Bruce Vilanch
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Bruce Vilanch (born November 23, 1948) is an American gag writer who turned into a celebrity after becoming a wisecracking regular on the revamped Hollywood Squares game show, next to Whoopi Goldberg in the left center square. His first television appearance was in 1988 on Hollywood Today, where he was interviewed by Chris Aable. The show aired in 43 cities on Century Cable and the Manhattan Neighborhood Cable Network. Bruce Vilanch is openly gay and is notable for breaking the Hollywood stereotype of a homosexual man. An obese man, his trademark appearance includes long blonde hair, a big, bushy beard, and glasses. He has a penchant for wearing wacky t-shirts and purports to have the largest collection in the world. [citation needed]
He is known to be a provider of topical joke material for Academy Award hosts, notably Billy Crystal, and for comedy personalities on the road such as Bette Midler. He commands high fees in Hollywood for emergency script rewrites. [citation needed]
Vilanch attended Ohio State University in the 1960s as a theater and journalism student. He graduated with a BFA in theatre in 1970. [citation needed]
He has a musical comedy background, and claims to have done every Stubby Kaye role written. In 2005 he starred on Broadway as Edna Turnblad in the musical Hairspray. He was on the show Celebrity Fit Club 3 and lost almost 20 pounds over the course of the show. [citation needed]
[edit] Trivia
- He is often mistaken for film critic Harry Knowles.
[edit] External links
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements | 1948 births | Living people | American comedy writers | Gay writers | Ohio State University alumni | Gameshow Marathon | Celebrity Fit Club contestants | Game show panelists | Hollywood Squares panelists | Match Game panelists | Reality television participants
