A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Thursday honoring Alan Cumming for a stage acting career that has brought him a Tony Award and an Olivier Award, the British equivalent of a Tony.
Cumming was joined in speaking at the ceremony at 6320 Hollywood Blvd., in front of Iguana Vintage Clothing, between Ivar Avenue and Vine Street, by his longtime friend Monica Lewinsky and Brian Cox, who directed Cumming’s latest movie, “Glenrothan,” which will be screened to close out the Palm Springs International Film Festival Monday.
Cumming said he was particularly proud that his star was awarded in the category of live theater/live performance.
“I feel that’s really appropriate because if I’m going to be literally, as well as figuratively, a part of Hollywood, I think it’s really appropriate that theater is at the center of my star,” he said. “Because … theater made me, especially Scottish theater made me. And I have returned to the theater over the years. Everything I have gleaned in Hollywood, the opportunities I’ve had in Hollywood, the platform that Hollywood has given me has enabled me to go back to the theater and now to return to the Scottish theater. … So I am so happy that theater is a part of this incredible Hollywood honor.”
The ceremony coincided with the start of the fourth season of “The Traitors,” the Peacock reality competition series for which Cumming has twice won Primetime Emmys as outstanding host for a reality or reality competition program.
Cumming is also among the producers of “The Traitors,” and has also won Emmys each of the past two seasons as it was selected as the outstanding reality competition program.
The star is the 2,832nd since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.
Born Jan. 27, 1965, in Aberfeldy, Scotland, and raised in Carnoustie, on the East Coast of Scotland, Cumming trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, from 1982 to 1985.
Cumming made his professional theater, film and television debuts before graduating. His television debut came in a 1984 episode of the ITV drama “Travelling Man” as a boy who works on the canals and had a connection to the missing son of the main character.
Cumming also drew early drew praise for his performances in the Scottish soap opera, “Take The High Road,” and as part of the comedy duo of Victor and Barry with his Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama contemporary Forbes Masson.
Cumming received his first Olivier Award nomination in 1988 as best newcomer in a play for his performance in “The Conquest of the South Pole.” He won the Olivier Award in 1991 for best comedy performance for his role in “Accidental Death of an Anarchist.” He also received nominations in 1992 for best comedy performance in “La Béte” and best actor in a musical of “Cabaret.”
Cumming won the Tony Award for best actor in a musical in 1998 as the master of ceremonies in “Cabaret.” He won a second Tony in 2022 as a producer of “A Strange Loop,” the best musical winner.
Cumming received three Emmy nominations — two for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series and one for outstanding guest actor in a drama series — for his portrayal of campaign strategist and crisis manager Eli Gold in the CBS drama “The Good Wife.”
Cumming will appear in “Avengers: Doomsday” as Nightcrawler, the blue-skinned, demonic-looking mutant who can teleport. It is set to be released Dec. 18. He also played the role in “X2” in 2003.