John Cullum

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John Cullum
Born	March 2, 1930 (1930-03-02) (age 79) Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Occupation	Actor
Spouse(s)	Emily Frankel (1959-present)

John Cullum (born 2 March 1930) is a Tony Award-winning American actor and singer.

Biography

Cullum was born in Knoxville, Tennessee where he attended the University of Tennessee. He played there on the school's Southeastern Conference championship tennis team, and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta.

He has been married to Emily Frankel since 1959. They have one son, JD Cullum, who is also an actor.

Career

He made his Broadway debut as Sir Dinadan in Alan Jay Lerner's and Frederick Loewe's Camelot in 1960. He also understudied Richard Burton (King Arthur) and Roddy McDowell (Arthur's son Mordred), going on four times when Burton became ill and succeeding McDowell. He would go on to play Laertes opposite Burton's 1964 Broadway performance as Hamlet (and in the film version of the production) and in Burton's final Broadway appearance in Noel Coward's Private Lives in 1983.

In 1965, he was called in to replace Louis Jourdan during the Boston tryout of the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. It would be his first starring role on Broadway, netting him a Theatre World Award and his first Tony Award nomination. The original cast album received a Grammy Award (presented to lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Burton Lane).

He portrayed Edward Rutledge of South Carolina in the Broadway musical 1776, providing a dramatic highlight with his performance of "Molasses to Rum to Slaves," a tirade against the hypocrisy of some Northerners over the slave trade ("They don't keep slaves, but they are willing to be considerable carriers of slaves to others. They're willing – for the shilling.") Cullum had been the third Rutledge on Broadway, but played the role the longest and repeated it for the 1972 film.

He is perhaps most famous for premiering the role of Charlie Anderson in the musical Shenandoah, which began at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut in 1974. Cullum won the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critic's Circle Awards when the show moved to New York. He also played the role at Wolf Trap, opened the national tour in Chicago, and starred in the limited run Broadway revival fifteen years after the original.

He followed Shenandoah by playing the maniacal Broadway producer Oscar Jaffee in the musical On the Twentieth Century, opposite Madeline Kahn and later Judy Kaye, earning his second Tony Award.

He netted his fourth Tony nomination in 2002 for originating the role of corporate bad guy Caldwell B. Cladwell in Urinetown The Musical and his fifth Tony nomination in the 2007 revival of 110 in the Shade. Recent Broadway appearances include the title role of William Shakespeare's seldom-performed Cymbeline, and August: Osage County, by Tracy Letts

In addition to enjoying a long theatrical career, he is well known to television audiences for his regular role as Holling Vincoeur on the quirky CBS series Northern Exposure and his extended appearances on the NBC medical drama ER as Mark Greene's father, and on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as constitutional lawyer and later judge, Barry Moredock.

Work

Stage productions

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 1966 Theatre World Award - On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
• 1975 Drama Desk Award - Shenandoah
• 1975 Outer Critics Circle Award - Shenandoah
• 1975 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical - Shenandoah
• 1978 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical - On the Twentieth Century
• 1982 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience for the one-man show Whistler
• 1998 Founders Day Medal, University of Tennessee
• 2004 Clarence Brown Theatre Company Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2007 inductee American Theatre Hall of Fame

Nominations

• 1966 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical - On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
• 1993 Emmy Award Best Supporting Actor in a Drama - Northern Exposure
• 2002 Outer Critics Circle Award Best Actor in a Musical - Urinetown
• 2002 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical - Urinetown
• 2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play - Sin (A Cardinal Deposed)

External links

• John Cullum at the Internet Broadway Database
• John Cullum at the Internet off-Broadway Database
• John Cullum at the Internet Movie Database
• John Cullum fansite
• Star File: John Cullum