Terrence Mann

Early years

Mann was born Terrence Vaughan Mann in Ashland, Kentucky, the eldest son of Helen Mann and Charles Mann. Mann's mother was a concert pianist, and his father sang in a barbershop quartet. Music was always a part of his growing up, so singing came naturally to him. But it was the multiple pleasures of the stage that drew him to the world of theater.

In an interview with the Hartford Courant, in his own words, "When I was doing the junior class play — it was called 'In Deadly Earnest' — at the end of a scene, the script said, 'They kiss.' It was then that I honestly thought, 'I'm going to be in the theater!' I was fascinated with having words put in my mouth and that someone would say something back to me that would get us to a moment where we ended up in a kiss. I remember when my school counselor asked me what I wanted to do, I said without hesitation, 'Go into the theater!'"

Mann grew up in Largo, Florida and he is a 1969 graduate of Largo High School. His first professional gig came during his college years in Jacksonville University. For $35 a week, he was given an offer to perform in the annual outdoor theater spectacular "The Lost Colony," during the summers on the Outer Banks of Manteo, North Carolina It was here he met Joe Layton, who later was instrumental in getting him his first Broadway show.

Mann later on attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, where his mentor was Malcolm Morrison, former dean at The Hartt School at the University of Hartford. For many years Mann was a regular at Morrison's North Carolina Shakespeare Festival.

Career

He played the Bounty Hunter 'Ug' in the Critters movies, but has worked mainly on the stage and with musicals.

Mann made his Broadway debut in 1980 in the Tony Award-winning musical, Barnum, at the St. James Theatre. He played the supporting role of Chester Lyman. He made his true break-through performance in the original Broadway cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, in which he met and starred alongside his future wife, Charlotte d'Amboise. He created the memorable lead role of the "playful" cat Rum Tum Tugger. In 1985, Mann played assistant choreographer Larry in Richard Attenborough's film version of A Chorus Line.

In 1987, he won the role of Inspector Javert in the original Broadway cast of Les Miserables. His portrayal of Javert earned him his first Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role, a role which he would later reprise near the end of the musical's run at the Imperial Theater in 2003.

Mann earned his second Tony Award nomination in 1994 for his portrayal of the Beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast and reprised his role in the Los Angeles production in 1995 along with many of the original broadway cast members. In 1997, Mann created the role of Chauvelin in the Frank Wildhorn musical The Scarlet Pimpernel.

He has also starred in other musicals including: Rags (1986), Jerome Robbins' Broadway (1989), Getting Away with Murder (1996), and the 2000 Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show (in which he played Frank-N-Furter, replacing Tom Hewitt in the role after the production re-opened following the attack on the World Trade Center), in addition to the (then) off-Broadway show Assassins (1991). He also appeared in all four Critters films as an alien bounty hunter named Ug. He starred in the television soap opera All My Children as Earl Boyd in 1997. Mann played "Old Tom" in Paul Green's outdoor drama The Lost Colony in North Carolina, and later returned to his theatrical roots to direct the show for a few seasons.

He starred in the Broadway musical Lennon, which opened the summer of 2005, and closed soon afterwards. He then travelled to Costa Mesa, California to appear in the world premiere of The Studio, written and directed by his brother-in-law Christopher d'Amboise, at South Coast Repertory in March, 2006.

Mann has made guest appearances on The Equalizer, Gargoyles (voice of Oberon), The Tick (voice), and Law & Order. He was also a leading character on The Dresden Files as Hrothbert "Bob" of Bainbridge, a cursed ghost. He portrayed oceanographer Bob Ballard in the 30 Rock episode "TGS Hates Women".

He appeared in the 2008 films A Circle on the Cross as James Monroe Good, Eavesdrop as August, and the 2009 film The Mandala Maker as Museum Chief Curator. Other films completed include a small role in Jazz in the Diamond District and as Lt. Fox in Red Hook.

In November 2009, he originated the role of Mal Beineke opposite Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth in the Chicago tryout of a musical adaptation of The Addams Family. The show, along with Mann, transferred to Broadway, and opened in March 2010. He continued to play the role of Mal Beineke until April 2011, when he, along with several other members of the original cast, left the show. Mann played King Charles in the American Repertory Theatre production of Pippin, a role he first played in the 2004 World AIDS Day Concert. He is reprising that role in the current Broadway revival for which he received a 2013 Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. In 2015, he took over the role of Charles Frohman in the new Broadway musical Finding Neverland, replacing Anthony Warlow, who left the show on September 27. He will remain in the role until Kelsey Grammer's return in January 2016.

Personal life

In 1996, he married performer Charlotte d'Amboise, and have two daughters, Josephine and Shelby.