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Darren Criss

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Darren Criss
Criss performing in November 2010
Born
Darren Everett Criss

(1987-02-05) February 5, 1987 (age 37)[citation needed]
San Francisco, California
Occupation(s)actor, singer-songwriter
Known forTeam StarKid
Glee

Darren Everett Criss (born February 5, 1987[citation needed]) is an American television actor, singer-songwriter, and internet personality. He is best known for his portrayals of Harry Potter in the musicals A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel, as well as playing the role of Blaine Anderson, an openly gay student at Dalton Academy, in the second season of Glee.[1]

Early life and education

Criss was born in San Francisco, California. His mother, a native of Cebu, is a Filipina of Chinese, Spanish, and Filipino descent,[2] and his father has Irish ancestry.[3][4] He was raised Roman Catholic and attended Stuart Hall for Boys and Saint Ignatius College Preparatory.[citation needed] As a child, Criss played a variety of instruments, some of which include violin, guitar, piano, cello,[failed verification] mandolin,[failed verification] and drums. During this time, he played drums in a band with his brother, Chuck, until Chuck moved to New York City to develop his music career (and subsequently join the indie rock group Freelance Whales).[5][6]

Criss made his professional stage debut at the age of ten, in 42nd Street Moon's 1997 production of Fanny in the role of Cesario.[citation needed] The next year, Criss played Mauro in the same company's production of the Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim musical Do I Hear a Waltz,[7] followed by Babes in Arms in 1999, in which he played Beauregard Calhoun.[8]

Criss went on to attend the University of Michigan, graduating in 2009 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance, Acting.[9][10]

Career

Criss started out as the host of That Media Show, a San Francisco production which discussed Hollywood, filmmaking and visual effects.[citation needed]

Acting

Criss is part of the theater company Team StarKid, formed by theater students at the University of Michigan. His most popular role with Team StarKid was as Harry Potter in the YouTube viral musicals A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel.[11][12][13][14][15] Both productions are musical-comedies based on the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.[16]

On November 9, 2010, Criss joined the cast of Glee in the episode "Never Been Kissed" as Blaine, a gay student at a rival school. He is now a series regular for season 2 and 3.[17] Criss had auditioned before for the show; he had auditioned to play Finn when the show was initially created.[6] Glee creator Ryan Murphy stated, "Darren has a major, major arc... He sort of becomes Kurt's mentor and then maybe love - Blaine had to leave his own school because of bullying and goes to an all-boys academy and finds acceptance because that school has a zero-tolerance no-bullying policy. So Kurt really admires him and respects him. He plays someone who's one year older than Chris' character, so he's the old pro."[18] Criss has been confirmed as a regular for the remainder of season two and for season three of Glee.[19]

His work outside of Team StarKid and Glee includes his stint as Josh in the television series Eastwick and a guest-starring role in Cold Case.[20]

Music

Criss is credited as one of the primary songwriters, along with A.J. Holmes, of the Team StarKid production A Very Potter Musical (2009).[11][12][13][14] Criss also wrote three songs for another StarKid production: Me and My Dick (2009),[6][21][22][23] and wrote all the music for A Very Potter Sequel (2010) and its companion album A Very StarKid Album,[12][14][15] the upcoming show Starship (2011),[14] and the web-series Little White Lie (2007).

Criss released a self-produced EP Human on iTunes in the summer of 2010.[24] It debuted at No. 30 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers Albums[6] and has reached the iTunes Top 20 Alternative charts.[12]

He also frequently collaborates and performs with fellow Michigan alum, New York-based singer/songwriter Charlene Kaye. He sings on her song "Skin and Bones"[25] and is featured in her music videos for "Skin and Bones"[26] and "Magnolia Wine."[27]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2005 I Adora You Josh Short film
2009 Walker Phillips Elliott
2011 The Chicago 8 Yippie Man Post-Production
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2009 Eastwick Josh Burton 5 episodes
2010 Cold Case Ruben Harris '68 Episode: "Free Love"
2010–present Glee Blaine Anderson Recurring Role
2011 The Ellen Degeneres Show Himself

