Who

The patron saint of queer cinema, John Cameron Mitchell is responsible for Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus.

Backstory

Born in Texas, Mitchell spent his childhood traveling around the world with his Army general father and devout Catholic homemaker mom. (One of his first stage roles was the Virgin Mary at an Catholic all-boys boarding school in Scotland.) Mitchell arrived in New York in the mid-1980s, after an agent invited him to audition for an understudy role on Broadway. He spent years acting on and off Broadway in shows like Big River, The Secret Garden and Six Degrees of Separation, also paying his dues with bit appearances in TV shows like the Fox sitcom Party Girl and as the voice of a kangaroo in the Dunkaroos cookie commercials.

Mitchell's big break came when he teamed up with songwriter Stephen Trask in 1998—the two collaborated on an off-Broadway glam rock musical about an East German transvestite who'd had a botched sex-change operation. Hedwig and the Angry Inch proved a big hit with New York's downtown crowd and in 2001, with help from producer Christine Vachon, Mitchell turned the "post-punk neo-glam rock musical'' into a critically-acclaimed film that the Times called "clever, funny, wildly innovative."

Of note

Mitchell went on a lengthy hiatus from feature-film directing post-Hedwig. In 2003, he exec produced the critically-acclaimed digital documentary Tarnation by first-time director Jonathan Caouette. He also directed a few music videos, like the 2004 Scissor Sisters' "Filthy/Gorgeous," which was banned from MTV for its X-rated content. (Presumably, the network was uncomfortable with the sight of front man Jake Shears sucking on a baby bottle while having his bare ass spanked by drag king Murray Hill.). After countless delays, Mitchell returned to the big screen in 2006 with Shortbus, a porny, post-9/11 love story. Some critics cheered ("sweet, very funny, volcanically romantic"), while others were a little put off by the hardcore, non-simulated sex scenes.

Personal

Mitchell came out in the mid-'80s. He's currently single and lives in the West Village.

No joke

He appeared in one episode each of the '80s TV programs Head of the Class and MacGyver.