Darren Criss

At 37 years old, Darren Criss has this physical status:

Darren Everett Criss (born February 5, 1987) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter.

For his his role in Gianni Versace: An American Crime Story (2018), he received Emmy and Golden Globe judging awards.

He has appeared on Broadway and film, as well as in a band. Criss first gained f attention for being a lead role in Harry Potter's musical performance in A Very Potter Musical, as a founder and co-owner of StarKid Productions, a Chicago-based musical theater company.

When the theater troupe's original album, Me and My Dick, debuted at number eleven on the Top Cast Albums chart in 2010, the troupe made Billboard history when it became the first charting student-produced musical album.

Criss has appeared on Broadway in How to Succeed in Company Without Really Trying and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Criss co-founded Elsie Fest in 2015, "New York City's first outdoor music festival honoring hits from stage and screen."

Criss first number, a cover version of "Teenage Dream" on Glee's Dalton Academy Warblers, debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, and was awarded gold in the United States, despite appearing as the lead vocalist of the Glee Academy Warblers.

The Warblers have sold over 1.3 million songs, and their soundtrack album, Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers (2011), reached number two on the US Billboard 200.

In 2015, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his book "This Time" for the Glee finale. Criss and his brother Chuck Criss made their debut in March 2017, playing his indie pop group Computer Games.

The pair's debut album, Lost Boys Life EP, features four songs by the pair.

On Billboard's "Hot Singles," the lead single "Every Single Night" debuted at number one.

Criss released Homework, a 5-track solo EP, in December 2017.

Criss appeared in the second installment of Ryan Murphy's American Crime Story, debuting as #1 on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart and #7 on Billboard's Independent Albums Chart.

Subtitled The Assassination of Gianni Versace (2018), Criss' portrayal of spree killer Andrew Cunanan, received acclaim from critics, as well as an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Limited Series or Film.

Early life and education

Criss was born in San Francisco, California, the youngest child of Cerina and Charles William Criss, an investment banker and a patron of the arts. Charles "Chuck" Criss, his older brother, was a member of the band Freelance Whales, had a brother Charles "Chuck" Criss. The mother, a native of Cebu, Philippines, is of Chinese, Filipino, and Spanish descent, but his father, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was of English, German, and Irish descent. Criss was raised mostly in San Francisco, except in 1988 to 1992, when the family lived in Honolulu, Hawaii, where his father founded EastWest Bank as chairman and CEO.

Criss went to Roman Catholic schools. He completed his elementary education at Stuart Hall for Boys and then graduated from Saint Ignatius College Preparatory in 2005. Criss received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan in 2009, majoring in Theater Performance and minoring in Musicology and Italian.

The critic's interest in music began in early childhood; at five years old, he began playing violin lessons and was classically trained for the next fifteen years. Criss taught himself how to play other instruments, such as guitar, piano, mandolin, harmonica, and drums. Criss embedded himself in music, held the position of concertmaster in the school orchestra, fronted his own band, and was voted "most likely to win a Grammy" by his peers. Criss began studying music composition and wrote his first poem, which he later used as the title track of his first EP Human, which was released in 2009.

Critics also expressed a strong penchant for the performing arts. He was accepted into the American Conservatory Theater (Young Conservatory program), where he concentrated on theater performance throughout his formative years. He was a member of the performing arts program and appeared in performances including The Music Man, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Fiddler on the Roof. He served as both an actor and director in the University of Michigan's student-run theater company Basement Arts, Archived August 2, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. At the Accademia dell'Arte in Arezzo, Italy, he spent a semester abroad studying Italian theater.

Personal life

Criss revealed in January 2018 that he was engaged to Mia Swier, his mother of seven and a half years. On February 16, 2019, the two were married. They announced in October 2021 that they were expecting their first child, a daughter born in April 2022.

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Career

Criss appeared in Cesario's production of Fanny (1997) on the 42nd Street Moon, then appeared as Mauro in Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim's musical Do I Hear a Waltz? (1998), and Beauregard Calhoun in Babes in Arms (1999).

Criss appeared in a number of the American Conservatory Theater's plays, including A Christmas Carol, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Voysey Inheritance, among other things during his adolescence. He appeared on stage plays including Pride and Prejudice, A Few Good Men, and Inishmaan's Cripple.

