Bruce Vilanch |
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 Bruce Vilanch at the 2009 Outfest Legacy Awards |
| Born | (1948-11-23) November 23, 1948 (age 75)
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| Occupation | Writer/Actor |
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| Years active | 1974–present |
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Bruce Vilanch (born November 23, 1948) is an American comedy writer, songwriter and actor, who is "One of the most sought-after jokesmiths in the entertainment industry".[1] The six-time Emmy Award-winner is known to those 'in the know' in Hollywood and New York as "the fat guy who writes everyone's jokes."[2] He is best known as a writer for TV awards shows; he's co-written 21 Oscar broadcasts, as well as a featured writer for the Tonys, Grammys and Emmys and his 4-year stint on Hollywood Squares, as both a performer and writer.
Biography
Bruce Vilanch was born in New York City and raised in Paterson, New Jersey. When he was 4 years old,[3] he was adopted by his Jewish parents, Dr. Jonas Vilanch (optometrist, d.) and Henne Vilanch, a homemaker who had her own theatre aspirations. His "show business career" started as a chubby child model for Lane Bryant.[3][4] Vilanch attended Ohio State University as a theatre and journalism student, and graduated with a BFA in theater, in 1970.[5] He is exuberantly gay,[6][7] and although his haircut is reminiscent of Mason Reese, he calls it, "a platinum version of Alfred Hitchcock; 'Fried blonde,' I call it." [8] He is also known for his wildly diverse eyewear and for his collection of catchy, sometimes raunchy, themed T-shirts.[4] He is best known as a writer for TV awards shows; he's co-written 20 Oscar broadcasts, as well as Tonys, Grammys and Emmys and his 4-year stint on Hollywood Squares, as both a performer and writer.[9]
Career
Bruce Vilanch's career as a sybaritic celebrity began when he was writing entertainment features for The Chicago Tribune,[10] and schmoozing with whatever celebrities or semi-celebrities were available. That is the way he met then-struggling nightclub singer Bette Midler, and they became good friends. Vilanch gave Midler some very astute career advice: "You’re pretty funny. You should talk more onstage." He wrote for Midler's 1974 Broadway show Clams on the Half Shell, then moved to Los Angeles to write for The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. When that show was cancelled, Vilanch wrote jokes for anyone who would hire him, including Lily Tomlin, Billy Crystal, Roseanne Barr, Rosie O'Donnell, Paul Reiser, Elizabeth Taylor and Robin Williams, although Vilanch says "It's more accurate to say he's written comedy 'at' Williams than 'for' him."
In 1975, Vilanch made his feature debut, playing a dress manufacturer in Mahogany starring Diana Ross, for whose act he also writes material.[4] He wrote material for The Donny & Marie Show in the mid-1970s. In 1978, he co-wrote The Star Wars Holiday Special. In the 1980s, he had a few acting appearances, including a bit part in an episode of Bosom Buddies. He appeared in Law & Order and in the movie The Ice Pirates. He co-wrote the Divine Madness act in 1980 for Bette Midler. His first television appearance as himself was in 1988, when he was interviewed by Chris Aable, the host and producer of TV Show Hollywood Today. The show aired in forty-three cities, on Century Cable and the Manhattan Neighborhood Cable Network. He was head writer and a panelist on Hollywood Squares for four years, writing gags for the other panelists while his friend and client Whoopi Goldberg appeared to steal the show, exemplified by his penning of a joke for David Bowie in which the musician responded to a nautically themed question by referring to himself as "David Buoy". On the sentimental next-to-last night of Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, Midler serenaded Carson and she delivered the lines, but it was Vilanch who wrote the words.[11][12] He commands high fees for emergency Hollywood script rewrites, having "punched up" scripts for films like Die Hard 2 and Raiders of the Lost Ark.[13] On innumerable award shows, personal appearances and variety shows, Vilanch is the craftsman behind the scenes, if a clever line is memorable and achingly funny, odds are that it came from the hand and the capricious mind of Bruce Vilanch. [14] As the guy who drafts hilarious "ad libs" for everyone from Rosanne to Robin Williams, when they "play themselves", Vilanch has a large part of show business indebted to him. Roger Ebert said, "much of what they say (and most of the funniest stuff) has passed through Bruce Vilanch's laptop computer." [15]
Vilanch has a robust résumé in musical comedy. He co-wrote the book for Platinum, made into a Tony-nominated musical in 1978. A revised incarnation of Platinum was shown at the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival.[16] He has also contributed to successful concert shows starring Michael Feinstein, Bette Midler and Diana Ross,[17] and claims to have done every Stubby Kaye role ever written. In 2005, he starred on Broadway as "Edna Turnblad" in the musical Hairspray after originating the role in the show's first national tour.[17] Vilanch co-wrote the song "Where Is My Man" with producers Fred Zarr and Jacques Morali.[18] The song was popularized in 1983 after it was recorded by the singer/actress Eartha Kitt and became both a dance club hit and a gay anthem.
