Matthew Morrison biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Actor. Born on October 30, 1978, in Fort Ord, California, Matthew Morrison grew up in a military family. While he describes himself as an "Army brat," Morrison had an unusual upbringing in some ways. "My dad is a nurse midwife, one of about only 50 male midwives in the U.S., I think. So my birds-and-bees talk consisted of him bringing home books with pictures of all these sexually transmitted diseases," he told Elle magazine.

At a young age, Morrison developed an interest in performing after attending theater camp. He later attended the Orange County High School of the Arts. There he showed great promise as a performer and as a soccer player. "In my sophomore year of high school I had to choose between soccer or singing," he explained to Parade magazine. "I think I chose the right one but it was probably one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make."

Passion for Music

After graduating high school, Morrison moved to New York City to attend New York University. There he studied musical theater, dance, and vocal performance at the Tisch School of the Arts. Morrison dropped out of college in the late 1990s after being cast in the Broadway musical Footloose. Based on the 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon, Footloose tells the story of a teenage boy who moves to a repressive small town where dancing and listening to rock 'n' roll is forbidden. Morrison was a member of the ensemble, and an understudy for one of the roles. A small part in a production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show soon followed.

Around this time, Morrison tried to break into the music business as a member of a boy band called LMNT. But the group failed to take off. Morrison's real career breakthrough came in 2002 with the musical Hairspray, based on the John Waters film of the same name. Marissa Jaret Winokur starred in the show as Tracy Turnblad, a plus-sized teen who fights for integration on a 1960s television dance show and falls for a teen heartthrob named Link Larkin (played by Morrison). The original cast also included Harvey Fierstein as Tracy's mother Edna. The musical proved to be a huge commercial and critical hit, running for more than 2,600 performances and garnering eight Tony Awards.

Stage Actor

In addition to his theatrical career, Morrison found time to tackle some other acting parts. He made guest appearances on such television shows as Sex and the City and Hack. On the big screen, Morrison had his film debut in 2003 with a small role in the comedy Marci X starring Lisa Kudrow.