Theater

Music Videos

  • "Skin & Bones" (2009) by Charlene Kaye
  • "Magnolia Wine" (2009) by Charlene Kaye
  • "Roll with Me" (2009) by Montgomery Gentry

Web Series

  • Little White Lie (2007) as Toby Phillips; also songwriter

Discography

Team StarKid

Solo

List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
Top Heatseekers
[6]
Human[6][12][24] 30

Glee

Main article: Glee Cast discography

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album Episode of Glee
US
[29] 		AUS
[30] 		CAN
[31] 		IRL
[32]
2010 "Teenage Dream" 8 24 10 18 Glee: The Music, Volume 4 (soundtrack) "Never Been Kissed" (S2, E6)
"Hey, Soul Sister" 29 81 32 54 Non-album single "Special Education" (S2, E9)
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" 57 — 53 — Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album (soundtrack) "A Very Glee Christmas" (S2, E10)
2011 "Bills, Bills, Bills" 79 — 86 — Non-album single "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" (S2, E11)
"When I Get You Alone" — — — — "Silly Love Songs" (S2, E12)
"Silly Love Songs" — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that country

References

  1. ^ "Is Darren Criss Kurt's New BF on Glee?". Advocate.com. September 27, 2010.
  2. ^ "Darren Criss: Gleefully Pinoy". Philstar.com. 2011-01-14. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  3. ^ "Twitter / Darren Criss: @apresledeluge dude I'm ha". Twitter.com. 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  4. ^ "Irish Central".
  5. ^ "Darren Criss - Bio".
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Donahue, Ann (13 November 2010). "'Glee' Newcomer Darren Criss Reflects on His 'Dream' Week". Billboard. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  7. ^ "Do I Hear a Waltz?".
  8. ^ "Babes in Arms".
  9. ^ "U of M show program" (PDF).
  10. ^ McKee, Jenn (October 25, 2010). "Darren Criss, U-M grad and 'Very Potter Musical' star, will be a new face on "Glee"". AnnArbor.com.
  11. ^ a b c d Guerra, Jennifer (July 15, 2009). "A Very Potter Musical!". Michigan Radio. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Milam, Whitney (July 24, 2010). Team StarKid tops Glee and Gaga on iTunes, talks new projects. HollywoodNews. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  13. ^ a b c d "Team StarKid's Home Page for ""A Very Potter Musical""".
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h Davenport, Misha (February 2011). "Darren Criss from 'Glee,' Starkid launch Chicago home with 'Starship'". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  15. ^ a b c d "Team StarKid's Home Page for "A Very Potter Sequel"".
  16. ^ Official Team StarKid Channel YouTube user channel.
  17. ^ Derschowitz, Jessica (September 27, 2010). "Darren Criss Joins "Glee" Cast". CBSnews.com. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  18. ^ Bentley, Jean (September 30, 2010). "News Roundup: Ryan Murphy Confirms Chord Overstreet Will Not Play Kurt's Boyfriend..." AOL TV News. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  19. ^ Ann Donahue. "Glee Signs Darren Criss As Series Regular". Billboard. Nielsen Company. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  20. ^ "Darren Criss - IMDb".
  21. ^ a b Austrone, Xavier. "StarKid Interview: Starship Coverage & A VERY POTTER THREEQUEL!?" Wizardinglife.com, November 22, 2010. Retrieved on November 23, 2010.
  22. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith. "'My Dick' Rises to Become First Charting Student Musical" Billboard.com, March 18, 2010. Retrieved on November 4, 2010.
  23. ^ a b c "Team StarKid's Home Page for "Me and My Dick"".
  24. ^ a b "Human by Darren Criss".
  25. ^ "Skin and Bones - Charlene Kaye feat. Darren Criss on iTunes".
  26. ^ "Charlene Kaye - Skin and Bones music video".
  27. ^ "Charlene Kaye - Magnolia Wine music video".
  28. ^ "42nd Street Moon production of Do I Hear a Waltz?".
  29. ^ "Glee Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  30. ^ "australian-charts.com - Australian charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  31. ^ "Glee Album & Song Chart History - Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  32. ^ "Glee Cast Discography". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
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