Out actor Kevin Spirtas: “I would’ve never believed I would be getting an award for remembering my truth and who I am”

Was so moved when Emmy-winning actor Kevin Spirtas was presented with the Hollywood Trailblazer Award on Thursday evening during The Hollywood Museum’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride Month event.

It’s so inspiring to see an openly gay actor who wasn’t always out publicly thriving professionally as his authentic self. Best known for his role as Dr. Craig Wesley on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, he returned to the soap last year and his character revealed to his wife and daughter that he was in love with a man. He’s been nominated for ac 2023 Daytime Emmy for his performance.

Spirtas also portrayed Jonas Chamberlain on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live and won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series for his role as Brian Stone on the soap opera web series After Forever. He also won an Emmy (shared with Michael Slade) for writing After Forever and has been nominated as a producer.

On Broadway, he was Hugh Jackman’s understudy in The Boy From Oz and has been a hugely successful Broadway producer with such hits as Finian’s Rainbow, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Dear Evan Hansen.

“His passion for acting never stopped even when the roles stopped coming,” presenter Dee Wallace said of Spirtas. “Kevin took the bull by the horns and created a role for himself. In fact, he didn’t just create a role for himself, he co-created co-wrote and co-executive produced an entire series, which of course, he starred.”

Wallace praised her friend for having “the courage to honestly stand up and say I have the right to create who I am.”

During a heartfelt speech, Spirtas opened up about “being able to accept myself being able to accept in my heart in my mind that I belong here.”

“If you would’ve talk to my 10 year old self, my 20, 30, 40, 50 year old self, I would have never believed that I would be getting an award for remembering my truth and who I am,” he said, “I am beyond honored that an award can be given to someone who takes the time to enjoy what they’re doing, to bring love into their life, to bring joy to the work.”

Spirtas said when he does a role, he tries to “find some aspect of healing, some glimpse of anything that was arresting to my heart that will heal a part of my life. I know if there’s someone out there watching me go through the healing. I pray that they … will see something that I’m doing and they will say, ‘I know that person. I’m just like that person.’”