Criss, along with some colleagues and classmates from the University of Michigan, co-founded StarKid Productions, a musical theater company, after graduating with his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2009. Harry Potter's most notable acting role in StarKid has been in A Very Potter Musical, A Very Potter Sequel, and A Very Potter Senior Year (based on J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of novels). With A.J., he co-wrote the music and lyrics for A Very Potter Musical. Holmes and Me and My Dickson with A.J Holmes and Carlos Valdes. He only wrote the music and lyrics for A Very Potter Sequel and Starship.

Criss made his Broadway debut in January 2012, replacing Daniel Radcliffe in the role of J. Pierrepont Finch in the revival of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying for a three-week engagement at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. His stay in the musical was a success: the musical had the most lucrative weeks of its 11-month run with Criss in the lead role, grossing more than $4 million dollars during his time there.

In Hedwig and the Angry Inch from April 29, 2015, to July 19, 2015, the critic took on the role of Hedwig at the Belasco Theater. From October 2 to November 27, 2016, he headlined the national tour in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Sam Rockwell and Laurence Fishburne appear in David Mamet's American Buffalo revival in 2022.

Criss began his television career by arcing Josh Burton on Eastwick in 2009. He appeared in a series Cold Case the following year.

Blaine Anderson was portrayed by critics on Fox television show Glee. In season two of "Never Been Kissed," which aired on November 9, 2010, he made his first appearance in the program "Never Been Kissed." Criss' first number, a cover version of "Teenage Dreams," debuted as the lead vocalist of Glee's Dalton Academy Warblers, and was ranked eighth on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and he was named gold in the United States. The Warblers have released over 1.3 million songs, and their soundtrack album, Glee Presents the Warblers (2011), debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. In 2015, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for writing the song "This Time" for the Glee finale.

Blaine played for Dalton Academy and was the lead singer for the Dalton Academy Warblers, the Dalton Academy Warblers. Blaine began as a mentor and mentor for Kurt, the obnoxious gay member of the Warblers' rival glee club, New Directions. The two characters'chemistry, as well as fan support for the prospective couple, led to series co-creator Ryan Murphy to pair them romantically on film. Blaine makes the change from McKinley High to New Directions after the third season; simultaneously, Criss was promoted from recurring guest star to the show's main cast.

Blaine goes back to college and later returns to Dalton to serve as the Warblers' vocal director. Kurt's long-time love marries him in the final season. Criss expressed admiration for his character's "people from certain parts of the world who are perhaps not as well exposed to certain ideologies," but the Blaine and Kurt storyline had changed their position on relationships and human rights. "I was a straight kid growing up in a very gay neighborhood, and it's something that I've had to deal with so many friends and have no place to go to identify in the midst of a grander media culture." To be a little piece of that machine is amazingly useful."

For the show's final, "Dreams Come True," he was nominated for an Emmy Award for writing the song "This Time," one of a handful of the show's original songs over its six-season run.

In the second season of Murphy's anthology film American Crime Story, Criss reunited with Glee creator Ryan Murphy to portray serial killer Andrew Cunanan. Critics applauded his work, and Criss was named in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He also received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television.

Criss will be an actor, executive producer, and ambassador for Royalties, according to a new show on the streaming service Quibi on July 10, 2019. Criss is co-writing the book as well as executive produce, as well as former collaborators Matt and Nick Lang of Team StarKid. On June 1, 2020, the series is scheduled to be broadcast.

Criss will be an actor and executive producer for Hollywood, according to the network on May 6, 2020.

In October 2021, Criss portrayed The Caretaker in Muppets Haunted Mansion.

Criss made his debut in the comedy Girl Most Likely on September 7, 2012. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and was released worldwide on July 19, 2013. Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening, and Matt Dillon appeared in the film Imogene, which was previously known as Imogene.

Criss started his solo music career while attending the University of Michigan. He created his own musical repertoire, which today includes standards from the Great American Songbook, modern dances, Disney songs, and his own compositions.

Criss Records unveiled an EP titled Human on July 20, 2010. To Entertainment Weekly, the artist baptized his album as "soul-folk." On the Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums chart, 17 stands out. Criss became the 400,000th member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers on December 10, 2010 (ASCAP). He joined Sony Music Entertainment in April 2011. He is planning to record a full-length studio album, but a release date has yet to be announced.

