Wilson Cruz
Wilson Cruz | |
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File:Wilson Cruz at PaleyFest 2014.jpg
Cruz at the PaleyFest Fall TV Previews 2014 for Red Band Society
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Born | Wilson Echevarría December 27, 1973 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
Occupation | Actor, producer, mentor |
Years active | 1994–present |
Wilson Cruz (born Wilson Echevarría; December 27, 1973) is an American actor known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life[1] and the recurring character Junito on Noah's Arc.[2] As an openly gay person of Puerto Rican ancestry, he has served as an advocate for gay youth, especially gay youth of color.[3][4][5]
Contents
Early life
Wilson Cruz was born in Brooklyn, New York to parents of Puerto Rican descent. His family eventually moved to Rialto, California where he attended Eisenhower High School, graduating in 1991. At age 19, Cruz came out to his parents as gay, first to his mother and then his father. While his mother was initially hurt and shocked, she eventually accepted the news. His father, however, threw him out of the house, and Cruz spent the next few months living in his car and at the homes of friends. He later reconciled with his father.[6]
Career
Cruz went to Hollywood to seek work as an actor, intending to be open about his sexuality from the beginning of his career. In 1994 he was cast as Enrique "Rickie" Vasquez, a troubled gay teen, in the short-lived critically acclaimed cult classic TV series My So-Called Life. This made Cruz the first actor to play an openly gay character in a leading role in a television series.[7]
Following My So-Called Life's cancellation, Cruz went on to play J. Edgar Hoover's servant Joaquin in Oliver Stone's film Nixon and had a small role in the television movie On Seventh Avenue. In 1996, he appeared with David Arquette as Mikey in Johns, about the day-to-day struggles of male prostitutes. In 1998, he portrayed Angel in the Broadway production of RENT and in 2000 played Victor in the final season of Party of Five. He also had a recurring role as Rafael de la Cruz on the series, Raising the Bar.
Cruz's other acting credits include the films Joyride (1996), All Over Me (1997), Supernova (2000), Party Monster (2003), Margaret Cho's Bam Bam and Celeste (2005), Coffee Date (2007), and He's Just Not That Into You (2009); the television film The Perfect Pitch (2002); and guest appearances on the series Great Scott!, Sister, Sister, ER, Ally McBeal, The West Wing, Noah's Arc, and Grey's Anatomy. Cruz starred as Adrian in the film Ode (2007), based on the novel Ode to Lata by Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla. He also appeared/starred in the 2009 movie "The People I've Slept With" He plays the openly gay best friend of a promiscuous woman who tries to find out who got her pregnant so that she can get married.
Involvement in the LGBT community
Cruz works with and advocates on behalf of LGBT youth, especially youth of color. He has volunteered his time as host for the Youth Zone, an online community at Gay.com for LGBT youth. He was the Grand Marshal of the 1998 West Hollywood Gay Pride parade and the 2005 Chicago Pride Parade. In 2008, he was the keynote speaker at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Lavender Graduation and Rainbow Banquet honoring graduating LGBT students.
Cruz joined the board of directors of GLAAD in 1997 in order to assist the organization through a leadership transition, and joined the staff of GLAAD in 2012 as a National Spokesperson and Strategic Giving Officer.[8]
Filmography and stage
Television
- My So-Called Life (1994–1995), Enrique 'Rickie' Vasquez - 19 episodes
- On Seventh Avenue (1996), Reuben Diaz
- Sister, Sister (1996), Bobby - 1 episode (Season 3, Episode 13: "Double Double Date")
- Ally McBeal (1997), Steven/Stephanie - 1 episode
- Party of Five (1999–2000), Victor - 11 episodes
- ER (2002), Jeffrey Cruz - 1 episode
- The West Wing (2004), as Jack Sosa - 2 episodes
- The Closer (2005), Man in Bar - 1 episode
- Noah's Arc (2005–2006), Junito - 7 episodes
- Monk (2006), Smoking Technician - 1 episode
- NCIS (2007), Todd Ryder - 1 episode
- Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (2007 - ), Evan - 2 seasons
- Raising the Bar (2008 - ), Rafael de la Cruz - 3 episodes
- Pushing Daisies June 13, 2009 (US), Sid Tango - 1 episode
- Grey's Anatomy December 2, 2010 (US), Kyle - 1 episode
- Single Ladies July 18, 2011 (US), Vincent - 2 episodes
- The Finder (2012), Jonni - 2 episodes
- Red Band Society (2014-2015), Kenji Gomez-Rejon - recurring
Film
- Nixon (1995), Joaquin (Hoover's servant)
- Beat the Bash (1996), Kevin
- johns (1996), Mikey
- Joyride (1996), James
- All Over Me (1997), Jesse
- Supernova (2000), Benj Sotomejor
- Party Monster (2003), Angel
- Bam Bam and Celeste (2005), Tony
- Coffee Date (2006), Kelly
- The Ode (2008), Adrian
- He's Just Not That Into You (2009), Nathan
- Green Flash (2009), Kyle
- The People I've Slept With (2009), Gabriel
- Convincing Clooney (2011), Joaquin
- The Skinny (2012),The Doctor
Stage
- RENT (1998), Angel
- A Perfect Wedding (2003), Julian
- Tick, Tick... BOOM! (2005), Michael
See also
References
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- ↑ [1]
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- Wilson Cruz at the Internet Broadway DatabaseLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Wilson Cruz at the Internet Movie Database
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- 1973 births
- Male actors from New York City
- American male film actors
- American people of Puerto Rican descent
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- Gay actors
- LGBT entertainers from the United States
- LGBT people of Puerto Rican descent
- LGBT rights activists from the United States
- Living people
- People from Brooklyn
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors