Cast & creator
Billy Porter
Best known for Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
William Ellis Porter II (born September 21, 1969) is an American actor and singer. Porter gained notice performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer and actor. For his role as Lola in Kinky Boots, Porter won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He credits the part for "cracking open" his feminine side to confront toxic masculinity. Porter also won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for the musical's accompanying album. Porter starred in all three seasons of the television series Pose, for which he was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, becoming the first gay black man to be nominated and win in any lead acting category at the Primetime Emmys. In 2020, he was included on Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2022, he won another Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for the musical A Strange Loop. He made his directorial debut in 2022 with the romantic comedy film Anything's Possible. Porter received the Isabelle Stevenson Award at the 77th Tony Awards for his humanitarian work with the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and Entertainment Community Fund. Description above from the Wikipedia article Billy Porter, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
49
film credits
68
television credits
106
1944–2026 · acting roles
6.0
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (117)
Showing 117 of 117 credits
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest
2009
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self
2014The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest
2014
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self
2015The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Jackie Walker
1999
The Simpsons
Desmond (voice)
1989
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self
2014Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self - Guest
2014
Law & Order
Greg Ellison
1990
The Daily Show
Self
1996
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self
2019
American Horror Story
Behold Chablis
2011
Saturday Night Live
Self - Cameo (uncredited)
1975
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
The View
Self - Guest
1997The View
Self
1997
The Late Late Show with James Corden
Self - Guest
2015
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self - Guest
2003
The Jennifer Hudson Show
2022
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Self - Guest
1988
Dancing with the Stars
Self - Guest Judge
2005
Sherri
Self - Guest
2022
Project Runway
Self - Guest Judge
2004
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Self
2014
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944
Newsnight
Self
1980
The Tamron Hall Show
Self - Guest
2019
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
Self
2007
The Drew Barrymore Show
Self
2020
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Self
2014
MTV Video Music Awards
Self
1984
Big Mouth
Ocean (voice)
2017Big Mouth
2017
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self
2015
Celebrity Family Feud
Self
2015
Stars in the House
Self
2020
MTV Movie & TV Awards
Self - Presenter
1992
Germany's Next Topmodel
Self - Guest Judge
2006
The Oscars
Self
1953
Desus & Mero
Self - Illustrious Guest
2019
People's Choice Awards
Self - Presenter
1975
The Twilight Zone
2019
Accused
Director
2023
Gossip Girl
Singer
2021
Who Do You Think You Are?
Self
2010
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Self - Contestant
2020
POSE
Pray Tell
2018
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder
Randall (voice)
2022
Who's Talking to Chris Wallace?
Self
2022
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Magno Stift
2026
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Self - Panellist
2021
Middlemost Post
Recycle King (voice)
2021
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
Self - Guest
1996
RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs The World
Self - Special Guest
2022
That's My Jam
Self - Guest
2021
Visible: Out on Television
Self
2020
Trailblazer Honors
Self - Speaker
2014
Indie Sex
Self
2007
80 for Brady
Gugu
2023
Dear...
Self
2020
Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star
Self - Guest Judge
2019
Live from the Other Side with Tyler Henry
Self
2024
That Damn Michael Che
2021
Like a Boss
Barrett
2020
Cinderella
Fabulous Godmother
2021
The Humbling
Prince
2014
Olivier Awards
Self - Host
1981
Noel
Randy
2004
Equal
Narrator
2020
Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story
Little Richard
1991
The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy
Taylor
2000
Our Son
Gabriel
2023
My Happy Place
Self
2025
Little Richard: I Am Everything
Self
2023
Broadway: The Next Generation
Self
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
Self
2006Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
Original Music Composer
2006
Christmas Karma
The Ghost of Christmas Present
2025
Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon
Self
2022
Every Act of Life
Self
2018
Anything's Possible
Director
2022
Heart of Broadway: The Ensemble Behind Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
Himself
2011
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
Self - Guest
2023
25 Years of Rent: Measured in Love
2021
Eric André Live Near Broadway
Self
2024
Indie Sex: Teens
2008
Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All!
Self
2022
I Was Born This Way
Self
2025I Was Born This Way
Executive Producer
2025
Let the Canary Sing
Self
2023
The Circuit
Self - Singer/Actor
2021
PRIDE: To Be Seen - A Soul of a Nation Presentation
Pray Tell (archive footage)
2022
Together in Pride: You Are Not Alone
Self
2020
A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting
Executive Producer
2022
The Savoy King: Chick Webb & the Music That Changed America
Dizzy Gillespie (voice)
2012
The Grammys
Self
1959Camp
Mark
Camp
Director
Where Love Lives: A Story of Dancefloor Culture & Expression
(Himself)
2021
Intern
Sebastian Niederfarb
2000
Queen of New York
2023
Raquel: Total Beauty and Fitness
1984
Sanctuary
Writer
2021
All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise
Himself
2006
Pose-a-Thon for Pride
Self
2020
Smoke, Lilies and Jade
2021
(pride/prom)
Executive Producer
2024
Billy Preston: That's the Way God Planned It
Self
2026
Disco's Revenge
Self
2024
Freeman Vines
Executive Producer
2025
Twisted
Shiniqua, Angel's friend
1996
Truth Be Told
2023
Colorz of Rage
Street Performer
1999The Shoe
2011To Be Real
Director
To Be Real
Executive Producer