This list details the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people who have been nominated for or received Academy Awards and/or cis-hetero actors who have been nominated for or won for playing queer characters. Individuals are identified as queer, though they may not have publicly or personally identified at the time of their nomination.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Confirmed individuals
Marlon Brando, bisexual, winner of 2 Oscars, nominated for 8.Sir Alan Bates, bisexual, nominated for 1 Oscar.Paul Winfield, gay, nominated for 1 Oscar.Tom Hulce, gay, nominated for 1 Oscar.Sir Ian McKellen, gay, nominated for 2 Oscars.
Brando spoke more openly on his bisexuality later on in life, including a list of affairs he had with other celebrities, both men and women. On his greatest love affair, he [stated], “If Wally Cox had been a woman, I would have married him and we would have lived happily ever after.“
Bates was attached to several men privately, behind the heterosexual marriage facade, such as ice skater, John Curry, and British TV sleuth, Peter Wyngarde.
Brando did not attend the ceremony, choosing instead to have himself represented by Sacheen Littlefeather (a.k.a. Maria Cruz), who identified as ApacheNative American. She stated that Brando refused the award due to the poor treatment of American Indians in entertainment, as well as the recent Wounded Knee Occupation.
First Black gay actor nominated in an acting category. In relationship with architect Charles Gillan Jr., until his 2002 death. Also, he was the first openly gay actor to be nominated for Best Actor and the first openly gay actor nominated in any category to have been out on their own terms.
In an interview with Seattle Gay News, Tom Hulce acknowledged his status as a gay actor, although he emphasized the word "actor" is less applicable due to inactivity.
Hawthorne was outed as gay in 1995 due to the attention his nomination at the 67th Academy Awards had gathered, but nonetheless he attended the ceremony with his long-time partner Trevor Bentham. He also spoke openly about his sexuality in interviews and in his autobiography Straight Face.
For each of his nominations (Gods and Monsters in 1998 and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001), the star said he had speeches prepared beginning with the line: "'I’m proud to be the first openly gay man to win the Oscar.' I’ve had to put it back in my pocket twice."
The following list is composed of actors who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either while alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
The following list is composed of actresses who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either while alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
Mineo confirmed his bisexuality slightly over a decade after his second nomination, in a 1972 interview with Boze Hadleigh—four years prior to his murder.
The following list is composed of actors who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either while alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
The following list is composed of actresses who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either while alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
Jerome Robbins, first openly LGBT winner for Best Director.Pedro Almodóvar, gay, winner of 2 Oscars, nominated for 5.Lee Daniels is first Black gay man nominated for Directing.
The following list is composed of directors who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either while alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
Incorrectly pronounced themself as the first ever openly gay person to win an Oscar during their acceptance speech[234] after misinterpreting an interview where Sir Ian McKellen said no openly gay actor had ever won in the Leading Actor category.[235] They later apologized for the mistake and justified their point was to shine a light on the LGBTQ community.[236]
The following list is composed of producers who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
The following list is composed of writers who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
The Academy Honorary Award honors exceptional career achievements, contributions to the motion picture industry, and service to the academy.[312] The Academy Honorary Award is often awarded in preference to those with noted achievements in motion pictures who have nevertheless never won an Academy Award. Thus, many of its recipients are Classic Hollywood stars, such as Lillian Gish, Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas, and Lauren Bacall.
Among its Honorary Awards for acting, the academy also presents deserving young actors with the Special Juvenile Academy Award. (Most of those are not listed here; some of the early "Special Awards" that later became known in that acting category as the "Special Juvenile Academy Award" are listed with "Special Award" added parenthetically.)[313]
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award honors an individual's outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes.
The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award honors creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.
^ abIn one of the alternate universes shown in the film, Evelyn and Deirdre are shown to be in a romantic relationship. The main universe Evelyn is depicted as straight while the main universe Deirdre is not depicted as any specific sexuality.
^Billington, Michael (2012-09-30). "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Tennessee Williams's southern discomfort". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-09-13. America, however, had its own censorship problems. In the cinema, the outdated Hays' Code was used to limit freedom of expression. The irony is that one of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof's great virtues is that it shows Big Daddy's tolerant understanding of Brick's sexuality.
^ abSlater, Micah (2020-07-07). "How Subtext Saved (and Damned) Homosexuality on Screen". FlipScreened. Retrieved 2023-09-11. Lean implied not only the queer nature of Lawrence (Peter O'Toole), but a homosexual relationship between him and companion Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif).
^ abWallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving (1975). "Was T.E. Lawrence of Arabia Gay? ~ Part 2". The People's Almanac (1st ed.). Doubleday & William Morrow and Company. ISBN978-0385040600. Retrieved 2023-09-12. Some point to Lawrence's close relationship with Dahoum, the Arab workman, as evidence of his homosexuality. Lawrence reserved his fondest words for a mysterious 'S.A.'--dedicating his book to this person with a love poem--and many believe S.A. stands for Sheikh, or Salim, Ahmed, i.e., Dahoum. These sources call Dahoum the love of Lawrence's life and say part of his disillusionment with the desert war was due to the fact that it caused the boy's death.
^White, Armond (2015-11-05). Reynolds, Daniel (ed.). "Marcello, Our Sexual Ally". Out. Joe Landry. Retrieved 2023-09-14. Marcello's performance in A Special Day encouraged gay identification and cinematic recognition.
^Winnert, Derek (2016-07-25). "Reviews: The Dresser". DerekWinnert.com. Retrieved 2023-09-14. It is good that the film has a gay lead character, but it's bad that he is an effeminate stereotype, though, to be fair, both Harwood and Courtenay humanise him and try hard to keep him sympathetic.
^Reddish, David (2022-03-19). Gremore, Graham (ed.). "Let us salute William Hurt and a breathtaking queer character". Queerty. Founded by David Hauslaib & Bradford Shellhammer (founding editor). Q.Digital. Retrieved 2023-09-14. Throughout the film, Luis uses she/her pronouns to self-describe.…The film itself also begs questions about Valentin's sexual fluidity; has he fallen in love with Luis, or just an idea the pair have created? If Hurt gets all the praise for his work in Kiss of the Spider Woman, Julia doesn't get enough. Both actors give sensational performances here.
^Stroude, Will (2018-04-19). Cain, Matt; Joannou, Cliff (eds.). "How Gods and Monsters cast one of Hollywood's most successful gay directors as a predator". Attitude. United Kingdom: Stream Publishing Limited. ISSN1353-1875. Retrieved 2023-09-14. In reality, Clayton Boone never existed. While [spoiler alert] Whale's death played out as it does in the film, he, at the time, was living with his boyfriend Pierre Foegel. Far from the tragic figure portrayed in the movie, Whale was openly gay in Hollywood (quite remarkable for the era) and was with his partner, David Lewis, for more than 20 years. Hollywood is all too keen on presenting gay stories as brave, heroic tragedies. From Philadelphia to Brokeback Mountain, I worry about the legacy of the 'Dead Gay' trope. Why must gay stories inevitably end in death and weeping?
^Farid-ul-Haq (2014-08-11). "Re-watching Brokeback Mountain Character Analysis: Ennis Del Mar". The Geekiary. Retrieved 2023-09-14. I think Ennis is gay. He married Alma, had kids, and even tried to get another girl because that was considered 'normal' in society. Ennis is a perfect example of closeted gays living in countries where LGBT rights don't exist. Coming out as gay can mean a death sentence for some, depending on the area they live in. I think if Ennis grew up in a society where being gay was acceptable, he would've lived his life as gay man.
^Collins, Donald (2020-12-16). Cartagena, Rosa (ed.). "That 'Gay Cowboy Movie': Queer People Reflect on 15 Years of Brokeback Mountain". Bitch. Founded by Lisa Jervis, Benjamin Shaykin, & Andi Zeisler. Portland, Oregon: Kate Lesniak. ISSN2162-5352. OCLC46789560. Retrieved 2023-09-14 – via Bitch Media. The men intermittently meet for clandestine 'fishing trips' and motel rendezvous. Jack schemes for a way for them to build a life together, away from society, while Ennis doesn't believe such a thing is possible. Ennis's fear and inability to believe in—or try for—a future together, and Jack's relentless pursuit of it, drives a wedge between them.
^Hoffman, Philip Seymour (2014-02-02). "Remembering Philip Seymour Hoffman (orig. Oct. 2005)" (Out). Interviewed by Michael Musto. Pride Media. Retrieved 2023-09-15. Fortunately, Truman--unlike so many writers, ahem--had a boyfriend to ground him [Jack Dunphy, played by Bruce Greenwood]. They were companions for a long, long time. They had confidences together and Truman trusted Jack implicitly.
^Staff Writer (2008-12-05). Blackwell-Clark, Edwina (ed.). "Milk exposes irony of gays in films". Entertainment. The Columbus Dispatch. Columbus, Ohio, United States: Gannett Co., Inc. (published 2008-12-04). ISSN1074-097X. Retrieved 2023-09-14. With Sean Penn starring as Harvey Milk, the openly gay San Francisco supervisor who was gunned down in 1978, the movie makes its message clear: Gay people must be 'out' to be counted....But there's also a certain irony: Not only is none of the featured players in the film openly gay, there isn't one openly gay leading man in all of Hollywood.
