire and Bruno Ganz in Ian Sellar's Prague, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and earned him the Best Actor award at the Atlantic Film Festival and a Scottish BAFTA Best Actor nomination. American audiences first saw him playing the oleaginous Sean Walsh, an unwanted suitor of Minnie Driver's character, in Circle of Friends, an Irish film released in 1995. Also in 1995 he played Boris Ivanovich Grishenko in the James Bond film GoldenEye. In 1996 he had a success as the Revd Mr Elton in Emma.

His first film in the United States was 1997's Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, playing Sandy Frink opposite Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino. Cumming co-wrote, co-directed, co-produced, and co-starred in the ensemble film The Anniversary Party with friend and former Cabaret co-star Jennifer Jason Leigh, in 2001. The two starred in the film as a Hollywood couple. The film premiered at Cannes and garnered two Independent Spirit nominations and a National Board of Review award. He went on to star in and direct Suffering Man's Charity, later released as Ghost Writer.

He had prominent roles in the Spy Kids trilogy (as Fegan Floop), X2: X-Men United (as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler), Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and played Saturninus in the 1999 Julie Taymor film production of Titus. His many other films include Investigating Sex, Josie and the Pussycats, Emma, Get Carter, Plunkett and Macleane, Son of the Mask, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, Full Grown Men, Spice World, Burlesque, The Tempest, Boogie Woogie and the animated films Garfield: The Movie, Jackboots on Whitehall and The Smurfs.

Earlier in his career, Cumming also directed two short films, Butter and Burn Your Phone. The latter began its life as a one-off drama on BBC Radio 4.

Television

United Kingdom

In the mid-1980s Cumming made his TV debut in the Scottish Television series Taggart. His breakthrough role was as Bernard Bottle in the Christmas 1991 BBC comedy Bernard and the Genie, a Richard Curtis-scripted film in which he starred alongside Lenny Henry and Rowan Atkinson. Cumming went on to star as flight attendant Sebastian Flight in the BBC2 sitcom The High Life in 1995. The series was written by Cumming and co-star Forbes Masson, continuing an acting-writing partnership the two had developed since their drama school days.

Cumming returned to British TV screens in 2011 to star as Desrae, a transvestite, on the Sky series The Runaway. He has also made several documentaries: My Brilliant Britain, about Scottish humour, The Real Cabaret in which he investigated the Weimar cabaret artistes and the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? in 2010 in which he discovered his maternal grandfather was a war hero who had died playing Russian roulette.

United States

Cumming has guested on several U.S. TV shows: In 2001, he appeared in the HBO comedy Sex and the City as O the designer in the episode, 'The Real Me'. 2003 saw him playing a cameo role in the sitcom Frasier, playing Niles' yoga instructor. He also guest starred on 3rd Rock from the Sun.

Cumming played the role of Bill Blaikie, a gay drag queen party promoter hired by Kit Porter to manage her café cum nightclub, in season 3 of The L Word. His character had an affair with Max, a transgender male character in the show. He appeared in episodes 2 to 7, which originally broadcast on Showtime in 2006.

In 2007, Cumming played Glitch/Ambrose, an inventor whose brain had been partially removed, in the TV miniseries, Tin Man. He also provided the voice of Chuck Masters, a 50-year-old, paralysed, HIV-positive gay man in Logo's Rick and Steve, a stop animation sitcom created by Q. Allan Brocka. Cumming also hosted the Oxygen cable television show, "Eavesdropping with Alan Cumming", in which he interviewed female co-stars of his film roles, and "Midnight Snack", where he and his dogs introduced cult films. Cumming hosted Saturday Night Live in 2000, with musical guest Jennifer Lopez.

He is also the host of the 2008-2014 seasons of the PBS Masterpiece Mystery! series.

He played Eli Gold on the CBS television show The Good Wife. He appeared as a guest star in the latter third of the first season, becoming a series regular in the show's 2010-2011 season,. He has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award for his performance.

In 2009, Cumming guest-starred in Lisa Kudrow's improvised web series Web Therapy, portraying Austen Clarke, a possible love interest for Kudrow's character, Fiona Wallice. In 2010, Showtime announced plans to air Web Therapy as a TV series, and Cumming's guest appearance was broadcast as part of the first season finale of the show on 20 September 2011. Originally, the character was intended for a one-off appearance, however plans were later changed and Cumming became a recurring cast member during the TV series' second season in 2012.

