Billy Porter is an American actor, singer, and fashion icon who has made a lasting impression on the entertainment industry with his extraordinary talent and innovative presence. Porter, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 21, 1969, has made a name for himself in the business thanks to his groundbreaking work in television and Broadway roles.
His depiction as Pray Tell in the critically acclaimed television series “Pose” won him an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Dramatic Series Primetime Emmy Award, making him the first black man who is openly gay to win the award. Porter’s considerable accomplishments in entertainment, in addition to his creative talents, are reflected in his net worth.
Billy Porter Net Worth
Billy Porter is a 1 million dollar actor, singer, director, producer, and writer from the United States. Billy Porter has been a highly regarded Broadway performer since the early 1990s.
He has been in several productions, including “Grease” (1994–1998), “Miss Saigon” (1991; 1998–1999), “Five Guys Named Moe” (1992–1993), “Kinky Boots” (2013–2019), “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” (1995–2000), and “Shuffle Along, Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed” (2016).
The musical “A Strange Loop” (2022–2023), which Billy co-produced, took home the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2022. At the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards, Porter was also recognized for his work in “Kinky Boots.”
The FX series “Pose,” in which Billy played Pray Tell, won a Primetime Emmy for Billy in 2019. In addition to the television series “American Horror Story: Apocalypse” (2018), “The Twilight Zone” (2020), and “That Damn Michael Che” (2021), he has over 30 acting credits to his name. The films “The First Wives Club” (1996), “Like a Boss” (2020), “Cinderella” (2021), and “80 for Brady” (2023) are among them.
Billy Porter’s Early Life
The parents of Porter, William Ellis Porter, and Cloerinda Jean Johnson Porter Ford, were natives of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is Mary Martha E. Ford, his sister. He was raised in a “very religious” Pentecostal home and has spoken out about being sexually molested by his stepfather when he was seven and twelve years old.
Prior to earning his diplomas from Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School and Allderdice High School in 1987, he attended Reizenstein Middle School.
In 1991, he obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Arts. He also received a certification from UCLA’s Professional Program in Screenwriting, which is at the graduate level.
Porter played every day with the entertainment groups “Spirit” and “Flash” at the Pittsburgh-area amusement park Kennywood during the summers of 1985 through 1987.
Billy Porter’s Personal Life
Porter came out as gay “in the middle of the AIDS crisis” at the age of sixteen. On January 14, 2017, he wed Adam Smith, whom he had first met in 2009. The two got engaged on December 29, 2016, and were married two weeks later because he was determined to tie the knot “while Obama was still president and before January 20th, 2017”. It was revealed that Porter and Smith had split up in July 2023.
In a 2020 interview with Vanity Fair, Porter discussed his thoughts on race in the US, saying that “whiteness is the only reason our country is in the mess we’re in.” supremacy of white people. White people are choking humanity with their dominance and suffocating it.”
Porter revealed to The Hollywood Reporter in May 2021 that he filed for bankruptcy in March 2007 and received a type-2 diabetes diagnosis in February 2007 in addition to his HIV diagnosis in June 2007.
In the same interview, he discussed having a pre-existing medical issue that prevented him from renting a home during the COVID-19 pandemic and that he had intermittently attended psychotherapy since he was 25.
Awards and Nominations
Porter won the 2019 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Dramatic Series for “Pose,” for which he was nominated three times. After winning the 2019 Black Reel Award for Television, the 2019 Gold Derby Award, and the 2021 Hollywood Critics Association Television Award, he was nominated for other awards for “Pose,” including three Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama.
In addition to winning TV Performance of the Year – Actor for “Pose” in 2019 and 2020 and TV Musical Performance of the Year (shared with his “Pose” co-star Michaela Jaé Rodriguez for “Home”) in 2019, Billy has received five nominations from GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.
He was also nominated for Wilde Artist of the Decade (2020) and Wilde Wit of the Year. He was bestowed with the Vito Russo Award in 2017 by the GLAAD Media Awards, which recognizes “an openly LGBTQ media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality and acceptance.”
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Billy Porter’s Career
Porter participated in “Star Search” in 1992 and won $100,000. He then starred on Broadway as Teen Angel in “Grease” in 1994. In 1996, he starred in his first motion picture, “Twisted,” and his song “Love Is on the Way” was used in the popular comedy “The First Wives Club.”
Billy voiced Little Richard in the TV movie “Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story” (1999), and he also starred in the 1997 animated feature “Anastasia” and the 1998 soap opera “Another World.” In addition to guest starring in “Law & Order” in 2004, he starred in the films “The Intern” (2000), “The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy” (2000), and “Noel” (2004).
Porter received a nomination for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off-Broadway Award in March 2005 for his autobiographical one-man performance “Ghetto Superstar (The Man That I Am)” at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan.
In honor of the play’s 20th anniversary, the Signature Theatre Company presented Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America” in 2010, with him playing the role of Belize. In 2013, Billy made his Broadway debut as Lola in “Kinky Boots,” the new musical, and he won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.
In the 2020 film “Like a Boss,” Porter costarred with Salma Hayek, Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Coolidge, and others. In the 2021 film “Cinderella,” he played the Fabulous Godmother.
He made cameo appearances on television shows like “The Twilight Zone” (2020), “That Damn Michael Che” (2021), and “Gossip Girl” (2021). In 2022, he started providing the voice of Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins for the Disney+ animated series “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder”.
“Anything’s Possible,” an Amazon Prime Video movie from 2022, was directed and produced by him. In 2023, he starred in “80 for Brady” with Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field, and Tom Brady.
