Christian Borle

Christian Borle (born October 1, 1973)^[1] is a Tony Award-winning American actor featured in several Broadway productions. He starred as Tom Levitt on the NBC musical-drama series Smash.

Early life

Christian was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of a Swiss father who was a professor of physiology at the University of Pittsburgh. ^[2] His love for Star Wars and drawing made him want to become a comic book artist when he grew up, but it was only when a friend convinced him to audition for a school play in his sophomore year that he began to develop an interest in acting.^[3]

Christian attended St. Edmund's Academy in Pittsburgh, where he played Scrooge in a 1987 production of Dickens's A Christmas Carol, but graduated from Shady Side Academy. He went on to attend Carnegie Mellon University before moving to New York in September 1995. ^{[citation needed]}

Career

Christian made his Broadway debut in 1998, understudying the role of Willard in the stage adaptation of the film Footloose. He was featured in the 2000 revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, and was the dance captain and understudy of several characters for the short-lived 2002 musical Amour.

In 2003 he replaced Gavin Creel for the role of Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie. He married his co-star, actress Sutton Foster, who had played Millie, in September 2006.^[4][5][6] On a radio interview in 2010 it was confirmed that Christian and Sutton had separated.^[7]

Christian performed Monty Python's Spamalot, in which he originated a number of roles, including Prince Herbert and the Historian. His performance earned him a 2005 Drama Desk Award nomination as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical and a Broadway.com Audience Award as Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical. He is best known on Broadway, however, for originating Emmett Forrest in Legally Blonde, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. The musical is based on MGM's 2001 film of the same name.^[8]

He was featured in the Encores! staged concert version of On the Town as Ozzie, running in November 2008.^[9] He appeared in a workshop production of a new play titled "Peter and the Starcatcher" in 2009.^[10] He played Bert in the Broadway production of Mary Poppins, replacing Adam Fiorentino in the role on October 12, 2009^[11] and then left the cast July 15, 2010.

In 2010, he appeared in The Bounty Hunter, in which he played a golf caddy. In Fall 2010/Winter 2011, Christian played the role of Prior Walter in Signature Theatre Company's 20th anniversary production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America.^[12]

On February 25, 2011, it was announced that Borle had joined Steven Spielberg's new NBC pilot Smash with Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston, Katharine McPhee, Brian d'Arcy James, and Megan Hilty. The series follows a cross section of characters who come together to mount a Marilyn Monroe-themed musical (which is called Bombshell) on Broadway.^[13]

In May 2011, it was reported that NBC had picked up the show as a series for the 2011-2012 season.^[14] In March 2012, NBC announced it would renew the series for a second season with 15 episodes.^[15]

Christian was a member of the original cast in the Regional and Off-Broadway productions of Peter and the Starcatcher that ran until April 24, 2011.^[16] He reprised the role of Black Stache on Broadway in April 2012, where his performance earned him his second Tony Award nomination and first win as Best Featured Actor in a Play.^[17] Christian ended his run in the Broadway production of Peter and the Starcatcher on June 30, 2012, to take a break before taping for Smash began on August 2012.

Christian played Max Dettweiler in The Sound of Music Live!, which aired on December 5, 2013.^[18][19]

Personal

Christian started dating actress Sutton Foster in college,^[20] and married her on September 18, 2006. During a radio interview in 2010, it was confirmed that Christian and Sutton had gone their separate ways.^[21][22] Sutton and Christian still remain good friends^[23] and continue to support each other's work.^[24][25]

Christian also briefly dated Legally Blonde co-star Laura Bell Bundy.

Theatre Credits

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Christian Borle at the Internet Broadway Database
• Christian Borle at the Internet Movie Database
• Christian Borle at Playbill Vault