In 2000, Vilanch performed his comedy act off-Broadway at the Westbeth Theater, in the one-man show Bruce Vilanch: Almost Famous.[19] After his first act reminiscing on his strange path to "almost famousness", he opened up the theatre floor to questions in Act II, displaying his uncanny ability for off-the-cuff one-liners. As he told US Weekly in its June 12, 2000 issue, "There is a downside to celebrity: Now, I am the one who gets knocked if someone tries something that doesn't work. Before it was the fault of these anonymous people, 'the writers.'"
In 2008, Bruce co-wrote The Showgirl Must Go On with Bette Midler. It opened at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and has since received rave reviews.[20] Stage and screen veteran Florence Henderson and Vilanch teamed for An Evening with Friends in 2010. The show featured Henderson sharing songs and stories from her long career on stage and television. The idea for the event came from Henderson's longstanding friendship with Vilanch, who has written for her one-woman show and wrote several of the The Brady Bunch Variety Hour variety specials that followed the run of Henderson's classic sitcom The Brady Bunch.[17]
"Academy Awards" writer
Vilanch celebrated his 21st anniversary of writing for the Oscars in 2010.[21] He has provided topical joke material for numerous awards show hosts, notably for all the hosts of the Academy Awards since the 1980s.[22] He collaborated with hosts Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and David Letterman, and became head writer in 2000.[4][23]
In a 2010 Vanity Fair interview he was asked for whom he wrote jokes on the show, replying: "I write across the board. Every year it breaks down differently, depending on the host, but as we get closer to the date, all of the writers tend to be writing over each other. Everyone’s contributing to everybody else’s work. There are four of us writing the actual show, and you end up writing and rewriting so many things at the same time. So I do a little of everything. There’s a lot of mileage involved in writing for the Academy Awards, you go through a lot of hoops."[21] When asked if he could see himself doing the job for another 21 years, he replied: "Absolutely. It's the greatest show on earth. It's like asking somebody, 'Hey, would you like to play in the Super Bowl next year?' Did anybody get into football not to play in the Super Bowl? Does anybody get into show business not to do the biggest show in the world?"[21]
Recent diverse credits
Vilanch was on the third edition of Celebrity Fit Club and lost 21 pounds over the course of the show, which aired in 2006.[28] As of 2010, he had dropped an additional 50 pounds.[citation needed]
Vilanch has been a reporter and columnist for the magazine The Advocate, since 1980, for which he has written both humorous and serious pieces. His column was eventually called "Notes from a Blond".[4] A collection of his writings, Bruce!: My Adventures in the Skin Trade and Other Essays (2000), was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award.[4]
He also had cameo roles in Tru Loved and You Don't Mess With The Zohan, both in 2008.
Vilanch was referred to in the South Park episodes "The Coon" and "Coon vs. Coon and Friends" as a possible suspect of being the Coon, a corpulent, racoon-like superhero/villain (actually Eric Cartman).
Bruce Vilanch has also been a special guest on The Simpsons. Most recently, he was also a special guest judge, dressed as Santa Claus, on the Christmas themed premiere of RuPaul's Drag Race 3.
On April 17, 2008, Vilanch filmed a commercial which spoofs Kobe Bryant's jump over an Aston Martin.[29][30] In the video, Vilanch is distracted, doesn't jump, and is run over by a semi truck.[31]
Documentaries
Vilanch was both the star and the subject of Andrew J. Kuehn's 1999 documentary Get Bruce!,[3] which included interviews with stars like Midler, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg, who have all benefited from Vilanch's comedy writing talents. The film grossed $43,155 in the domestic market.[24] Vilanch's mother, Henne, also appeared and stole every one her scenes. Vilanch is extremely close to her and acknowledges her encouragement in developing his unconventional sense of humor.[3]
The documentary Laughing Matters...The Men, was also released as Laughing Matters: Gay Comedy in America (2007), where he shared the spotlight with Alec Mapa, Bob Smith, Scott Kennedy, Andre Kelley and Eddie Sarfaty.[25]
Charity work
Vilanch's charitable work includes a history of supporting AIDS assistance. He has served on the Honorary Board of Aid For AIDS, performed in comedy show benefits for the non-profit, and once served as Master of Ceremonies for the Los Angeles organization's largest annual fundraiser, "Quest for the Crown," which changed names in 2003 to Best In Drag Show.[32]
Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA) is a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS the U.S.’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre & dance communities, BC/EFA raises funds for AIDS-related causes and other critical illnesses across the United States. Two time Emmy Award winner Bruce Vilanch returned in 2010 to emcee the event for a second year in a row.[33]
Vilanch co-wrote and hosted "An Evening with Tab Hunter" in October 2010, in Hollywood.[34] Funds raised will help underwrite PAWS/LA’s programs to assist in the care of the animals of people who are elderly and low-income or living with life-threatening illnesses.[35]