Theatre

Cumming began his theatre career in his native Scotland, performing in seasons with the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, Dundee Rep, The Tron Glasgow and tours with Borderline, Theatre Workshop and Glasgow Citizens' TAG. He played Slupianek in the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh's 1988 production of Conquest of the South Pole, which later transferred to the Royal Court in London and earned him an Olivier Award nomination as Most Promising Newcomer. He went on to perform plays with the Bristol Old Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company and played Valere in La Bete at the Lyric, Hammersmith, London. In 1991 he played The Madman in the 1990 Royal National Theatre production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo, for which he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance. He also adapted the play with director Tim Supple. In 1993 he received great critical acclaim and the TMA Best Actor award for playing title role in the 1993 English Touring Theatre's Hamlet (playing opposite his then-wife, Hilary Lyon, in the role of Ophelia).He played the role of The Master of Ceremonies in Sam Mendes's 1993 revival of the musical Cabaret in London's West End opposite Jane Horrocks as Sally Bowles. He received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He reprised the role in 1998 for the Mendes-Rob Marshall Broadway revival, this time opposite Natasha Richardson as Sally Bowles. He won a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance.

Other U.S. stage roles include Otto in the 2001 Broadway production of Design for Living by Noël Coward, Mac the Knife in Bertolt Brecht-Kurt Weill musical The Threepenny Opera opposite Cyndi Lauper. Cumming performed alongside Dianne Wiest in Classic Stage Company's production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Viacheslav Dolgachev. In 2002, Cumming and then-boyfriend British director Nick Philippou formed the production company The Art Party. The company's first and only play was the first English production of Jean Genet's play Elle, which Cumming had adapted from a literal translation by Terri Gordon. The company folded in 2003.

In 2006 he returned to the West End playing the lead role in Bent, a play about homosexuals in Germany under the Nazis. In 2007 he took the lead role in the National Theatre of Scotland's production of The Bacchae, directed by John Tiffany, which premiéred at the Edinburgh International Festival in August, transferring to the Lyric Theatre in London and then to Lincoln Center, New York, winning him Herald Archangel award.

He collaborated again with Tiffany and the National Theatre of Scotland in 2012, playing all the roles in Macbeth. He brought this critically acclaimed production of Macbeth to New York's Lincoln Center in 2012 and to a 73-show Broadway engagement at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 2013. Macbeth concluded its run on Broadway on 14 July 2013.

In 2014 he returned again to Broadway to star in Roundabout Theater Company's revival production of Cabaret, directed again by Sam Mendes. Starring opposite Michelle Williams, Cabaret opened 24 April 2014 and closed 29 March 2015. The run was extended originally from its 24-week engagement. The role of Sally has changed throughout the production when Williams left to include Emma Stone and Sienna Miller.

Other work

Cumming's novel, Tommy's Tale, was published in 2002. He has also written articles for magazines, notably as a contributing editor for Marie Claire magazine, writing on the haute couture shows in Paris, as well as what it was like for him dressing as a woman for a day. He also contributed articles to Newsweek, Modern Painters, Out, Black Book and The Wall Street Journal. He has also written introductions and prefaces to various books, including the works of Nancy Mitford, Andy Warhol and Christopher Isherwood and wrote a chapter of If You Had Five Minutes with the President, a collection of 55+ essays by members or supporters of The Creative Coalition.

• Cumming recorded a duet of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Liza Minnelli to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and 11 September Fund.
• In 2005 he released an award-winning fragrance called "Cumming," and a related line of scented bath lotion and body wash. A second fragrance was launched in 2011, named "Second (Alan) Cumming", with all proceeds going to charity.
• On 1 September 2009, Cumming released his first solo album based around his one-man show, I Bought a Blue Car Today.
• In 2012, he narrated the audiobook "Macbeth: A Novel", written by A.J. Hartley and David Hewson. The novel greatly expands upon the themes established in the play.
• On 10 April 2012,he released the single Someone Like the Edge of Firework.
• In 2012, he launched his photography career with his first exhibition Alan Cumming Snaps.
• In July 2012, Cumming presented Urban Secrets on Sky Atlantic and the Travel Channel where he uncovers hidden secrets in various urban areas including London and Brighton.
• In October 2013, Cumming appeared in the music video for "City of Angels" by Thirty Seconds to Mars.
• In 2014, Cumming was a supporter and activist for the Scottish 'Yes' campaign in the run-up to Scotland's referendum on independence in September 2014.
• In October 2014, Alan Cumming and the Broadway cast of Cabaret collected donations for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS during the "Gypsy of the Year" fundraising season.
• In 2014, he published his autobiography, Not My Father's Son, which deals with both his experiences growing up with an abusive father and the discoveries he made about his maternal grandfather's life while filming Who Do You Think You Are?.
• On 7 June 2015, Cumming co-hosted the 69th annual Tony Awards alongside Kristin Chenoweth.

