• Bruce Vilanch – Making it as Jokesmith of the Entertainment World
• Bruce Gerald Vilanch is an American comedy writer, songwriter, and actor. He is a six-time Emmy Award winner.
• Vilanch is best known to the public for his four-year stint as a celebrity participant on Hollywood Squares while working behind the scenes as a head writer for the show.  In 2000, he performed off-Broadway in his self-penned one-man show, Bruce Vilanch: Almost Famous.
• Since 2000, Vilanch has been the head writer for the Oscars, after being an Oscar program co-writer for the previous ten years. He is also a featured writer for the Tonys, Grammys, and Emmys.
• Vilanch was the subject of the documentary Get Bruce! The film included interviews with Bette Midler, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg. Vilanch’s mother, whom he credits with developing his sense of humor, also appeared in the documentary.
• Please welcome my guest today… Bruce Vilanch.

The post Podcast – Making It! with Terry Wollman: Bruce Vilanch Is The Guest first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Boulder JFS held its fifth annual fundraiser, “Reel Hope Boulder,” on Saturday night at the Boulder JCC, and it was the most successful outing of the series.  Hollywood writer Bruce Vilanch not only entertained the crowd while being interviewed by Ron Bostwick, but did so for free, raising the net amount available for operations from the night’s take.  In addition to Vilanch, new JFS CEO Shepard Nevel addressed the audience, and JFS of Colorado Board Chair Charlie Gwirtsman was in attendance. Thanks to a match offered up by Jerry and Gail Sloat, the event raised over $90,000 for JFS of Colorado’s Boulder operation, led by Cathy Summer.

Jerry Sloat said this about why he supports JFS:

My slogan for JFS is “We are your family; you are never alone.” We all have family where we came from and many of us don’t have family here. We all need family around us and JFS represents that.

Andy Miro (event co-chair, Boulder JFS advisory committee member) supports JFS and wanted to co-chair the event because “JFS does so much for the community where the help is really needed. It’s very meaningful to be a part of it.” As event co-chair, Andy was very thankful about how well it went: “Bruce was everything I expected. He was very personal, approachable, and I felt like I’ve known him for years. He was fantastic. People stayed until the very end of the event, which is key. It was successful and I’m happy with how it went!”

Karli Sherwinter (event committee, Boulder JFS advisory committee member) said, “I like to be involved in a direct service organization where the money raised goes to directly support individuals in need.”

Here is the full album of pictures.

The post Boulder JFS Raises Over $90,000 at Reel Hope ’17 first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

The Hollywood Museum is thrilled to announce its 2017 salute to the LGBTQ community‘s contributions to the entertainment industry. The fourth annual “REAL to REEL: Portrayals and Perceptions of LGBTQs in Hollywood” exhibit, in partnership with Los Angeles City Council member Mitch O’Farrell, is an educational, entertaining and informative retrospective of LGBTQ images in film, TV, new digital platforms featuring costumes, props, photos, and iconic imagery all telling the story of the milestones and influence that LGBTQ characters and plot lines have had in Hollywood from early stereotypes to modern-day representations. Additionally, REAL to REEL celebrates LGBTQ icons those individuals and couples who may be openly LGBTQ or not, and who support the LGBTQ community.

The Hollywood Museum’s REAL to REEL exhibition, which coincides with the annual Christopher Street West Pride activities, offers a historic perspective spanning 100 years from silent films to today’s films, TV shows, and digital platforms. “The museum welcomes the opportunity to create and showcase this important exhibition, sharing with the public the artistic expression and extraordinary significance of the LGBTQ culture and its effect and impact on the world through the medium of entertainment,” says Donelle Dadigan, Founder and President of The Hollywood Museum located in the Historic Max Factor Building.

The exhibit revisits monumental LGBTQ moments in history with Rev. Troy Perry, including the Black Cat riots (1967), and on display – the infamous sign that once hung at the entrance of West Hollywood’s Barney’s Beanery. Exhibit highlights include costumes from Transparent, How to Get Away with Murder, The Walking Dead, Empire, Trans America, Sordid Lives, Cruising, Orange is the New Black, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Ray Donovan, Mad Men, Arrested Development, Cabaret,K-11, as well as Cyndi Lauper’s Grand Marshall Costume (Toronto’s Gay Pride parade, 2015. Additional exhibit items include famous costumes from Hollywood’s leading designers – Mr. Blackwell, Bob Mackie, Rett Turner, Nolan Miller, Edith Head – to today’s Project Runway with Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum, as well as Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful, Tyler Perry’s The Haves and Have Nots, Scandal, Two in a Half Men, True Blood, The Good Wife, and more. This year’s exhibit also includes, Icons in the Community such as Betty Davis, Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Liza Minnelli, Bette Midler, Ramon Navarro, Greg Louganis, Charles Laughton, Sam Harris, Bruce Vilanch, Sherman Hemsley, Gere Jewell, Jerry Herman, Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner and many more.

