With True Blood over until next summer, & Mad Men concluding last Sunday, I need to thank the TV gods for ABC’s Modern Family. This show is fresh & very, very funny in its 2nd season. Modern Family won Emmys for writing, directing & Best Comedy Series, & Eric Stonestreet has an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor for his mantle.
Eric Stonestreet is the flashy & affectionate Cameron, & his longtime partner is the tightly wound lawyer- Mitchell, perfectly played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Together, they make up the most high profile gay couples on prime time.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson graduated from high school in 1994 and attended The American Musical & Dramatic Academy in NYC. He worked mainly in off-Broadway and Broadway shows, including the Tony Award-winning The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, where he originated the role of Leaf Coneybear. Ferguson was also in George C. Wolfe's revival of On the Town & has performed in Off-Broadway productions of The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Newyorkers,The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Little Fish & Hair, directed by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall. In the summer of 2007, Ferguson was in the Public Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park production of A Midsummer Night's Dream & at the same venue this summer, he costarred opposite Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice.
Ferguson has spoken out about his terrifying experience as the victim of childhood bullying, insisting he "lived every day in fear." The openly gay actor was tormented by classmates over his sexuality & the teasing was so bad, he was eventually forced to switch to a new school. But Ferguson is proud of how far he has come - his hit TV show was honored at the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network's Respect Awards for positive images of diversity & promoting tolerance.
Ferguson "I think bullying comes from fear & insecurity. I was friends with the more eccentric, granola type kids who got teased, too. But you know what? We're the movers & shakers of the world now. I lived every day in fear. I left school in the 8th grade & I went to a different school. It was hard. It was a horrible, horrible experience. I'm sure a lot of it was rooted in homophobia. I mean, I was an 'artistic' kid, which was AKA gay. I think a lot of people sensed that I was gay &
were terrified of that."
I think he is very talented, & I have a bit of a thing for ginger, so Jesse… have your people call my people. We will do lunch. He turns 35 today.
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