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Although it took Nathan Lane nearly a decade to publicly embrace his truth, he had some great allies behind the scenes. As the actor was honored with the Career Achievement Award at the Critics Choice Association’s inaugural Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television this month, he recalled how his late friend and The Birdcage co-star Robin Williams would “protect me whenever he could” at a time when Lane wasn’t ready to come out as gay publicly. “I had marched in Pride Parades in the late seventies, but nobody had ever expressed interest in my sexuality,” said Lane in his speech, according to People .

Related Stories News Oprah Winfrey Hospitalized With "Some Kind Of Stomach Thing," Misses 'CBS Mornings' Appearance News Nathan Lane, 'Fellow Travelers' Among Honorees At Critics Choice First Annual 'Celebration Of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television' Awards (Watch Video) He explained that he came out to his family at age 21 and was even out to his “friends and colleagues in the business” before he was first asked about his sexuality by a theater journalist “way back in 1989.” Noting that when he “began playing gay roles, it started to come up more and more,” Lane recounted the topic coming up again during an interview with Oprah Winfrey in promotion of 1996’s The Birdcage . Nathan Lane accepts the Career Achievement Award during the Critics Choice Association’s inaugural Celebration of LGBTQ + Cinema & Television on June 7, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.



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