Wilson Cruz

Cruz was born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents born in Puerto Rico. 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 to 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.vulture.com/2014/09/wilson-cruz-my-so-called-life-1994-1995.html|title=My So-Called Life's Wilson Cruz on Rickie Fans, LBGT Awareness, and '90s Fashion|date=September 5, 2014 |publisher=Vulture|access-date=December 16, 2014}}

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 openly gay actor to play an openly gay character in a leading role in an American television series.{{cite web|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/playinggay/playing-gay |title=Playing Gay: How America Came Out On Television by Playing Gay — Kickstarter |publisher=Kickstarter.com |date=August 1, 2015 |access-date=August 17, 2015}}

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 2000, he 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 The 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 best friend of a promiscuous woman who tries to find out who got her pregnant so that she can get married.

Since 2017, Cruz has portrayed Dr. Hugh Culber on the science fiction series Star Trek: Discovery.

Since 2020, Cruz has been a recurring guest on 25 Words or Less.{{cite web |title=Wilson Cruz |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/wilson_cruz |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=January 18, 2021}}

In 2023, Cruz became the new chair of the board of directors for GLSEN.{{cite news |last1=Ennis |first1=Dawn |title=Wilson Cruz: Why I'm taking on the role of the new chair of GLSEN |url=https://www.losangelesblade.com/2023/08/13/wilson-cruz-why-im-taking-on-the-role-of-the-new-chair-of-glsen/ |access-date=August 13, 2023 |work=Los Angeles Blade |date=August 13, 2023}}

File:Wilson Cruz.jpg 2010]]

Cruz works with and advocates on behalf of LGBTQ 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, the 2005 Chicago Pride Parade and the 2019 Fierté Montréal Pride Parade in Québec.{{Cite news|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreals-36th-pride-parade-commemorates-history-of-lgbtq-activism|title=Montreal's 36th Pride parade commemorates history of LGBTQ activism|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=August 18, 2019}} In 2008, he was the keynote speaker at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Lavender Graduation and Rainbow Banquet honoring graduating LGBT students.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

Cruz joined the board of directors of GLAAD in 1997 to assist the organization through a leadership transition, and joined the staff of GLAAD in 2012 as a National Spokesperson and Strategic Giving Officer.Davis, Brendan (September 4, 2012). Actor and Activist Wilson Cruz Joins GLAAD Staff. GLAAD, September 4, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.glaad.org/blog/actor-and-activist-wilson-cruz-joins-glaad-staff.

Cruz's maternal stepaunt Brenda Lee Marquez McCool was among the 49 victims killed in the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting; Cruz stated that she was killed while protecting her son Isaiah, who survived the gunfire.{{Cite web |title=EXCLUSIVE: Wilson Cruz Speaks Out About His Relative Who Died in the Orlando Shooting: 'We Are Devastated' {{!}} Entertainment Tonight |url=https://www.etonline.com/news/190965_exclusive_wilson_cruz_speaks_out_about_his_relative_who_died_the_orlando_shooting |access-date=September 4, 2022 |website=www.etonline.com |date=June 13, 2016 |language=en-US}}

In 2020, Wilson was honored on one of the covers of Out magazine's annual Out100 issue, saying Wilson "beautifully weaves his activism inside every aspect of his work".{{Cite web|date=November 18, 2020|title=Wilson Cruz is Going Where No Gay Man Has Gone Before|url=https://www.out.com/print/2020/11/17/wilson-cruz-going-where-no-gay-man-has-gone|access-date=November 18, 2020|website=out.com|language=en}}

{{Portal|Puerto Rico|Biography|Film|Television|Theatre|LGBTQ}}

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Category:1973 births

Category:20th-century African-American male actors

Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:21st-century African-American male actors

Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people

Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:American actors of Puerto Rican descent

Category:American gay actors

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male stage actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:Eisenhower High School (Rialto, California) alumni

Category:GLAAD Media Awards winners

Category:LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people

Category:LGBTQ people from New York (state)

Category:LGBTQ rights activists from California

Category:LGBTQ rights activists from New York (state)

Category:Living people

Category:Male actors from Brooklyn

Category:People from Rialto, California

Category:People of Afro–Puerto Rican descent