Richard Ganoung

Before becoming a prominent force in progressive gay-and-lesbian-themed entertainment, actor Richard Ganoung began his career dubbing voices for the American version of the 1980-1981 robot-child anime "Astroboy." It wasn't until the landmark 1986 drama "Parting Glances," in which the actor took his first onscreen role as the conflicted former lover of an AIDS-suffering Manhattanite (Steve Buscemi), that Ganoung emerged as an appealing, decidedly realistic portrayer of the gay experience. As the '90s commenced, Ganoung appeared alongside future megastar George Clooney in the short-lived undercover-cop series "Sunset Beat" before dealing with further social issues as a supporting player in the lighthearted race-impersonation comedy "True Identity." He made his second indelible mark on gay cinema as a wise and wounded art patron in the romantic comedy "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss." In addition to regularly appearing on stage, Ganoung portrayed Mr. Johnson in "No God, No Master," a 2011 period drama about an FBI agent caught in the midst of the First Red Scare. In the early 2000s, the actor briefly parted with scripted drama to speak about matters of gay pride on the long-running lifestyles docu-series "In the Life."