^Hayton, Debbie (2023-01-30). Nelson, Fraser (ed.). "Eddie Redmayne's transgender confusion". Coffee House. The Spectator. ISSN0038-6952. OCLC1766325. Retrieved 2023-09-14. Trans actors would hardly want to be restricted to playing trans characters, so why should the reverse not be countenanced? This logic makes no sense and it does not help trans people. Trans people are human beings just like everyone else – and trans characters should be played by the best actor available. In The Danish Girl that meant a man – Redmayne – played the lead role.
^Romano, Aja (2019-01-06). Sharma, Swati (ed.). "Bohemian Rhapsody loves Freddie Mercury's voice. It fears his queerness". Vox. Vox Media. Retrieved 2023-09-15. The result is far more hurtful than your average unconsciously homophobic film. Bohemian Rhapsody is a movie that consciously tries to position a gay man at its center while strategically disengaging with the 'gay' part as much as it can,
^Duffy, Nick (2018-11-15). Cohen, Benjamin (ed.). "Rami Malek hits out at Bohemian Rhapsody over gay representation". Culture. PinkNews. Retrieved 2023-09-15. The Mr. Robot star played Freddie Mercury in the critically-panned release, which spent years in development amid rumoured fall-outs between the production and surviving Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor over the focus of the film. Malek previously hinted at his unhappiness with the lack of focus on the gay icon's private life in the film, saying he 'would've loved to have incorporated more' about Mercury's relationship with [long-term partner] Jim Hutton prior to his death from AIDS-related illness.
^Suskind, Alex (2018-11-14). Nementzik, Shari (ed.). "Rami Malek wanted to delve deeper into Freddie Mercury's private life". Who. Australia: Are Media. Retrieved 2023-09-15. 'I just kept pushing for more of that aspect of his life,' he said. 'I don't know if we ever felt fulfilled by it.' It was difficult to work in more, Malek says, since much of the film focuses on Queen's early days and subsequent commercial peak, and Mercury's first relationship – with 'the love of his life,' Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton) – to whom he comes out as bisexual in the film.
^Dobson, Andrew John-Virtue (2019-12-01). "Pain and Glory Film Review: Banderas Stars in Almodóvar Gay Drama". DobberNationLoves. Retrieved 2023-09-15. Throughout Pain and Glory, the audience discovers Salvador's first desire (cinema), first adult love in the '80s (he's gay), and the lasting pangs of a painful breakup.
^ abRogers, Destiny (2022-09-14). "On this day: Janet Gaynor & Hollywood's lavender marriages". QNews. Retrieved 2023-09-11. In the thirties, before her marriage to Adrian, Janet was linked to co-star Margaret Lindsay. Although a celebrated beauty and highly regarded actor, Margaret Lindsay never became a great star, allegedly because she refused to play the Hollywood game and marry. When she required a male date for a red carpet event, she inevitably turned to gay friends like Cesar Romero and Liberace.
^ abLyttle, John (1995-08-28). "The bride and groom wore lavender". The Independent. Retrieved 2023-09-12. but with the film colony's most famous closet cases (including Cary Grant, and, gossip avers, the neurotic bisexual and biplane addict Howard Hughes). Still, the marriage was a true meeting of minds: Adrian made the trousers and Janet wore them. Roll that Happy Ending.
^ abc"Spirit of Garbo". Laramie, Moon (2018). Spirit of Garbo. London: Martin Firrell Company Ltd. ISBN978-1-912622-02-3, p. 43.
^ abcBrooks, Louise; Jaccard, Roland (1976). Louise Brooks: Portrait d'une anti star [Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-star] (in French). Paris: Phébus. ISBN978-2-85940-012-5.
^ abc"Spirit of Garbo". Laramie, Moon (2018). Spirit of Garbo. London: Martin Firrell Company Ltd. ISBN978-1-912622-02-3, p. 129-132.
^Mayer, So (2020-12-14). "'My Best Girlfriend': Queer Dietrich, on screen and off". British Film Institute. Retrieved 2023-09-15. In Morocco (1930) and Blonde Venus (1932), von Sternberg cast her as a cabaret performer who flirts with men, women, and disaster. It was the former film that gifted what Laura Horak identifies as probably our era's 'most-reproduced likeness' of Dietrich, as drolly-named performer Amy Jolly – jolly as synonym for gay? – in her perfectly-fitted top hat and tails, cigarette dangling.
