Terrence Mann
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Two weeks after his 1980 arrival in NYC, Terrence Mann landed his first Broadway play, "Barnum," thanks to his ability to juggle and ride a unicycle, and has seldom been far from the Great White Way since. He donned fur for his next outing as Rum Tum Tugger, the Jaggeresque rock'n'roll feline of "Cats" (1982), and showed his true penchant for villainy as the fearsome Javert in "Les Miserables" (1987), garnering his first Tony nomination as Actor in a Musical. Perhaps his greatest triumph came as the Beast in "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" (1994), which brought him a second Tony nod as Actor in a Musical and praise from The New York Times: "Somehow, despite the masses of matted fur, the padding and the protruding incisors, he actually manages to convey the delicacy of awakening love." He appeared among Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's critically-acclaimed (but commercially-spurned) "Assassins" (1990, as Leon Czolgosz, the murderer of William McKinley) and also got to revel in his dark side as Scrooge in Madison Square Garden's "A Christmas Carol" (1995) and as the Javert-like Chauvelin in Broadway's "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1997). Unfortunately, his second collaboration with Sondheim, the non-musical "Getting Away with Murder" (1996), failed to please even the critics.
The year after his feature debut as Larry in Richard Attenborough's disappointing film version of "A Chorus Line" (1985), Mann embarked on the "Critters" franchise, portraying an extraterrestrial bounty hunter in rock star regalia (the aliens had intercepted a music video). Though his film career has pretty much been his "Critters" work, he has fared far better on the small screen, working frequently on the soaps (including an Emmy-nominated 1987 stint on "As the World Turns" as a malevolent prisoner), appearing in his share of unsuccessful pilots and acting in TV-movies and miniseries. An early telepic, "The 10 Million Dollar Getaway" (1981), featured him as one of the gangsters who pulled off the real-life 1978 heist of Lufthansa's cargo hold at NYC's Kennedy Airport, but arguably his best work came as arch-villain toymaker Augustus P. Tavish in the CBS movie musical "Mrs. Santa Claus" (1996), which boasted songs by Jerry Herman and a starring turn by Angela Lansbury. Of late, he has branched into songwriting, co-writing the score of his pop-rock adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" with Jerome Korman. Though the musical worked on many levels during the Mann-directed first production at Saint Paul's Ordway Music Theater in 1999, much retooling remained before it would be ready for the Great White Way.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1980
Moved to New York and within three weeks made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning musical, "Barnum"; played the supporting role of Chester Lyman
1982
Portrayed Rum Tum Tugger in the original Broadway cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats"; first association with director Trevor Nunn
1984
Took a leave of absence from "Cats" to play King Arthur in "Camelot" at Raleigh's North Carolina Theater
1985
Played assistant choreographer Larry in Richard Attenborough's disappointing film version of "A Chorus Line"
1986
Portrayed an extraterrestrial bounty hunter in the horror film, "Critters"
1986
Originated the role of Saul in "Rags"; first played the role in Boston and later in a brief run on Broadway
1987
Earned a Tony nomination as the fearsome Javert in "Les Miserables"; directed by Nunn
1987
Had a brief run playing a prisoner named Jester on the CBS daytime drama, "As the World Turns"
1987
Appeared as a serial killer in an episode of "The Equalizer" (CBS)
1988
Had recurring role on the ABC daytime serial, "One Life to Live"
1989
Cast as Griffin Sanders on the NBC soap, "Another World"
1989
Succeeded Jason Alexander as the narrator in "Jerome Robbins' Broadway"
1990
Acted Off-Broadway in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's "Assassins" playing Leon Czolgosz, the Polish immigrant who shot President William McKinley
1991
Directed and performed in several plays at the North Carolina Theater
1991
Portrayed one of the gangsters involved in the real-life 1978 robbery of Lufthansa Airlines in "The 10 Million Dollar Getaway" (USA Network)
1992
Played the title roles in the New York workshop of "Jeckyll & Hyde"
1994
Originated the role of the Beast in Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast"; earned second Tony nomination
1996
Played arch-villain toymaker A.P. Tavish in the CBS movie musical, "Mrs. Santa Clause"
1996
Acted in Sondheim's first non-musical play on Broadway, "Getting Away with Murder"
1996
Provided the voice of Oberon in the syndicated animated series, "Gargoyles"
1997
Played British General John Burgoyne in PBS documentary, "Liberty! The American Revolution"
1997
Portrayed the Javert-like Chauvelin in Broadway's "The Scarlet Pimpernel"
1999
Directed a musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" at the Ordway Musical Theater in Minnesota; brother-in-law Christopher d'Amboise served as choreographer
2000
Cast as Daniel in the ABC daytime drama, "One Life to Live"
2001
Assumed leading role of Dr. Frank N. Furter in the Broadway revival of "The Rocky Horror Show"
2005
Starred in the Broadway musical, "Lennon," about the life of John Lennon
2006
Cast as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd in a revival of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"
2007
Played the regular role of Bob in the short-lived series, "The Dresden Files" (Sci Fi Channel)
Family
Companions
