Fun Facts About Alan Cumming

Courtesy of CBS

Scottish actor Alan Cumming was a comedian and Shakespearean actor in the U.K. before he rose to fame in the States on Broadway (Cabaret) and in films (Romy and Michele's High School Reunion). He now stars as Eli Gold on the highly acclaimed TV drama The Good Wife on CBS, which returns to CBS this fall. If you go with the "third time's the charm" theory, he may even win an Emmy for the role in September. Here a few things you may not know about the actor.

Cumming Got His Start as a Comedian
After graduating from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Scotland, Cumming took to the stage. While performing in various Shakespearean plays, he also began to make a name for himself in the comedy clubs performing as the duo Vic and Barry with his writing partner Forbes Masson. His honors ranged from Olivier Awards for his classical theater work to recognition in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Cumming Is a Photographer
While most are familiar with his talents as an actor and singer, Cumming also has another artistic passion, photography. On his website he states, "My photographs are all about how I see the world, the incredible experiences I am exposed to and the parts of those experiences I think are worth recording or strike me as beautiful or provocative or weird." His first collection Alan Cumming Snaps! was shown at the Paul Smith Shop in Los Angeles in the fall of 2012. It features cherries, knees, Liz Taylor, Liza Minnelli and lots of self-portraits all filtered through an app that makes them look like old Polaroids.

Cumming Is an Author
In 2003 Cumming published a novel called Tommy's Tale about a drug addict in London suddenly thinking about getting clean and settling down. And in October of 2012 Cumming published a second book called Foreskin Be With You: Why Circumcision Makes No Sense and What You Can Do About It. He takes his public activism against circumcision to the written page. The book includes a history of the procedure, a discussion of what can go wrong and interviews with experts on the topic.

Cumming Is a Fragrance Designer
2011 was a big year for celebrity perfumes. Cumming joined the ranks of other celebrities to brand fragrances that year including Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston, Rihanna, Katy Perry and Britney Spears. His men's cologne, aptly named 2nd (Alan) Cumming, was a follow-up to his first bottled scent released in 2004, the aptly named Cumming.

The Good Wife returns to CBS on October, 4.