--- description: "All the people close to me have known for years who I am," Grey tells People title: 'Cabaret' Star Joel Grey Comes Out Publicly: 'I Don't Like Labels' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d9d356dede653fc/69877c5a8e06010dcc459fc2/joel-grey.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Cabaret'_s Joel Grey Comes Out: 'If You Have to Put a Label On It, I'm a Gay Man'  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 28, 2015 5:43 PM CUT  Actor Joel Grey attends the 73rd Annual George Foster Peabody Awards at the Waldorf Astoria on May 19, 2014 in New York. Actor Joel Grey attends the 73rd Annual George Foster Peabody Awards at the Waldorf Astoria on May 19, 2014 in New York.Debby Wong—Corbis  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 28, 2015 5:43 PM CUT Broadway icon and award-winning actor star Joel Grey is [speaking publicly about his sexuality](http://www.people.com/article/joel-grey-gay-cabaret "undefined") for the very first time. “I don’t like labels,” Grey tells _People_ magazine, “but if you have to put a label on it, I’m a gay man.” The 82-year-old won an Oscar and a Tony for his role as the Master of Ceremonies in _Cabaret_ (Grey has also appeared on _Private Practice_ and _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_.) He was married for 24 years to actress Jo Wilderand and raised two children, a time period he calls the “happiest of my life.” “All the people close to me have known for years who I am,” Grey says. “\[Yet\] it took time to embrace that other part of who I always was.” The announcement kicks off a busy year for the actor: his memoir and a new photography book are due later in 2015. [_Read more excerpts from the interview at People._](http://www.people.com/article/joel-grey-gay-cabaret "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3686143/cabaret-joel-grey-gay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3686143/cabaret-joel-grey-gay/"},"headline":"Cabaret's Joel Grey Comes Out: 'If You Have to Put a Label On It, I'm a Gay Man'","datePublished":"2015-01-28T17:43:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:56:54.376Z","description":"\"All the people close to me have known for years who I am,\" Grey tells People","url":"https://time.com/3686143/cabaret-joel-grey-gay/","keywords":["celebrities","movies","broadway","Theater"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d9d356dede653fc/69877c5a8e06010dcc459fc2/joel-grey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d9d356dede653fc/69877c5a8e06010dcc459fc2/joel-grey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Actor Joel Grey attends the 73rd Annual George Foster Peabody Awards at the Waldorf Astoria on May 19, 2014 in New York.","caption":"Actor Joel Grey attends the 73rd Annual George Foster Peabody Awards at the Waldorf Astoria on May 19, 2014 in New York.","creditText":"Debby Wong—Corbis","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3686143/cabaret-joel-grey-gay/","name":"Cabaret's Joel Grey Comes Out: 'If You Have to Put a Label On It, I'm a Gay Man'"}}]}] ```