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Harvey Fierstein
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Miami Vice Character
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Benedict ("The Fix")
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Born
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June 6, 1952, Brooklyn, New York
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Active
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1983-present
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Harvey Forbes Fierstein (born June 6, 1952) is an American actor and playwright, who appeared in the show Miami Vice as Benedict, a defense lawyer who manages to get his clients off by paying off Judge Roger Ferguson (played by Bill Russell) in the episode "The Fix".
Broadway Career
Fierstein was born in Brooklyn, New York. One of the few (at time) openly gay performers, his career began as a stand-up comic and female impersonator before writing his first play, Torch Song Trilogy, which was performed both off and on-Broadway, as well as made into a 1988 movie, and Fierstein won two Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Actor in 1982. He also wrote the "book" for the play La Cage Aux Folles and won the 1983 Tony for Best Book of a Musical, collaborated with Peter Allen in the play Legs Diamond, which was not successful, and also wrote Safe Sex (which was made into the movie Tidy Endings). He won a fourth Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Edna Tumblad in the 2003 remake of Hairspray, making Fierstein the second person (Tommy Tune was the first) to win Tonys in four different categories. In 2013 his musical adaptation of the movie Kinky Boots (with lyrics/music by Cyndi Lauper) received six Tonys (including Best Musical) out of 13 nominations. His 2014 play Casa Valentina was nominated for a Tony for Best Play. In 2015 Fierstein wrote the teleplay for the NBC live TV version of The Wiz, then reprised his role as Edna Tumblad in the 2016 NBC live TV version of Hairspray.
Film Career
Fierstein made his film debut in 1983's TV movie The Demon Murder Case, followed by roles in the TV series The Simpsons (with Harry Shearer), the ABC Afterschool Special In The Shadow of Love: A Teen AIDS Story (with Lisa Vidal), Murder She Wrote (episode with Jon Polito), Family Guy (his 2015 appearance is his most recent in TV), the smoking voice of the character Lily in How I Met Your Mother, Nurse Jackie, and The Good Wife.
His movie career includes roles in Mrs. Doubtfire, White Lies (with Terry Kinney & Zach Grenier), Independence Day, Kull The Conqueror, Mulan and its' sequel Mulan II (voice role, with George Takei), Death to Smoochy (with Vincent Schiavelli), and his most recent role, a voice role in Big Mouth. He also narrated the documentary The Life & Times of Harvey Milk, for which he won an Emmy for best documentary.