At the inaugural balls of the 57th presidential Inauguration in January 2013, Criss performed for US President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden.

Criss was made an honorary member of Yale University's cappella singing group The Whiffenpoofs during a benefit concert for public school arts on April 14, 2013. From May 29 to June 30, Criss' first solo music tour toured 17 cities in the United States, Canada, and France, including songs from Glee's Human EP, and some from his forthcoming solo album. The duo's debut album, Lost Boys Life EP, features four songs written by the pair. According to Billboard's Hot Singles Sales chart, lead single "Every Single Night" debuted at number two. Criss also released Homework, a five-track solo EP, in December 2017. The EP debuted at number seven on Billboard's Top Billboard Heatseekers Chart and at number seven on Billboard's Independent Albums chart.

Criss has been dubbed one of StarKid Productions' most influential songwriters and composers. He has performed in A Very Potter Musical, Me and My Dick (the first-ever student-produced college musical to reach Billboard and debuting at No. 3) from No. 10. Little White Lie and A Very Potter Senior Year are on the Top Cast Albums chart, at 11 on the Top Cast Albums chart. Criss solely wrote and performed all of the songs and music for A Very Potter Sequel, its sister album A Very StarKid Album, and Starship, which debuted at No. 1. 1 on the Billboard Top Cast Albums chart, and at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Cast Albums chart, and at No. 104. On the Billboard 200 chart, there are 134.

Criss appeared in StarKid's first national concert tour, The SPACE Tour for the New York and Boston shows, in November 2011, and he returned to them in June 2012 for their second national tour, Apocalyptour for the Los Angeles and New York shows.

Blaine, Criss appears in many musical appearances on Glee, which have been released as singles or as singles available for purchase. Katy Perry's first performance, "Teenage Dream," was included on the soundtrack album Glee: The Music, Volume 4. In the week ending November 27, 2010, the Billboard Hot 100 reached number eight, and number one on the Billboard Digital Songs chart was at number eight.

This week, it was the country's best-selling song, grossing 214,000 copies, the most for a Glee title. It was only the second time a US-certified gold single appeared in the show's history. "Teenage Dream" by Jillian Mapes and Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone was the best song of "Never Been Kissed," the episode in which it appeared.

Anthony Benigno of The New York Daily News gave the song a "A" and added that it was "flawless" and improved on Perry's original. At the 2010 AfterElton.com Visibility Awards, the performance was nominated for the Best Gay Moment of the Year and Favorite Music Video awards. The appearance, according to a Billboard cover-feature on Criss, "arguably kicked in the trend of more recent pop hits being reworked by the [Glee] cast."

Blaine and the Warblers' later songs became so popular that they warranted a Warbler soundtrack release, Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers. It debuted at No. 1 in the United States. 2 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 2 are the two most popular figures. In its first week, Billboard's Soundtracks chart had 18,000 copies in its first week. By the time the album was released, the Warbler tracks had sold over 1.3 million copies as singles.

In Glee Live, Criss and the cast of Glee performed from May 21 to July 3, 2011. In Concert!, touring the United States, Canada, England, and Ireland. According to Billboard, it was the 16th most popular concert tour of 2011, grossing more than $40 million, with total attendance approaching 485,000. All 40 dates were sold out, including shows at Staples Center, Nassau Coliseum, and The O2 Arenas in London and Dublin.

Criss produced "Rise" for the episode "The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester" and "This Time" for the series's finale on Season 6 of Glee. For writing "This Time," Criss was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.

Criss has appeared on Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, Out, Playbill, TV Guide, Daman, GT, Prestige, and Essential Homme. In the fall ad campaign (2011) for Uniqlo, a Japanese clothing brand, a critique is included. Criss was named one of People's Sexiest Men Alive (2011) and was ranked No. 10 in the world's Top Men Alive (2011). AfterElton's "Hot 100" list (2011 & 2012), No. 1 on AfterElton's "Hot 100" list (2011 & 2012). "The Most Stylish Young Men In Hollywood" list, number one on GQ's "30 Under 30" list (2012).

Criss is an investor and partner of The Motley, a California-based men's grooming e-tailer.

Criss is a co-founder of Elsie Fest, a music festival that features Broadway and pop music acts. In New York City on September 27, 2015, the first annual exhibition was held.

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