Personal life

Cumming is openly bisexual. He lives in Manhattan with his husband, graphic artist Grant Shaffer and their dog, Jerry. The couple dated for two years before entering into a civil partnership at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London, on 7 January 2007. Cumming and Shaffer legally married in New York on 7 January 2012, the fifth anniversary of their London union.

Previous relationships include an eight-year marriage to actress Hilary Lyon, a two-year relationship with actress Saffron Burrows, and a six-year relationship with theater director Nick Philippou. In 2006, Cumming stated that he "would dearly like to adopt a child," but that his life was "too hectic" for children.

Cumming has promoted LGBT rights, MC-ing and attending fundraisers for organizations such as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and taking part in an Equality Network video campaign, from New York, promoting the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Scotland. Cumming also supports several AIDS charities, including the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR) and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and is also a patron of NORM-UK, an English-registered charity concerned with foreskin health and matters related to circumcision; he has condemned the practice of routine infant circumcision, particularly in the United States where it is common.

In March 2005, Cumming received the Vito Russo Award at the 16th Annual GLAAD Media Awards for outstanding contributions toward eliminating homophobia. In July of the same year he was also presented with the HRC's Humanitarian Award in San Francisco, also for his LGBT public stance. In November 2006 Cumming received a Doctor of Arts honorary degree from the University of Abertay Dundee. He also is a patron of the Scottish Youth Theatre, Scotland's National Theatre 'for and by' young people. Cumming was appointed an OBE in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to film, theatre and the arts and activism for LGBT rights.

On 7 November 2008, Cumming became a dual-national and was sworn in as a citizen of the United States of America at a ceremony in New York City.

Cumming has stated that since 2012 he maintains a vegan diet.

