About Hal Sparks
Hal Harry Magee Sparks III is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, political commentator, television and radio host and television personality. He made contributions to VH1, hosting E!'s Talk Soup, and played the roles of Michael Novotny on the American television series Queer as Folk, Donald Davenport in Lab Rats and the voice of Tak in Tak and the Power of Juju television series and video games. Despite some initial opposition by his father, by 15 he began performing standup comedy and by 17 he won the title of "Chicago's Funniest Teenager" from a stand-up contest sponsored the Chicago Sun-Times. In a 2009 interview with We Are Movie Geeks, he confirmed he created the hand gesture in a "Z" formation. The "Z" hand gesture became the celebratory sign of choice among the members and fans of baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, of whom Sparks is a fan, starting in 2012.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.