Biography

Harvey Fierstein

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Harvey Fierstein is an American actor, screenwriter and playwright who has been in several stage productions, films, shows and games. He voiced Yao in Mulan and Huaca in Kingdom of the Sun (prototype for The Emperor's New Groove). He also acted in Hairspray, Independence Day, Mrs. Doubtfire, Bros, Big Mouth, Death to Smoochy and Bullets Over Broadway,
- IMDb mini biography by: Christian Frates
Harvey Fierstein is an American actor, playwright, and voice actor.

He is best known for his roles as Frank Hillard in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and the voice of Yao in Mulan (1998) and Mulan II (2004). Fierstein has won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his own play Torch Song Trilogy and the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray Live! (2016). He also wrote the book for the musical La Cage aux Folles, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, and wrote the book for the Tony Award-winning Kinky Boots: The Musical (2019).

He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2007.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tango Papa

His trademark voice is the result of over-developed ventricular folds in his throat, which produce a hoarse-sounding double voice.
Is good friends with actor/director Danny DeVito.
Was known only for playing drag roles off-off Broadway (often in plays he wrote himself) until he played his first male role in Robert Patrick III's "The Haunted Host" in Boston. The play was such a personal success for him that when he had to leave the show for four days for his father's funeral, the show closed.
He pronounces his last name "fire-steen".
The essence of Fierstein's landmark "Torch Song Trilogy" (1988) was autobiographical, since he began performing as a drag queen in Manhattan clubs as early as age 15.

Beware of anyone who says they know. Trust me, they don't, or they wouldn't have to say they did.
Always admit when you're wrong. You'll save thousands in therapy... and a few friendships too.
The great thing about suicide is that it's not one of those things you have to do now or you lose your chance. I mean, you can always do it later.
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
[on Torch Song Trilogy (1988)] I'm happy that we made it. Is it everything I wanted it to be? Is anything ever? I fought with [director] Paul Bogart because I had based the entire third act on a song by Big Maybelle. When we went to make the movie, Paul refused to put it in the movie. We used a beautiful Ella Fitzgerald recording of "This Time the Dream's on Me", which is very pretty, but it doesn't have that emotion. But to Paul, it did. It's life. I really am a theater person. That means you put something out there, and you let it go. Tomorrow night is a new performance.

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