Leslie Odom Jr.

At 42 years old, Leslie Odom Jr. has this physical status:

Leslie Odom Jr. (born August 6, 1981) is an American actor and singer.

He has appeared on Broadway, television, and film, and he has recorded two solo jazz albums.

He is best known for originating Aaron Burr's appearance in Hamilton, a show for which he received the Best Actor in a Musical Award and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album as a principal vocalist, as well as the Best Musical Theater Album Award for best Musical Theater Album as a principal vocalist.

Sam Strickland appeared on television in the musical series Smash (2012–2013).

He is also the author of the 2018 book Failing Up.

Early life and education

Odom was born in Queens, New York City. Leslie Lloyd Odom, Sr., his father, worked in sales. One of his maternal grandfathers was from South Africa, and his maternal great-grandfather was from Bridgetown, Barbados. Odom's family migrated to Philadelphia's East Oak Lane neighborhood, where he grew up. Julia R. Masterman School for middle school and Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts for High School. Odom and his family attended Canaan Baptist Church in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood, where he performed solos in the church choir.

He earned a degree with distinction at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and then moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2003.

Personal life

Since December 1, 2012, Odom has been married to actress Nicolette Kloe Robinson. Lucille Ruby Ruby, the couple's daughter, was born on April 23, 2017. Able Phineas' son was born on March 25, 2021.

Robinson, a UCLA undergraduate, auditioned for Once on This Island in Los Angeles in 2008. Assistant director Odom took responsibility for getting her up to speed when she replaced a cast member who had to leave unexpectedly, and a romantic relationship ensued. Robinson has appeared in Invisible Thread (2015) and the television series The Affair (2015), as a lead actor in the Broadway musical Waitress from September 4 to December 9, 2018.

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Career

Odom studied theatre and performed in musicals at the New Freedom Theatre. In college, he went on to study musical theater. Paul in Rent made his Broadway debut at the age of 17. In 2001, he appeared in the ensemble of the one-night Broadway concert version of Dreamgirls.

He spent a lot of his time in Los Angeles, including in 2010 with Leap of Faith, which went to Broadway in 2012, with him playing Isaiah Sturdevant. He migrated to New York City shortly after the show concluded.

In Venice and Witness Uganda, Ir. T.'s later renamed Invisible Thread), he appeared Off-Broadway in Venice and in Witness Uganda (later renamed Invisible Thread). Odom worked in workshops with Lin-Manuel Miranda in the Encores! Tick, Tick: Tick, Tick's Off-Center Production Playing Michael, who is a genius. In the 2015 One-Night Actors Fund of America benefit concert of Bombshell, Odom also appeared Nat King Cole.

For the role of Aaron Burr in the off-Broadway production of Hamilton at The Public Theater, Odom was nominated for the Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 2015. After the show moved to Broadway later this year, he remained in the same role at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. He has also received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2016 and also received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

On July 9, 2016, Odom's last appearance in the role of Aaron Burr in Hamilton.

Odom appeared on CSI: Miami as Joseph Kayle in nine episodes between 2003 and 2006.

He appeared on Vanished in ten episodes as Maliko Christo, and continued in a recurring role. Freddy on Big Day starred on nine episodes from 2006 to 2007. In 2011, he appeared in Poe, a supporting role.

Odom appeared in the musical television series Smash in 2012 and was promoted to a starring role in the show's final season in 2013.

In late 2013, Odom was given the leading role of Lucas Newsome on State of Affairs. He accepted the role but ended up refusing to participate in the musical Hamilton workshops.

Peter Collier, a recurring character on Person of Concern in 2013 and 2014, appeared in eight episodes. Curtis Scott appeared in seven episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit between 2013 and 2015.

Beginning on May 19, 2016, Odom hosted Aaron Burr, Sir: Backstage at Hamilton with Leslie Odom Jr., and every Thursday for eight weeks. Odom was supposed to compete Jimmy Jam in a 2017 miniseries about New Edition, but eventually dropped out.

Odom starred and executive produced the four-part television miniseries Love in the Time of Corona, starring his wife Nicolette Robinson in 2020. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Love in the Time of Corona includes four interwoven stories about the hopeful search for love and belonging during the quarantine. Los Angeles's remote technologies enabled production to begin almost on June 29, 2020. On August 22, 2020, the limited series premiered on Freeform.