The Hollywood Museum gratefully acknowledges the following ABC, Amazon Studios, BBC America, CBS, Discovery Life, Focus Features HBO, Logo, NBC, Netflix, OWN, Showtime, TLC and 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, as well as organizations serving the LGBTQ community including ONE Archives, Christopher Street West, The Lavender Effect, and The Glaad Awards, amfAR and more

ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD MUSEUM IN THE HISTORIC MAX FACTOR BUILDING:
See 10,000 Authentic Show Business Treasures spanning more than 100 years of Hollywood history! Located next to the world famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Museum in the Historic Max Factor Building houses the largest collection of entertainment memorabilia on display in the world. It is home to thousands of costumes, props, photographs, posters, celebrity automobiles and other treasures from some of the most iconic films and TV shows ever made! See Hollywood legends – past, present, and in the making! The museum attracts thousands of fans from around the world and was recently named one of the top tourist attractions by LA Weekly and by Trip Advisor, and was voted one of the Top 10 Museums in LA by the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. The Hollywood Museum is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.

REGULAR HOURS: Wednesday – Sunday: 10:00am – 5:00pm (Exhibit: Fri, June 10th – Sun, Sept 4th)
TICKETS: $15 Adults: $12 Seniors (62+): $12 for students with ID and $5 Children under 5.
ADDRESS: 1660 N. Highland Ave. (at Hollywood Blvd.), Los Angeles, CA 90028 MUSEUM INFO: www.TheHollywoodMuseum.com or Tel: (323) 464-7776

FOLLOW THE MUSEUM:
WEBSITE: www.TheHollywoodMuseum.com

FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/TheHollywoodMuseum

The post The Hollywood Museum Announces Fourth Annual Real to Reel: Portrayals and Perceptions of LGBTQs in Hollywood Exhibit first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Dedicated in 2012, Chicago’s Legacy Walk is the world’s only outdoor LGBT History Museum. This half-mile installation features bronze biographical memorials celebrating the lives of people like Leonard Bernstein, Audre Lorde, Sally Ride, James Baldwin, Jane Addams, Rudolf Nureyev, Frida Kahlo and Alan Turing.

The Legacy Walk’s markers serve as an “outdoor classroom” for bullied LGBTQ youth who come for guided tours in order to learn about historically significant positive LGBT role models whose contributions have made an incalculable difference in the world we share.

On October 15, 2016 they welcome two LGBT activist superstars to the Legacy Walk: transgender icon Sylvia Rivera from the Stonewall Era, and gay film activist/historian Vito Russo, who co-founded both ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Their considerable legacies will soon be added to the 35 incredible stories of achievement which already line the only streetscape of its kind in existence.

This all-day tribute will feature legendary gay activist Cleve Jones, Chicago transgender spokesperson Myles Brady-Davis, Emmy Award-Winning writer-producer-actor Bruce Vilanch, and trans pioneer Judy Bowenwiener, a close personal friend of Sylvia and Marsha P. Johnson from the post-Stonewall Era. Judy will be talking about their involvement as three trans women in New York’s Gay Activist Alliance (GAA). She will be joined by Phillip Raia, who worked with both Vito and Sylvia in GAA in the 1970s. Never have all these people been brought together for a celebration quite like this.

The event will be in three parts:

1-3 p.m.: Opening Reception and Program, Center on Halsted

Transgender activist Myles Brady-Davis, Howard Brown Health, gay activist Cleve Jones, NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, “Reflecting on the Evolution of Activism across the Decades.”

3-4 p.m.: Legacy Walk Induction Ceremonies, Northalsted Streetscape, featuring the LGBTQ Youth from Lyons Township High School.

Sylvia Rivera Bronze Memorial Dedication, 3656 N. Halsted: Personal reflections of Judy Bowenwiener and Phillip Raia, Sylvia Rivera’s friends.

Vito Russo Bronze Memorial Dedication, 3411 N. Halsted, personal reflections of Bruce Vilanch, Emmy Award-winning writer-producer-actor.

4-6 p.m.: Celebration Party, Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted, “Building a New Legacy for the Future of Our Past.”

Tickets for this multi-part event are available for $30, $50, and $100 and include light appetizers and variable bar service. There will also be raffle prizes and door prizes. LGBT people from throughout the metropolitan area are expected to turn out to celebrate this unique Chicago cultural institution—built by our community, for our community—in this salute to the contributions of LGBT people.

TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED AT:

www.eventbrite.com/e/legacy-walk-dedication-v-tickets-27530936773 .

The post Chicago’s Legacy Walk LGBT History Museum to honor Sylvia Rivera, Vito Russo, October 15, 2016 first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Popular international TV and web series “Child of the 70’s” was featured in the Hollywood Museum exhibit “Reel to Real: Portrayals and Perceptions of Gays in Hollywood.”  The landmark, third annual exhibition was developed in alliance with Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O’ Farrell to highlight LGBT characters and icons in film and television from Hollywood’s past and present. The “Reel to Real: Portrayal and Perceptions of Gays in Hollywood” exhibit ran at the museum’s historic Max Factor Building in the heart of Hollywood.  This was the first time the show was featured in the exhibit and was simultaneously inducted as a permanent part of it.

The post “Child Of The 70’s” Permanently Featured In The Hollywood Museum Exhibit Reel To Real: Portrayal And Perceptions Of Gays In Hollywood first appeared on We Got Bruce!.