Lea Michele

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Lea Michele

Michele signing an autograph during the summer promotional Glee Tour in New Jersey, August 2009
Born Lea Michele Sarfati
August 29, 1986 (1986-08-29) (age 23)
Bronx, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actress/Singer
Years active 1995–present

Lea Michele (born August 29, 1986) is an American stage and television actress and singer. She is known for her roles in Broadway musicals, particularly for her starring role as Wendla in Spring Awakening, and for her role as Rachel Berry in the Fox television show Glee, which premiered on May 19, 2009.

Beginning in the 1990s as a child actor in Broadway's Les Misérables, Michele appeared in several more musicals before being selected for the leading role of Wendla Bergman in the hit musical Spring Awakening. She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for this role. She and co-star Cory Monteith were included in Entertainment Weekly's 2009 "Summer Must List", being named "Summer's Must Songbirds" for their portrayals of Rachel and Finn on Glee. She has also received a Golden Globe nomination and a Satellite Award for her portrayal.

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[edit] Early life

Michele was born in The Bronx, New York, as Lea Michele Sarfati, the daughter of a nurse and a deli owner. Michele's mother is Italian American and Catholic, while her father is of Spanish-Sephardic Jewish ancestry.[1] Michele grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, where she attended Tenafly High School. Michele was accepted to the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, but opted to continue working on stage.

[edit] Career

Michele debuted on Broadway in 1995 as a replacement in the role of Young Cosette in the original New York production of Les Miserables. This was followed by her performance of the role of Tateh's daughter, the Little Girl, in the 1998 original Broadway cast of Ragtime. In 2004, Michele played "Shprintze" and "Chava" in the Broadway revival of the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Regionally, she has appeared in the title role in The Diary of Anne Frank. Since the age of 14, she played the role of Wendla in Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's musical version of Spring Awakening[2] from early workshops to Off-Broadway, to originating the role in the Broadway production at the age of 20. Around the same time that the show was set to go to Broadway, she was offered the role of Eponine in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables.[3] She chose to remain with Spring Awakening, which debuted on Broadway December 10, 2006. Michele was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance in Spring Awakening, as Lead Actress in a Musical.[4]

On May 18, 2008, Michele left Spring Awakening with co-star Jonathan Groff and was replaced by Wendla understudy Alexandra Socha. She performed in a reading of Sheik and Sater's new musical, Nero, in July 2008 at Vassar College, also featuring Idina Menzel and Michael Arden.[5] On August 8, 9 and 10, 2008, Michele portrayed Eponine in the Hollywood Bowl's Les Misérables concert.

Michele can be heard on the original Broadway cast recordings of Ragtime and Spring Awakening, as well as the 2003 revival recording of Fiddler on the Roof.

Michele now stars in the Fox television show Glee, where she plays the star female singer of a high school glee club, Rachel Berry. The pilot aired on May 19, 2009.

[edit] Personal life

Toward the beginning of filming Glee, Michele lived with her costar Dianna Agron for a few months before she got her own place. They adopted two cats, Claude and Sheila, who live with Michele now.[6]

Michele has known Glee costar Jenna Ushkowitz since they were eight years old.[7]

[edit] Awards and nominations

1 Win and 5 Nominations

[edit] Drama Desk Awards

[edit] Teen Choice Awards

  • Nomination - 2009 Choice TV Breakout Star -Female (Glee)

[edit] Satellite Awards

  • Winner - 2009 Best Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical (Glee)

[edit] Golden Globe Awards

  • Nomination - 2009 Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical (Glee)

[edit] Screen Actors Guild Awards

  • Nominated - 2009 Best Performance by an Ensemble in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical (Glee)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

Year Single Peak positions Album
US AUS CAN
2009
"On My Own" – – – On My Own - Single
"Take a Bow" 46 38 73 Glee: The Music, Volume 1
"Taking Chances" 71 79[8] 73
"Crush" – – – Glee: The Music, Volume 2
"Don't Rain on My Parade" 53 – –
"—" denotes did not chart, or was not released.

[edit] Featured Singles

Year Single Peak positions Album
US AUS CAN
2009
"Don't Stop Believin'"a 4 1 50 Glee: The Music, Volume 1
"Gold Digger"h – 59[9] –
"Push It"a – 60[9] –
"Maybe This Time"b 88 100[10] –
"Somebody to Love"c 28 65[11] 33
"Halo / Walking on Sunshine"d 40 10 28
"No Air"e 65 52[12] 65
"Keep Holding On"c 56 56[12] 58
"Defying Gravity"f 31 – 38
"Proud Mary"c – – –
"Endless Love"g 78 – – Glee: The Music, Volume 2
"Lean on Me"c 50 – –
"Imagine"c 67 – 49
"Hair" / "Crazy in Love"c – – –
"Jump"c 104 – –
"Smile"e 114 – –
"Smile"c 102 – –
"You Can't Always Get What You Want"c – – –
"My Life Would Suck Without You"c 51[13] 36 –
"Last Christmas"c 63 – – Last Christmas - Single
"—" denotes did not chart, or was not released.

[edit] References

a.^  shared with Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, and Jenna Ushkowitz.
b.^  shared with Kristin Chenoweth.
c.^  shared with Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Dianna Agron, Mark Salling, Naya Rivera, Harry Shum, Jr, Dijon Talton, and Heather Morris.
d.^  shared with Amber Riley, Jenna Ushkowitz, Dianna Agron, Naya Rivera, and Heather Morris.
e.^  shared with Cory Monteith.
f.^  shared with Chris Colfer.
g.^  shared with Matthew Morrison.
h.^  shared with Matthew Morrison, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, and Jenna Ushkowitz.
  1. ^ Miller, Gerri (August, 2009). "Glee Club Glory". JVibe. http://www.jvibe.com/Pop_culture/Glee.php. Retrieved 2009-08-02. 
  2. ^ a b Drama Desk Official website
  3. ^ http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/120298.html-DIVA-TALK-Chatting-with-Spring-Awakening-Les-Mizs-Lea-Michele-Plus-News-of-Ebersole-Eder
  4. ^ D. Rooney. "Musicals pose Tony voting crunch," Variety.com, April 26, 2007.
  5. ^ Bacalzo, Dan. "Arden, Carlson, Menzel, Michele, Robbins, et al. Set for Sater and Sheik's Nero", theatermania.com, June 23, 2008
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ http://www.fox.com/fod/play.php?sh=glee 10 Things About Lea
  8. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 19th October 2009" (pdf). Pandora Archive. http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20091105-0000/issue1025.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-21. 
  9. ^ a b "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 5th October 2009" (pdf). Pandora Archive. http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20091005-0000/issue1023.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-29. 
  10. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 26th October 2009" (pdf). Pandora Archive. http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20091105-0000/issue1026.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-21. 
  11. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 2nd November 2009" (pdf). Pandora Archive. http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20091105-0000/issue1027.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-21. 
  12. ^ a b "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 9th November 2009" (pdf). Pandora Archive. http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20091105-0000/issue1028.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-21. 
  13. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/hot-100?begin=51&order=position

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lea_Michele"