John Lloyd Young

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John Lloyd Young

John Lloyd Young, June 2010
Born John Lloyd Mills Young
(1975-07-04) July 4, 1975
Sacramento, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 2002–present
Website
www.johnlloydyoung.com

John Lloyd Mills Young (born July 4, 1975) is an American actor and singer.[1][2] In 2006, he won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role as Frankie Valli in Broadway's Jersey Boys. He is the only American actor to date to have received a Lead Actor in a Musical Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Award for a Broadway debut. [citation needed] Young sang lead vocals on the Grammy-award winning Jersey Boys cast album, certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

In 2013, director Clint Eastwood cast Young to reprise his role as "Frankie Valli" in Warner Brothers' film adaptation of JERSEY BOYS.

John Lloyd Young was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. He was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice, Elena Kagan, on November 21, 2013.[3]

Early life

Young was born in Sacramento, California, of Italian descent on his mother's side and English descent on his father's.[4][5] After graduating high school in Plattsburgh, New York, Young spent a year as a Rotary Club International exchange student in Caracas, Venezuela. Young went on to graduate with honors in Theatre Arts from Brown University. He spent his third year of college at the University of Salamanca, Spain as a student of World and Art History and Spanish Language and Literature.

Career

After moving to New York, Young worked his way up through the ranks of the theater scene with roles in numerous regional and off-Broadway plays including the New York-area premiere of Michael Healey's The Drawer Boy with actor John Mahoney; "Charlie" in Julia Jordan's The Summer of the Swans; "Moritz" in the Douglas Langworthy translation of Wedekind's Spring Awakening; and "Claudio" in Rinne Groff's The Five Hysterical Girls Theorem for the Target Margin Theatre.

He was named one of the Best Featured Actors in a Play by the New Jersey Star-Ledger as "Danny Saunders" in Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok's dramatic adaptation of Potok's famous book, The Chosen, opposite Theodore Bikel, directed by David Ellenstein. [citation needed]

He failed to land the part of Frankie Valli in the pre-Broadway run of Jersey Boys, but a year later and after several more auditions, he was asked to headline the show on Broadway, where he played the role for over two years. During his tenure at Jersey Boys which now has several companies playing worldwide, Young performed at the White House, Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the New York City Marathon, New Year's Eve in Times Square, Yankee Stadium, and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Young's run with Jersey Boys concluded on 9 November 2007 [6][7] followed shortly thereafter by a sold-out-in-a-day solo concert debut at Lincoln Center. Young reprised his role as "Frankie Valli" for a three-month run on Broadway in the summer of 2012 and is currently playing the part for another run in 2013.

Now based in Los Angeles, Young starred as Marius in an all-star production of Les Misérables at the Hollywood Bowl and was the first guest star ever invited to appear on Glee.

John Lloyd Young debuted his visual art in May 2010 in "Food for Thought", a show benefiting AIDS Project Los Angeles, at Willis Wonderland, the home of Young's friend, Grammy-winning songwriter, Allee Willis. Young's pieces are now a part of the collection at Hollywood's Hamilton-Selway Fine Art Gallery and Boca Raton, FL's Elaine Baker Gallery. His first art commission was for famed Beverly Hills, CA restaurant, Spago.

Mr. Young's debut album, "My Turn..." was released July 3, 2012. The album was Executive Produced by Dona R. Miller and Mr. Young's Under the Skyway Productions, and produced by London producer Arthur Baker and by Tommy Faragher of Fox's hit show, GLEE, whose cover of "Teenage Dream" was the first song from the show to reach #1 on the Billboard Charts.

Young's extensive charity work includes frequent appearances with and support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, amfAR, Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang, AIDS Project Los Angeles and the United Service Organization (USO).

Awards and nominations

Tony Awards

Drama Desk Awards

Outer Critics Circle Awards

Theatre World Awards

Grammy Awards

Drama League Award

References

  1. ↑ "John Lloyd Young". MySpace.com. 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
  2. ↑ Wayman Wong (1 November 2005). "The Leading Men: Frankie & Johnny". Playbill. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
  3. ↑ http://www.pcah.gov/news/president-barack-obama-appoints-seven-members-presidents-committee
  4. ↑ Sokol, Robert (July 30, 2009). "Jersey voice: Tony winner John Lloyd Young is straight up on gay roles". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved July 22, 2013. 
    • a "John Lloyd, as he prefers, was born on the Fourth of July in Sacramento." — ¶ 4.
  5. ↑ McKinley, Jesse (2005-11-06). "March of the Falsetto: Out of the Shower, Onto Broadway". John Lloyd Young.com. Retrieved 2009-09-15. 
  6. ↑ Ernio Hernandez (21 November 2007). "Broadway's Frankie Valli — John Lloyd Young — Bids Farewell to Jersey Boys". Playbill. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
  7. ↑ BWW staff writers (25 November 2007). "John Lloyd Young's Final 'Jersey Boys' Sign-In". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 

External links

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