Monday, 8 January 2007

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Actor Alan Cumming marries artist boyfriend

He exchanged vows with Grant Shaffer in London on Sunday

X-Men 2 star Alan Cumming and commercial illustrator Grant Shaffer were married Sunday in a civil ceremony outside London, according to the rep for the Scottish-born actor.

The couple's 140 guests, including Sir Ian McKellen, Geri Halliwell, Neve Campbell, Rufus Wainwright and Monica Lewinsky, boarded a boat in London and sailed down the Thames to Greenwich, where the ceremony was held at the 175-year-old Old Royal Naval College.

Cumming and Shaffer both wore custom made suits: Shaffer's was black striped and Cumming's was an oatmeal colored linen kilt suit. The couple walked down the aisle to a string quartet playing the theme song from Cumming's 1995 film Circle of Friends. At the end of the ceremony, as Queen's "You're My Best Friend" played, guests moved outside to the rented ice rink for the newlyweds' first skate.

"Not only are we so happy to be able to celebrate our love for each other, but also to be able to do it in a country that properly recognizes the rights of same-sex couples," Cumming said in a statement. "As residents of America we would have loved to marry there, but we hope that soon the civil rights that we have been afforded in the U.K. will be available to all gay Americans, and we look forward to celebrating not only our marriage, but the end of prejudice."

Cumming, 41, and Shaffer have been together for two years and live in New York City, according to E! Online, which first announced the wedding.

Last year Cumming, who won a Tony for his role as the pansexual emcee in the 1998 revival of Cabaret, starred in Broadway's The Threepenny Opera. In 2003's X-Men 2, he played the teleporting blue-skinned mutant Nightcrawler. He has also had a recurring role on the Showtime series The L Word.

Cumming was previously married, from 1985 to 1993, to actress Hilary Lyon.

According to his Web site, Shaffer's advertising clients include Hershey's, Poland Springs, Coca-Cola, 7-Up, FedEx and Calvin Klein, among others. He also draws editorial illustrations and storyboards for feature films.