Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming is to be awarded Doctor of Laws (LLD) on Thursday 3 July 2025 during the afternoon ceremony.
Described as a trailblazer, creative polymath, renaissance man, maverick, master of reinvention, beyond eclectic, Perthshire-born Alan Cumming is all of these and more.
His most recent adventures include winning two Emmys for hosting and producing the US version of the BBC’s popular tense psychological adventure competition The Traitors, being named Artistic Director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre, playing the lead in Brian Cox’s directorial film debut Glenrothan, recording a single with Gaelic rapper Griogair Labhruidh, writing a book with his longtime collaborator Forbes Masson to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the creation of their cabaret alter-egos Victor and Barry, voicing an elderly woman with a pet crab in the Disney Kids series Robogobo, and all the while touring with NPR’s Ari Shapiro in their cabaret Och and Oy! as well as his solo show Uncut.
Cumming is the author of seven books including a New York Times #1 bestselling memoir. He regularly performs in concert around the world and co-owns the eponymous cabaret spot Club Cumming in New York City’s East Village. Time magazine named him one of the three most fun people in show business.
His screen work ranges from art house to blockbuster, cult to mainstream, including Mr Floop in Spy Kids, Eli in The Good Wife, Nightcrawler in X2: X Men United, Sebastian in The High Life, ‘O’ in Sex and the City, Boris in Goldeneye, King James in Doctor Who, Sandy Frink in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Mayor Menlove in Schmigadoon, and himself on Broad City.
The list of Cumming’s collaborators over the years includes Liza Minnelli, Jeremy O Harris, Jackie Chan, the Smurfs, David Bowie, The Simpsons, Robert Wilson, Stanley Kubrick, Jay Z, Bianca Del Rio, the Spice Girls, George Lucas, Terence Blanchard, KT Tunstall and, not forgetting, Dora the Explorer, Arthur and Elmo.