Alan Cumming is a Scottish actor, singer, writer, director, producer, and author. He has won Tony Awards for his portrayal of the master of ceremonies in the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret, and again in 2022 as a producer for the musical A Strange Loop (2022).

He has appeared in over 60 films, including the Spy Kids trilogy (2001-2013) and X2: X-Men United (2003) as Nightcrawler. He also starred in the CBS series Instinct (2018-2019), where he played a gay man as the main character, a rarity on television.

Cumming has always been very open about his bisexuality.

 

In 2012, he married his longtime partner, Grant Shaffer. He told Instinct Magazine:

I have a healthy sexual appetite and a healthy imagination ... I still define myself as a bisexual even though I have chosen to be with Grant. I’m sexually attracted to the female form even though I am with a man, and I just feel that bisexuals have a bad rap.[1]

In June 2021, Cumming was the artistic director of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.[2]

Image of Alan Cumming with his husband Grant Shaffer being photographed at a movie screening. Both are wearing dark colored suits and are smiling.
Grant Shaffer and Alan Cumming

    Cumming has worked for 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 took part in an Equality Network video campaign from New York promoting the legalization 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.

    He is 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.[3]