John Cullum

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John Cullum is an American actor and singer.

He was born on March 2, 1930 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, playing on the school's Southeastern Conference championship tennis team, and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta. 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.

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).

When the Broadway musical 1776 was transferred to the screen, he portrayed Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, 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.

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.

More recently, he netted his fouth Tony nomination in 2002 for originating the role of corporate bad guy Caldwell B. Cladwell in Urinetown The Musical.

In addition to enjoying a long theatrical career, he is well known to television audiences for his regular role 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 Barry Moredock.

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

Contents 1 Broadway credits 2 Filmography 3 Major television credits 4 Awards and nominations 5 External links

[edit] Broadway credits

• 1960 Camelot
• 1962 Infidel Caesar
• 1963 The Rehearsal
• 1963 Hamlet
• 1965 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
• 1967 Man of La Mancha
• 1969 1776
• 1972 Vivat! Vivat Regina!
• 1975 Shenandoah
• 1977 The Trip Back Down
• 1978 On the Twentieth Century
• 1979 Deathtrap
• 1983 Private Lives
• 1985 Doubles
• 1986 The Boys in Autumn
• 1986 You Never Can Tell
• 1989 Shenandoah (revival)
• 1990 Aspects of Love
• 1994 Show Boat
• 2001 Urinetown
• 2006 Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas!
• 2007 110 in the Shade

[edit] Filmography

• 1963 All the Way Home
• 1964 Hamlet
• 1966 Hawaii
• 1972 1776
• 1983 The Prodigal
• 1985 Marie
• 1986 Sweet Country
• 1997 The Secret Life of Algernon
• 1998 Ricochet River
• 1999 Held Up
• 2003 Blackwater Elegy
• 2006 The Notorious Bettie Page
• 2006 The Night Listener
• 2006 Charlotte's Web

[edit] Major television credits

• The Edge of Night (1966-67)
• One Life to Live (1969)
• The Day After (1983)
• Buck James (1987)
• Northern Exposure (1990-95)
• To Have and To Hold (1998)
• ER (1997-98,1999-2000)
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2003-)

[edit] Awards and nominations

John Cullum Awards

• 2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play for Sin (A Cardinal Deposed) (nominee)
• 2004 first Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Clarence Brown Theatre Company, University of Tennessee*(winner)
• 2002 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical for Urinetown (nominee)
• 2002 Outer Critics Circle Award Best Actor in a Musical for Urinetown (nominee)
• 1998 Founders Day Medal, University of Tennessee (winner)
• 1993 Emmy Award Best Supporting Actor in a Drama for Northern Exposure (nominee)
• 1982 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience for the one-man show Whistler (winner)
• 1978 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical for On the Twentieth Century (winner)
• 1975 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical for Shenandoah (winner)
• 1975 Drama Desk Award for Shenandoah (winner)
• 1975 Outer Critics Circle Award for Shenandoah (winner)
• 1966 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (nominee)
• 1966 Theatre World Award for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (winner)

Preceded by Christopher Plummer for Cyrano

Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical 1975 for Shenandoah

Succeeded by George Rose for My Fair Lady

Preceded by Barry Bostwick for The Robber Bridegroom

Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical 1978 for On the Twentieth Century

Succeeded by Len Cariou for Sweeney Todd

[edit] External links

• About John Cullum
• John Cullum at the Internet Movie Database
• John Cullum at the Internet Broadway Database
• John Cullum and Rosemary Harris - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
• Star File: John Cullum at Broadway.com