December 5th, 2007 - Happy Birthday Margaret Cho!

Cho is known for her stage performances, recordings, and concert movies. Her shows are a mixture of her comedy stylings with strong political and cultural commentary.

Apart from these shows she has also directed and appeared in music videos, and started her own clothing line. She has also frequently supported gay rights and identifies herself as bisexual, winning several awards for her humanitarian efforts.

Cho was born to a Korean-American family in San Francisco, California. Named “Moran,” she was frequently called “Moron” by other children. Cho grew up in a culturally diverse neighborhood in the 1970s and 1980s, which she described as a community of “old hippies, ex-druggies, burnouts from the ’60s, drag queens, and Chinese people. To say it was a melting pot - that’s the least of it. It was a really confusing, enlightening, wonderful time.”

Cho’s parents, Young-Hie and Seung-Hoon Cho ran a bookstore on San Francisco’s Polk Street. Her father writes joke books as well as a newspaper column in Seoul, Korea. After Cho expressed an interest in performance, she auditioned and was accepted into the San Francisco School of the Arts, a performing arts high school. While at the school, she became involved with the school’s improvisatory comedy group.

She emceed the multi-artist True Colors Tour, which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada. The tour, sponsored by the Logo channel, began on June 8, 2007. Headlined by Cyndi Lauper, the tour also included Debbie Harry, Erasure, The Gossip, Rufus Wainwright, The Dresden Dolls, The MisShapes, Rosie O’Donnell, Indigo Girls, The Cliks and other special guests. Profits from the tour helped to benefit the Human Rights Campaign as well as PFLAG and The Matthew Shepard Foundation.

Cho’s legal name is Moran Cho. Her stage name is Margaret. Cho is not fluent in Korean, but does understand some simple conversation.

Cho has dated Quentin Tarantino (who appeared on an episode of her sitcom), Chris Isaak, and Garrett Wang. Cho has also spoken about her relationships and sexual experiences with women, and identifies herself as bisexual.

In 2003, she married Al Ridenour, an artist involved in the creation of Cacophony Society and the Art of Bleeding. Margaret was featured in an Art of Bleeding performance in March 2006.

Cho began getting major tattoo work done in 2006 and has become an enthusiast; as of March 2007 she estimates that 15-20% of her body is currently tattooed. She was interviewed by comedian Dawn French in her television program Girls Who Do Comedy, which profiled 30 female comedians.

Little Richard-Singer -75
Morgan Brittany-Actress -56
Brian Backer-Actor -51
Amy Acker-Actress -31
Frankie Muniz-Actor -22
Ross Bagley-Actor -19

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