Ian Roberts born 31 July 1965Although born in London, England, Ian Roberts' family moved to Australia when he was aged one and he is best known for his career as an Australian rugby league player - although he is now pursuing a career as an actor.
During his very successful Rugby career - he played in 13 test matches for Australia - he took the still unusual step for the world of professional sport and came out publicly as gay, gaining much attention in Australia and elsewhere as a result. Surprisingly, the rugby league world was mostly supportive and Roberts was praised for challenging myths about gay men and sport. He continued his career until 1998 when the weight of injuries told him it was time to quit.
Following his retirement, he studied acting in Sydney and has since appeared as one of Lex Luthor's henchmen in Superman Returns (2006).He appeared on the front cover of the August 2007 edition of US gay magazine The Advocate.
Like Dave Kopay and a few others before him, his coming out did not open any floodgates in professional sport and can still be considered a courageous act even in this day and age.