Harvey Fierstein

Actors

Harvey Forbes Fierstein (born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He gained notice for his theater work in Torch Song Trilogy, winning both the Tony Award for Best Play and Best Actor in a Play. He adapted the play to film in 1988, appearing on screen with Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick, Brian Kerwin, and Eddie Castrodad. He went on to win the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for La Cage aux Folles, then Best Actor in a Musical for playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. He made his film debut in Sidney Lumet’s Garbo Talks (1984), with Bancroft, Ron Silver, Carrie Fisher, Catherine Hicks, Steven Hill, Howard Da Silva, Dorothy Loudon, Hermione Gingold, and an uncredited Betty Comden.

Films in the early 1990s include The Harvest (1993), with Miguel Ferrer, Leilani Sarelle, Tony Denison, Henry Silva, and Tim Thomerson; Chris Columbus’s Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), with Robin Williams, Sally Field, Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence, Mara Wilson, Pierce Brosnan, Polly Holliday, and Robert Prosky; Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway (1994), with Jim Broadbent, John Cusack, Chazz Palminteri, Mary-Louise Parker, Rob Reiner, Jennifer Tilly, Tracey Ullman, Joe Viterelli, Jack Warden, and Dianne Wiest; Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995), with Sean Young, Tim Daly, Lysette Anthony, and Stephen Tobolowsky.

Films in the mid to late 1990s include Independence Day (1996), with Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, Randy Quaid, Robert Loggia, Vivica A. Fox, and James Rebhorn; White Lies (1997), with Julie Warner, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Terry Kinney, Caroline Aaron, and Rosanna Arquette; Kull the Conqueror (1997), with Kevin Sorbo, Tia Carrere, Thomas Ian Griffith, Litefoot, and Karina Lombard; John Hamburg’s Safe Men (1998), with Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn, Michael Lerner, Paul Giamatti, Christina Kirk, Mark Ruffalo, and Peter Dinklage; and Jump (1999), with James LeGros, Mark Rosenthal, Jessica Hecht, Mike McGlone, Amanda Peet, Ione Sky, Richard Belzer, and Hal Linden.

Films in the 2000s include Playing Mona Lisa (2000), with Alicia Witt, Johnny Galecki, Elliott Gould, Marlo Thomas, Molly Hagan, and Brooke Langton; Death to Smoochy (2002), with Williams, Edward Norton, Catherine Keener, Danny DeVito (who also directed), Jon Stewart, Pam Ferris, Michael Rispoli, Danny Woodburn, and Vincent Schiavelli; Duplex (2003), with Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Eileen Essell, Harvey Fierstein, Robert Wisdom, Justin Theroux, James Remar, Swoosie Kurtz, Wallace Shawn, and Maya Rudolph; and Nicholas Stoller’s Bros (2022), with Billy Eichner, Luke Macfarlane, and Bowen Yang.



TV movies include Apology (1986), with Lesley Ann Warren, Peter Weller, Chris Noth, John Glover, and Charles S. Dutton; Tidy Endings (1988), with Stockard Channing; Double Platinum (1999), with Diana Ross, Brandy, Christine Ebersole, Allen Payne, and and Brian Stokes Mitchell; Common Ground (2000), with Edward Asner, Beau Bridges, Brian Kerwin, Margot Kidder, James LeGros, Brittany Murphy, Jason Priestley, Mimi Rogers, Helen Shaver, Eric Stoltz, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Steven Weber; The Year Without a Santa Claus (1996), with John Goodman, Delta Burke, Michael McKean, Ethan Suplee, Eddie Griffith, and Carol Kane; and Hairspray Live! (2016), with Maddie Baillio,
Kristin Chenoweth, Garrett Clayton, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Dove Cameron, Ephraim Sykes, Derek Hough, Martin Short, and Shahadi Wright Joseph.

Voice over roles include Mulan (1998), with Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, Miguel Ferrer, June Foray, James Hong, Gedde Watanabe, Jerry Tondo, Pat Morita, and George Takei; Farce of the Penguins (2007), with Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Applegate, Lewis Black, Mo’Nique, Tracy Morgan, Bob Saget (who also directed), Whoopi Goldberg, Jason Alexander, Norm Macdonald, Brie Larson, Jim Belushi, Jon Lovitz, Gilbert Gottfried, Damon Wayans, Abe Vigoda, Alyson Hannigan, and Johnathan Silverman; Foodfight! (2012), with Charlie Sheen, Wayne Brady, Hilary Duff, Eva Longoria, Larry Miller, Christopher Lloyd, Jerry Stiller, Christine Baranski, and Cloris Leachman; and Animal Crackers (2017), with John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, DeVito, Ian McKellen, Sylvester Stallone, Patrick Warburton, Raven-Symoné, Shawn, Gottfried, Tara Strong, James Arnold Taylor, Kevin Grevioux, and Lydia Rose Taylor.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • The Demon Murder Case (1983) – directed by William Hale – TV movie
  • Garbo Talks (1984) – directed by Sidney Lumet
  • The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) – directed by Rob Epstein – narrator – documentary
  • Apology (1986) – directed by Robert Bierman – TV movie
  • Tidy Endings (1986) – directed by Gavin Miller – also writer – TV movie
  • Torch Song Trilogy (1988) – directed by Paul Bogart – also writer
  • The Harvest (1993) – directed by David Marconi
  • Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)* – directed by Chris Columbus
  • Bullets Over Broadway (1994) – directed by Woody Allen
  • Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995) – directed by David Price
  • The Celluloid Closet (1996) – directed by Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman – himself – documentary
  • Independence Day (1996) – directed by Roland Emmerich
  • Everything Relative (1996) – directed by Sharon Pollack
  • Elmo Saves Christmas (1996) – directed by Emily Squires – TV movie
  • White Lies (1997) – directed by Ken Selden
  • Kull the Conqueror (1997) – directed by John Nicolella
  • Mulan (1998)* – directed by Barry Cook & Tony Bancroft
  • Safe Men (1998) – directed by John Hamburg
  • Jump (1999) – directed by Justin McCarthy
  • Double Platinum (1999) – directed by Robert Allan Ackerman – TV movie
  • The Sissy Duckling (1999) – directed by Anthony Bell – also writer – TV movie
  • Common Ground (2000) – directed by Donna Deitch – also co-writer – TV movie
  • Playing Mona Lisa (2000) – directed by Matthew Huffman
  • Death to Smoochy (2002) – directed by Danny DeVito
  • Duplex (2003) – directed by Danny DeVito
  • Mulan II (2004) – directed by Darrell Rooney & Lynne Southerland – straight to video
  • The Year Without a Santa Claus (2006) – directed by Ron Underwood – TV movie
  • Farce of the Penguins (2007) – directed by Bob Saget -straight to video
  • Foodfight! (2012) – directed by Lawrence Kasanoff – straight to video
  • The Wiz Live! (2015) – directed by Kenny Leon & Matthew Diamond – writer only – TV movie
  • Hairspray! (2016) – directed by Kenny Leon & Alex Rudzinski – also writer – TV movie
  • Animal Crackers (2017) – directed by Scott Christian Sava & Tony Bancroft
  • Bros (2022) – directed by Nicholas Stoller