PHOTO GALLERY: Snakkle Looks Back at Chaz Bono’s Fascinating Life and Career

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Proud Parents Cher and Sonny Bono (1970)

The couple showed off their baby—the only child they would have together, though both had children from other marriages—at Zsa Zsa Gabor's opening at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. Sonny and Cher divorced five years later.

CBS Photo Archive

The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (1971)

A frequent guest star on Comedy Hour (and the half-hour variety program that eventually replaced it, The Sonny and Cher Show), the toddler would perform in adorable skits like this one. Sonny died in 1998, at age 62, after hitting a tree while skiing at Lake Tahoe.

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Family Portrait with Cher and Elijah Blue Allman (1981)

Shortly after her divorce from Sonny, Cher married legendary singer-songwriter Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers. Bono grew up with half-brother Elijah (born in 1976), who is a musician and artist in his own right.

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With Classmate Jennifer Aniston (1987)

Bono graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts—made famous by the movie and TV show Fame—where a pre-Friends Jennifer Aniston was a classmate. They're seen here in the locker room in the spring of 1987.

In Ceremony's video for "Could've Been Love" (1993)

Bono's short-lived band Ceremony released one studio album, Hang Out Your Poetry, featuring backup vocals from another musical scion, Steve March Tormé (son of crooner Mel Tormé). It was just as Ceremony was getting signed that Bono was outed publicly by the tabloids.

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With Candace Gingrich on Capitol Hill (1995)

Newt Gingrich's half sister joined Bono in supporting a measure to ban discrimination against gays in the workplace. Bono was a strong voice for the gay community, serving as a writer at large for The Advocate and a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's National Coming Out Project.

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At the Outfest Awards Night (2005)

Bono was a presenter at the 2005 Outfest, which celebrates gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender films. One of Bono's first public appearances after revealing that he was transitioning to male was at the 2009 Outfest, where he walked the red carpet with girlfriend Jennifer Elia.

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With Cher in Hollywood (2010)

Although by all accounts Cher reacted badly when Chaz came out as a lesbian at age 18, she has been supportive of his decision to become a man. Bono shared his tale with the release of his latest memoir, Transition.

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With Then-Girlfriend Jennifer Elia at the GLAAD Media Awards (2011)

Bono and Elia, who were together for six years before their split, were both featured in the Oprah Winfrey Network documentary on the experience of transitioning called Becoming Chaz. "The most important thing about this for me is that my outsides are finally starting to match my insides," he told Entertainment Tonight in 2009.

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Dancing with the Stars Partners Chaz Bono and Lacey Schwimmer (2011)

Some fans have decried the show for featuring a transgender person and others have flocked to his defense—including his mom: "I support him no matter what he chooses 2do! … It took COURAGE 2 do dwts ! TG Chaz has an Unlimited supply," Cher tweeted. Chaz was the 6th eliminated from the show.

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Chaz Bono and date at The 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards (2013)

Since Bono's Dancing with the Stars appearance, he's stayed busy by being politically active, working on LA's 30 Minute Musicals, and has a starring role in the indie film Dirty which will be released in 2014.