George Hearn
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Having convincingly played everything from a killer barber to a drag queen to a man who loses his family in the Holocaust, George Hearn has come to be considered as one of the stage's most honored and respected actors. Perhaps best-known for his Tony-winning performances in "La Cage aux Folles" (1984) and "Sunset Boulevard" (1995), the actor has appeared in dozens of Broadway and regional productions, as well as countless TV shows and films such as "Sneakers" (1992) and "The Devil's Own" (1997), since he began his acting career in the early 1960s.
Born in St Louis, Missouri, Hearn studied philosophy at Southwestern University before he embarked on a career in the theater, training for the stage with legendary acting coach Irene Dailey. Most of Hearn's early performances were in traditional productions at the New York Shakespeare Festival and theaters at Lincoln Center. He first garnered a bit of notice as John Dickinson in the acclaimed 1969 award-winning musical "1776" and as Liv Ullmann's leading man in "I Remember Mama" (1979). Ironically, Hearn was to grab headlines later that year, when he replaced Len Cariou in the title role of Stephen Sondheim's dark musical "Sweeney Todd" on Broadway, opposite Dorothy Louden as a woman who bakes his character's murder victims into pies. Hearn and original star Angela Lansbury later headed the show's touring company, then reprised their roles for a Showtime production of the musical, which brought him an Emmy for his chilling portrayal of the demon barber of Fleet Street. Hearn and Lansbury remained friends and the actress invited him to guest star on several episodes of her CBS sleuth series "Murder, She Wrote" in the early 1990s.
Although Hearn followed up "Sweeney Todd" with Tony-nominated performances in "Watch on the Rhine" (1980) and "A Doll's Life" (1983), it wasn't until he played flamboyant drag queen Albin in "La Cage aux Folles" (1984) that he got to actually take home one of the coveted prizes. The actor earned his second Tony when he played the creepy butler Max von Mayerling in "Sunset Boulevard." opposite Glenn Close and was nominated for a fifth time for his performance in the 1999 Sondheim revue "Putting It Together," which co-starred Carol Burnett, John Barrowman, Bronson Pinchot and Ruthie Henshell. He also reunited with Close for the TV-movie "Sarah Plain and Tall: Winter's End" that year.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Music (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1964
Toured in "Camelot" as Sir Dinadan
1969
Cast as John Dickinson in the award-winning stage musical "1776"; later toured in the role
1973
Appeared on Broadway alongside John Lithgow in the drama "The Changing Room"
1975
Film acting debut "The Money"; bit part with then-un known Danny DeVito
1975
TV-movie debut in the NBC drama "The Silence"
1976
Portrayed Henry Clay in the PBS miniseries "The Adams Chronicles"
1979
Co-starred with Liv Ullmann in the short-lived stage musical "I Remember Mama"
1979
Replaced Len Cariou in title role of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" on Broadway, opposite Dorothy Louden; later headed touring production opposite Angela Lansbury
1980
Nominated for Tony for his role in the Broadway revival of "Watch on the Rhine"
1983
Garnered second Tony nomination for the ill-fated musical "A Doll's Life", a sequel to Ibsen's "A Doll's House"
1984
Won first Tony for his portrayal of drag queen Albin in the gender-bending musical farce "La Cage aux Folles"
1985
Starred as Ben Stone in a concert staging of teh Stephen Sondheim-James Goldman musical "Follies"; production taped and aired on PBS
1985
Won Emmy for reprising his role as the demon barber of Fleet Street in Showtime production of "Sweeney Todd", again co-starring with Lansbury
1986
Reprised role of Albin in London production of "La Cage aux Folles"
1989
Appeared as the patriarch in the stage musical adaptation of "Meet Me in St. Louis"
1992
Co-starred with Robert Redford and Dan Aykroyd in the high-tech caper "Sneakers"
1995
Won second Tony for supporting performance as Max von Mayerling in "Sunset Boulevard", opposite Glenn Close's Norma Desmond
1997
Played a judge sympathetic to the IRA in the drama "The Devil's Own" opposite Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt
1997
Played Otto Frank, Anne's father, in Broadway re-staging of "The Diary of Anne Frank"; original play was partially re-written by Wendy Kesselman
1999
Earned Tony nomination for performance in "Putting It Together", a Sondheim musical revue co-starring Carol Burnett and Bronson Pinchot
1999
Reunited with Close in the TV-movie "Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End" (CBS)
2000
Replaced an ailing Bryn Terfel in concert staging of Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd", performed in honor of the composer's 70th birthday
Videos
Movie Clip
Family
Companions