Awards

Awards and nominations

Year	Project	Award	Category	Result
1988	Conquest of the South Pole	Olivier Award	Best Newcomer in a Play	Nominated
1991	Accidental Death of an Anarchist	Olivier Award	Comedy Performance of the Year	Won
1992	Bernard and the Genie	British Comedy Award	Top Television Newcomer	Won
1992	Prague	Atlantic Film Festival	Best Actor	Won
1993	Prague	Scottish BAFTA Award	Best Film Actor	Nominated
1993	La Bête	Olivier Award	Comedy Performance of the Year	Nominated
1994	Cabaret	Olivier Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Nominated
1994	Hamlet	Shakespeare Globe Award	Richard Burton Award	Nominated
1994	Hamlet	Theatre Management Association Award	Best Actor	Won
1996	Romy and Michele's High School Reunion	MTV Movie Award	Best Dance Sequence	Nominated
1998	N/A	Vanity Fair Hall of Fame		Inducted
1998	Cabaret	New York Free Press Award	Best Actor	Won
1998	Cabaret	New York Public Advocate's Award		Won
1998	Cabaret	FANY Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Won
1998	Cabaret	Tony Award	Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Won
1998	Cabaret	Outer Critics Circle Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Won
1998	Cabaret	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical	Won
1998	Cabaret	Theatre World Award	Outstanding Broadway Debut	Won
2001	N/A	New York Immigrant Achievement Award	N/A	Won
2002	The Anniversary Party	Prism Award	N/A	Won
2002	The Anniversary Party	Independent Spirit Award	Best First Feature	Nominated
2002	The Anniversary Party	Independent Spirit Award	Best Screenplay	Nominated
2002	The Anniversary Party	National Board of Review Award	Excellence in Filmmaking	Won
2003	N/A	Bailey House	Key Award	Won
2003	N/A	Convent of the Sacred Heart	Hatter's Ball Award	Won
2003	Nicholas Nickleby	National Board of Review Award	Best Ensemble in a Movie	Won
2004	N/A	Newfest	Trailblazer Award	Won
2004	N/A	Bailey House	20 for 20 Key Award	Won
2004	N/A	Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival	Artistic Achievement Award	Won
2004	N/A	Special Civil Rights Award		Won
2005	Son of the Mask	Golden Raspberry Award	Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor	Nominated
2005	N/A	HRC Humanitarian Award		Won
2005	N/A	Scotland Magazine	Icon of Scotland Award	Won
2006	Bent	Theatregoer's Choice Award	Best Actor	Nominated
2006	N/A	Human Rights Campaign	The Elizabeth Birch Equality Award	Won
2006	N/A	LIGALY Award		Won
2006	The Threepenny Opera	Drama League		Honored
2006	N/A	GLAAD Media Award	The Vito Russo Award	Won
2006	Sweet Land	Sedona Film Festival	Birkner Humanitarian Award	Won
2007	Sweet Land	Independent Spirit Award	Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature	Won
2007	N/A	Big Apple Film Festival	Golden Apple Award for Honorary Achievement	Won
2007	N/A	Santa Fe Film Festival	Maverick Award	Won
2007	N/A	LAMBDA Liberty Award		Won
2007	Ghost Writer	Barcelona Gay and Lesbian Film Festival	Tribute Award	Won
2007	Ghost Writer	Provincetown International Film Festival	Excellence in Acting Award	Won
2007	Ghost Writer	SHOUT Film Festival	Beacon Award	Won
2007	The Bacchae	Herald Arcangel Award		Won
2007	N/A	Phoenix Film Festival	Copper Wing Tribute Award	Won
2008	N/A	Anti-Violence Project	Courage Award	Won
2008	N/A	Trevor Project	Hero Award	Won
2009	N/A	Scottish Style Awards	Most Stylish Male	Nominated
2009	N/A	National Trust for Scotland	Great Scot Award	Won
2009	N/A	PFLAG	PFLAG Choice Award	Won
2009	I Bought a Blue Car Today	SX Magazine	Best Cabaret	Won
2009	I Bought A Blue Car Today	Whatsonstage.com Awards	Best Solo Performance	Nominated
2010	I Bought A Blue Car Today	Time Out New York	Best of Cabaret	Nominated
2010	I Bought A Blue Car Today	Bistro Award	Outstanding Recording	Won
2010	N/A	Chicago International Film Festival	Artistic Achievement Award	Won
2010	N/A	National Gay and Lesbian Task Force	Leadership Award	Won
2010	N/A	Point Foundation	Courage Award	Won
2010	N/A	Theater Offensive	Out on the Edge Award	Won
2010	N/A	Johnnie Walker	Great Scot Award	Nominated
2010	The Good Wife	International Press Academy	Best Supporting TV Actor	Nominated
2010	The Good Wife	Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series	Nominated
2011	N/A	Denver Film Festival	Excellence in Acting Award	Won
2011	Cumming The Fragrance	Fleshbot Award	Sexiest Fashion	Won
2011	Zoorgamazoo	AudioFile Magazine	Earphones Award	Won
2011	Zoorgamazoo	Audie Award	Solo Narration - Male	Won
2011	Charity Work	Johnnie Walker	Great Scot Award	Nominated
2011	The Good Wife	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Nominated
2011	The Good Wife	Critics' Choice TV Awards	Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Nominated
2011	The Good Wife	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Nominated
2012	N/A	Johnnie Walker	Great Scot Award	Nominated
2012	N/A	Matthew Shepard Foundation	Making A Difference Award	Won
2012	N/A	Live Out Loud Awards	Star Award	Won
2012	Macbeth	AudioFile Awards	Best Voice of the Year	Won
2012	Macbeth	Audiofile Magazine	Earphone Award	Won
2012	The Good Wife	Crime Thriller Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
2012	The Good Wife	Screen Actors' Guild	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Nominated
2012	Any Day Now	Key West Film Festival	Golden Key Award	Won
2012	Any Day Now	Napa Valley Film Festival	Favorite Actor or Actress	Won
2012	Any Day Now	Outfest	Best Actor Award	Won
2012	Any Day Now	Seattle International Film Festival	Best Actor Award	Won
2013	Any Day Now	Dorian Award	Film Performance of the Year	Nominated
2013	Any Day Now	Gaybie Award	Best Actor in a Gay Themed Movie	Nominated
2013	N/A	Bailey House	Arts & Legacy Award	Won
2013	Macbeth on Broadway	Drama League Awards	Distinguished Performance Award	Nominated
2013	Macbeth on Broadway	United Solo	UAward	Nominated
2013	Macbeth on Broadway	Broadway.com Audience Choice	Favorite Actor in a Play	Won
2014	Arthur: Show Off	Emmy Award	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Nominated
2014	Cabaret on Broadway	Drama League Awards	Distinguished Performance Award	Nominated
2015	The Good Wife	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Nominated
2015	The Good Wife	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Nominated

Filmography

Main article: Alan Cumming filmography

Works or publications

Not My Father's Son: A Memoir. New York : Dey Street, an imprint of William Morrow Publishers, 2014. ISBN 978-0-062-22506-1

• Cumming, Alan. Tommy's Tale: A Novel. New York: ReganBooks, 2002. ISBN 978-0-060-39444-8

Charities

Alan Cumming supports the following charitable causes: Cancer, Veterans, Breast Cancer.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]