David James Furnish (born 25 October 1962) is a Canadian filmmaker and former advertising executive. He is the husband of English singer, pianist and composer Sir Elton John.

Early life and education

David Furnish was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Women's College Hospital Women's College Hospital is a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in downtown Toronto at the north end of Hospital Row, a section of University Avenue where several major hospitals are located. It currently functions ...

, the son of Gladys and Jack Furnish, a director at the

Bristol-Myers The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consiste ...

pharmaceutical company. He has an older brother, John, and a younger brother, Peter. Furnish graduated from the Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute in 1981 and received an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration (HBA) from the

Ivey Business School Ivey Business School is the main business school of Western University, located in London, Ontario, Canada. It offers full-time undergraduate and graduate programs in London, Ontario and maintains a Toronto facility for its EMBA program and two ...

at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

in London, Ontario in 1985.

Career

After graduation, he was recruited by the advertising agency

Ogilvy & Mather Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging with a New York City a ...

Canada in Toronto. At 27, he asked his firm to transfer him to their UK principal offices in London. Furnish flourished in England, becoming the firm's youngest Director of Account Services. Furnish is co-chief of Rocket Pictures along with his husband, Sir Elton John. Furnish serves on the board of the Elton John AIDS Foundation as chairman, attending fund-raising events and other events in support of that cause. Furnish is a contributing editor for ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle c ...

'' magazine and also is a regular columnist for ''

Interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" re ...

'' and '' GQ''. In 2015, he was named one of '' GQ''s 50 best dressed men in Britain. In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous riots and demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of ...

, ''

Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay- and LGBTQ-oriented entertainment and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was ...

'' named him, along with John, as one of the ''Pride50'' "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards

equality Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value. In specific contexts, equality may refer to: Society * Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people ** Political egalitarianism, in which ...

, acceptance and dignity for all

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

people".

Personal life

Furnish began a relationship with singer

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

in 1993. John proposed to Furnish in May 2005 at a dinner party with friends and family at one of their homes in

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from old Eng ...

. Furnish and John entered into a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

on 21 December 2005, the first day that civil partnerships could be performed in England, in the town of

Windsor, Berkshire Windsor is a historic town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch. The town is situated we ...

. Their first child was born on 25 December 2010 in California via

surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman gets pregnant and gives birth on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child's legal parents after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, danger ...

. On 11 January 2013, the couple's second son was born through the same surrogate as their first. After

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

became legal in England and Wales in March 2014, Furnish and John retroactively converted their civil partnership into a marriage and marked the occasion with a ceremony in Windsor on 21 December 2014, the ninth anniversary of their civil partnership. In 2016, Furnish sought an anonymised privacy injunction in the case '' PJS v News Group Newspapers Ltd''.

Filmography

*'' Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras''; director (1997) *''Women Talking Dirty''; producer (1999) *''Desert Flower''; co-producer (1999) *''

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

: Center of the Storm''; executive producer (2002) *''Fame and Fashion: Inside Gucci – Sex and Fashion''; director, script writer (2002) *''Fame and Fashion: Inside Versace – Fame and Fashion''; director, script writer (2002) *''

It's a Boy Girl Thing ''It's a Boy Girl Thing'' is a 2006 romantic comedy film directed by Nick Hurran and written by Geoff Deane, starring Kevin Zegers and Samaire Armstrong and set in the United States but filmed and produced in Canada and the United Kingdom. The ...

''; producer (2006) *''Pride and Predator''; producer (announced 2009) *'' Gnomeo & Juliet''; producer (2011) *''

Billy Elliot the Musical Live ''Billy Elliot the Musical Live'' is a 2014 British filmed version of Elton John's coming-of-age stage musical ''Billy Elliot the Musical'' (2005), which in turn was based on the 2000 film ''Billy Elliot''. Stephen Daldry directed both the origi ...

''; executive producer (2014) *''Virtuoso''; executive producer (2015) *'' Sherlock Gnomes''; producer (2018) *'' Rocketman''; producer (2019) * '' Elton John: Never Too Late'', director (2024)Stephen Daw
"Elton John’s New Documentary ‘Never Too Late’ to Debut at Toronto International Film Festival"
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', June 18, 2024.

Television

*''Spectacle:

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

with...''; producer (2008)

Theatre

*''

Billy Elliot the Musical ''Billy Elliot: The Musical'' is a Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age stage musical based on the Billy Elliot, 2000 film of the same name. The music is by Elton John, and the book and lyrics are by Lee Hall (playwright), Lee Hall, who wrote th ...

''; executive producer (March 2005).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Furnish, David 1962 births 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian businesspeople 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Businesspeople from London Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian expatriates in England Canadian gay men Canadian LGBTQ businesspeople Elton John Film directors from London Film directors from Toronto LGBTQ film producers Living people People named in the Pandora Papers Primetime Emmy Award winners University of Western Ontario alumni Canadian theatre managers and producers Canadian documentary film producers Canadian documentary film directors Canadian LGBTQ film directors