Steve Antin

Steve Antin is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director who is openly gay, having come out publicly in the late 1980s -- a significant act of visibility during a period when Hollywood remained deeply closeted. He first gained fame as a young actor in films like The Last American Virgin (1982) and as preppie villain Troy Perkins in The Goonies (1985), later appearing in queer-relevant projects such as It's My Party (1996). Antin eventually transitioned behind the camera, writing the screenplay for Gloria (1999) and creating the series Young Americans (2000), before making his most high-profile mark as the writer-director of Burlesque (2010), the camp-musical cult favorite starring Cher and Christina Aguilera. His personal life also intersected with queer cultural history: he was briefly in a relationship with music mogul David Geffen in the early 1980s, a detail that further cemented his place within LGBTQ+ Hollywood lineage. Across four decades, Antin's career -- spanning queer-inclusive acting roles, female-driven screenwriting, and flamboyant musical filmmaking -- reflects a creative life shaped by unapologetic gay visibility and artistic reinvention.