Owen Tillerman's character in the Apple TV+ animated musical-comedy series Central Park, for which he was nominated for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance at the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards, is currently Odom.

Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural, and The Good Wife have all performed on several shows, including Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural, and The Good Wife. In 2016, Odom was also featured in a Nationwide Insurance commercial.

During the NBC broadcast of Super Bowl LII, Odom sang "America the Beautiful" on February 4, 2018.

Odom has appeared in short films and appeared in supporting roles in the 2012 war film Red Tails.

In Kenneth Branagh's 2017 interpretation of Murder on the Orient Express, he played Dr. Arbuthnot. William Still, an abolitionist, appeared in the 2019 film Harriet, abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Odom appeared in Only, a post-apocalyptic romance with Freida Pinto in 2019.

In 2021, Odom appeared as Ebo in the Australian film Music, which was co-written and directed by Australian singer-songwriter Sia. It was launched in February 2021.

In 2020, Odom appeared in the Regina King-directed film version of One Night in Miami, which was released in theaters and Amazon Prime on January 15, 2021. Odom has since been nominated for Best Supporting Actor and an additional award for Outstanding Achievement by a Cast in a Motion Picture, earning Academy Award, Golden Globe, and SAG Award nominations, including for Best Supporting Actor and Outstanding Achievement by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Odom co-wrote and performed "Speak Now," which also received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 78th Golden Globe Awards, which will be held on February 28, 2021, with Sam Ashworth as co-writer. During the end credits of One Night in Miami, "Speak Now" is performed.

In May 2021, Odom was cast in the Glass Onion: A Knives Down Mystery, Rian Johnson's sequel to Knives Down starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc. Odom appeared in July 2021 as the upcoming, as yet unidentified sequel to William Friedkin's The Exorcist, with Ellen Burstyn reprising her role as Chris MacNeil.

Leslie Odom Jr., Odom's debut album as a jazz musician, appeared on CD and SoundCloud, and the album was also promoted at The Public Theater in 2014. He unveiled a version of Selena Gomez's "Good For You" in February 2016 starring his Hamilton co-star Daveed Diggs.

In 2016, Odom signed to a four-album contract with S-Curve Records. Odom and producer Steve Greenberg limited 200 potential songs to ten tracks, and Odom released an updated and improved version of Leslie Odom Jr. during days off and afternoons before Broadway performances in order to get the album out before Odom left Hamilton. The album debuted at No. 1 in June 2016, and it has remained at No. 1 in the charts. 1 on Billboard Jazz and No. 1 on Billboard Jazz and No. Billboard 200 has 147 people on it.

Odom's second album, Simply Christmas, debuted on November 11, 2016, containing jazz interpretations of Christmas tunes. In October 2017, the album's deluxe version was released along with four additional songs. Quite simply, Christmas reached the top of iTunes and Billboard Jazz charts, racking No. 1 on iTunes and Billboard Jazz charts. On the Billboard Holiday chart, there are four holidays and No. Billboard's Top 200 chart ranks 31.

Mr. Odom debuted his third album and first of original material in November 2018, and in October 2020 he debuted a new version of the album's standout song "Cold," which featured Sia.

In November 2020, his critically acclaimed second holiday album, The Christmas Album, was released. The Christmas Album is Odom's fourth studio album.

Odom is on tour promote his albums, performing shows as part of a jazz quintet that also includes a drummer, percussionist, bassist, guitarist, and a pianist.

In December 2017, Odom performed in a solo at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The cabaret-style performance was built around signature songs and music that influenced this artist's journey, and it was performed by a world-class band in front of a live audience. The show was filmed for PBS as part of the 17-time Emmy Award-winning program Live from Lincoln Center, which premiered in April 2018.

In June 2017, Odom had a book deal for Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim High, and Never Stop Learning, which was written with the intention of attracting younger readers. "The book, which was published by an imprint of Macmillan in March 2018, "describes the setbacks and rejections that preceded his triumph." Odom based his writing on a commencement address, exploring what he had learned about his life and the benefits of following passions.

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