Lee Wilkof

Lee Wilkof (born June 25, 1951) is an American actor and veteran of the Broadway stage. He originated the roles of Samuel Byck in Assassins and Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, later earning a Tony Award nomination for the 2000 revival of Kiss Me, Kate.

Lee Wilkof
Lee Wilkof
Born	June 25, 1951 Canton, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978-present
Spouse(s)	Connie Grappo (1984-present; 1 child)

Biography

Early life

Wilkof is from Canton, Ohio, a town of approximately 80,000. His father ran a steel service center. Wilkof was the middle child of Anne Louise and Darwin Wilkof. He has two brothers, Todd and Robert.[1] He graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1972[2] and studied acting with Austin Pendleton in New York City.

Career

After graduating from UC, Wilkof wrote and starred in a comedy revue called The Present Tense in 1977 at the Park Royal Theatre in New York City.[3] Wilkof moved to Los Angeles and took small film and television roles. His big break came in 1982 with the leading role as Seymour in the original Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, and he also recorded the cast album.[4]

Wilkof has appeared in numerous television series, and films. He directed the film No Pay, Nudity with a cast that stars Nathan Lane, Gabriel Byrne, and Frances Conroy.[5]

He is the recipient of an Obie Award, a SAG Award, and has been nominated for a Tony Award and three Drama Desk Awards.

Personal life

Wilkof lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife, painter Connie Grappo. They have one child, a daughter.[6]

Theater

Broadway

• Sweet Charity Revival, as Herman, 1986
• The Front Page Revival, as Schwartz, 1986–1987
• She Loves Me Revival, as Ladislav Sipos, 1993–1994
• Kiss Me, Kate Revival, as First Man (singing Brush Up Your Shakespeare), 1999-2001
• The Boys from Syracuse Revival, as Dromio of Syracuse, 2002
• Democracy, as Gunther Nollau, 2004–2005
• The Odd Couple Revival, as Vinnie, 2005–2006
• Breakfast at Tiffany's, as OJ Berman, 2013
• Holiday Inn, as Danny, 2016
• Waitress, as Joe, 2018

Off-Broadway, Regional and Tour

• The Present Tense, 1977
• Little Shop of Horrors, as Seymour, 1982
• Angry Housewives, as Lewd, 1986
• Assassins, as Samuel Byck, 1990
• Do Re Mi, (Encores! Concert), as Fatso O'Rear, 1999
• Little Shop of Horrors, Broadway Florida tryout, as Mr. Mushnik, 2003
• Ballad of Little Pinks at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, 2003
• Face The Music, Encores! Concert, as Martin Van Meshbesher, 2007[7]
• Wicked First National Tour, as The Wizard (2007–2008)
• Wicked San Francisco production, as The Wizard (2009–2010)
• The Iceman Cometh, The Goodman Theatre, as Hugo Kalmar 2012
• The Iceman Cometh Brooklyn Academy of Music as Hugo Kalmar 2015

Select filmography

• Serial (1980)
• Wholly Moses! (1980)
• The Entity (1981)
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star (1986)
• Kill Me Again (1989)
• Chattahoochee (1989)
• This Boy's Life (1993)
• The Associate (1996)
• Private Parts (1997)
• The Grey Zone (2001)
• School of Rock (2003)
• Imaginary Heroes (2004)
• Mojave Phone Booth (2006)
• Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
• Love Comes Lately (2007)
• Asylum Seekers (2008)
• Leaves of Grass (2009)
• YellowBrickRoad (2010)[8]
• Anesthesia (2014)

Selected television

• Disco Beaver from Outer Space (1978)
• W.E.B. as Harvey Pearlstein (1978)
• Delta House as Einswine (1979)
• Hart to Hart as Stanley Friesen (1982)
• Matlock Episode: "The Reporter" as Dr. Randolph (1987)
• Max Headroom as Edwards (1987–88)
• 100 Centre Street as Alexander Weiss (2001)
• Ally McBeal as District Attorney Nixon (1998–2002)
• Law & Order franchise as various characters (1991–2004)[9]

Awards and nominations

• Obie and Drama Desk nominations for The Present Tense
• Drama Desk nomination for Assassins
• Tony nomination for Kiss Me, Kate
• Drama Desk nomination for Kiss Me, Kate

References

1. "Lee Wilkof Profile", filmreference.com; accessed November 3, 2016.
2. "50 Communication Alumni Champions: Lee Wilkof (BA, 1972)", ucfriendsofcommunication.wordpress.com, July 23, 2014.
3. The Present Tense, lortel.org, retrieved January 3, 2017.
4. Little Shop of Horrors, lortel.org, retrieved January 3, 2017
5. Patches, Matt. "Is Kickstarter a Young Person's Game?", Hollywood Reporter, September 12, 2013
6. Schelle, Crystal. "Actor Lee Wilkof to star in Totem Pole Playhouse's "The Sunshine Boys" ", heraldmailmedia.com, July 5, 2013
7. "Lee Wilkof on BroadwayWorld.com". Retrieved 2008-11-06.
8. "Slamdance '10: Which Way to Go? in Official 'YellowBrickRoad' One Sheet". BloodyDisgusting.
9. "Lee Wilkof". IMDB. Retrieved 2008-11-05.

External links

• Lee Wilkof at IMDb
• Lee Wilkof at the Internet Broadway Database
• Lee Wilkof at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Broadway World Biography