Bruce Vilanch

Daniel

Bruce Vilanch is a two-faced fella: Bearded, he is one of the most sought-after comedy writers in Hollywood, winner of a bunch of Emmys and noted as the “Hollywood Square” just to the left of Whoopi. Shaved, he spent two years as Edna Turnblad, Baltimore housewife and superstar, on tour and on Broadway in the smash musical adaptation of the John Waters film Hairspray.

Most recently in 2006, Bruce was seen on VH1’s popular fitness and nutrition reality-series, Celebrity Fit Club, which just finished its third season. Participating in a type of extreme-makeover-body-edition, the Celebrity Fit Clubbers went through 100 days of Fit Club training. Along the way, they learned about fitness, diets and nutrition.

Who knows what Bruce will look like for his next performance? In addition to Hairspray, he has appeared in such legendary epics as Ice Pirates, Mahogany and The Morning After. A frequent guest on talk shows, Bruce won his Emmys for co-writing back-to-back Oscar shows with Billy Crystal. He’s written 16 Oscar-casts so far, as well as a number of Tonys, Grammys, and even Emmys, although he never got an Emmy for writing an Emmy – that would be award-show incest of the lowest order. His bizarre career was documented in the film Get Bruce!, released by Miramax and perpetually available on Buena Vista Home Video.

Bruce’s one-man show, Almost Famous, tickled Off-Broadway audiences for three months and has made a number of appearances around the country. He is frequently mistaken for Brad Pitt.