^Abraham, Amelia (2019-10-24). Kamara, Ibrahim (ed.). "What Boys Don't Cry taught us about trans representation". Film & TV (Feature). Dazed. London, England, United Kingdom: Dazed Media. eISSN0961-9704. Retrieved 2023-09-16 – via formerly Dazed & Confused until 2014. Telling the story of the real life murder of Brandon Teena, a trans man murdered in Nebraska in 1993, Boys Don't Cry was an indie film made on a shoestring budget. Its director Kimberly Peirce was barely out of film school, and Hilary Swank, who played Teena, was relatively unknown. She was paid $3,000 for being in the film. When it came out, it debuted in 25 cinemas, before going nationwide, making it all the way to the Oscars, where Swank won an award for Best Actress…for playing a man. But we'll come back to that.
^ ab"Iris (2001)". New South Wales News. Star Observer. Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia: Out Publications. 2008-04-20. ISSN0819-5129. OCLC26727666. Retrieved 2023-09-16. Even though the film focuses on Murdoch's marriage it doesn't shy away from glimpses into her lesbian affairs. '[Iris] was bisexual and had lots of affairs with men and women at the same time,' Winslet recently told an interviewer.
^Coates, Tyler (2015-09-08). Graham, Mark (ed.). "Was It Good For The Gays?: The Hours". Decider. New York Post. Retrieved 2023-09-16. Virginia Woolf herself was rumored to have had same-sex affairs, although The Hours doesn't spend much time discussing them (it does, of course, open with her infamous suicide).
^Stinner, Robert (2023-12-02). "The Hours's Queer Chronologies". Bright Wall / Dark Room. Retrieved 2023-09-16. The third is between Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell (Miranda Richardson), who Virginia kisses strongly and passionately at the end of a visit. Each disrupts the pacing and tone of the scene it's in—the axis the characters spin on tilts unaccountably.
^ abHowell, Peter (June 20, 2014). "Why Rebel Without a Cause was a milestone for gay rights". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 3, 2023. [Director Nicholas Ray and James] Dean knew what was going on. Prior to filming the intense encounter with Mineo in the abandoned Getty Mansion, he told him, "Look at me the way I look at Natalie."
^Frontai, Raymond–Jean (2013). "James Coco (1930-1987)"(PDF). glbtqarchive.com. Archived(PDF) from the original on January 12, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
^Cusumano, Michael (2013-06-29). "Great Moments in Gayness: Smells Like "Gardenia"". The Film Experience. Retrieved 2023-09-11. ...disguises the glaring truth, which is that The Maltese Falcon can be accurately described as the story of a group of gay men who went on an antiquing trip that got out of hand.
^Celada, Antonio R.; Pastor García, Daniel; González De La Aleja, Manuel (2001). Power and Culture in America: Forms of Interaction and Renewal (Ediciones Almar ed.). Salamanca: SAAS (Spanish Association for American Studies). p. 265. ISBN84-7455-076-9. For Caspar Gutman, similar direct textual evidence is lacking, but he is largely thought to be homosexual because he is the older man who "keeps" the young Wilmer Cook.
^Tomlin in Radosta, Jim (May 30, 2008). "Lily Tomlin Interview". Just Out. Not online. Quote referenced in sources including Kaye, Frank (February 16, 2012). "Lily Tomlin Graces the Stage". Baltimore Gay Life. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
^"Linda Hunt". Fatctoidz. Archived from the original on January 9, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
^Ocamb, Karen (August 10, 2008). "WeHo Marriages Go On". The BILERICO Project. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
^ abcdeJorgensen, Jay; Scoggins, Donald (2015). Creating the Illusion: A Fashionable History of Hollywood Costume Designers. Running Press. ISBN978-0762456611.
^ abcElton, Charles (2022). Cimino: The Deer Hunter, Heaven's Gate, and the Price of a Vision. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams. p. 352. ISBN978-1419747113.
^Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "About Academy Awards: Honorary Award". Official Academy Award Website. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Oscars.org. Archived from the original(Web) on 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2008-08-01. "The Honorary Award is not called a lifetime achievement award by the Academy, but it is often given for a life's work in filmmaking – to Polish director Andrzej Wajda in 1999, for example, and to Elia Kazan the previous year [1998].... The Honorary Award also may be given for outstanding service to the Academy. The last time this happened, however, was in 1979, when an Oscar statuette was presented to Academy Governor Hal Elias, who had served more than a quarter century on the Board of Governors.
^Following the searchable Official Academy Award Database (a primary source for this list), years listed are the years of the Academy Awards ceremony when the award was presented (with the annual award ceremony following within parentheses, as documented in the Official Academy Award Database).
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