| Birth name | Joseph Mantello |
|---|---|
| Birth date | December 27, 1962 (age 63) |
| Birth place | Rockford, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor · director |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Partner | Jon Robin Baitz (1990–2002) |
| Education | University of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA) |
| Awards |
Joseph Mantello (born December 27, 1962) is an American actor and director known for his work on stage and screen. He first gained prominence for his Broadway acting debut in the original production of Tony Kushner's two-part epic play Angels in America (1993–1994), for which he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He has since acted in acclaimed Broadway revivals of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart (2011) and Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (2017).
Mantello has transitioned into a career as a Broadway director, winning the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Take Me Out (2003) and the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Assassins (2004). He has directed notable productions such as Wicked (2003), Glengarry Glen Ross (2005), The Humans (2016), Three Tall Women (2018), and The Boys in the Band (2018).
Early life and education
Mantello was born in Rockford, Illinois, the son of Judy and Richard Mantello, an accountant.[1][2] His father is of Italian ancestry and his mother is of half Italian descent.[3] He was raised Catholic.[4]
Mantello studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts; he started the Edge Theater in New York City with actress Mary-Louise Parker and writer Peter Hedges. He is a founding member of the Naked Angels theater company and an associate artist at the Roundabout Theatre Company.
Career
Mantello came to New York from Illinois in 1984 in the midst of the AIDS crisis, having overcome a youthful feeling, he admitted to a reporter in 2013, that "for some reason I was deeply ashamed of the theater early on. I think it had to do with this growing sense I was gay, although I couldn’t have put a word to it back then. Where I grew up, boys played sports. When [teacher] Mrs. Windsor wrote in my yearbook, 'Have you ever considered a career in the theater?' it was literally like she wrote the word 'faggot'."[5]
Mantello began his theatrical career as an actor in Keith Curran's Walking the Dead and Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz. On the transition from acting to directing, Mantello said, "I think I've become a better actor since I started directing, although some people might disagree. Since I've been removed from the process I see things that actors fall into. Now there's a part of me that's removed from the process and can stand back."[6]
Mantello directs a variety of theatre works, as The New York Times noted: "Very few American directors – Jack O'Brien and Mike Nichols come to mind – successfully jump genres and styles the way Mr. Mantello does, moving from a two-hander like Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune to the huge canvas of a mainstream musical comedy like Wicked, from downtown stand-up (The Santaland Diaries) to contemporary opera (Dead Man Walking) to political performance art (The Vagina Monologues)."[7]
A Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Lips Together, Teeth Apart directed by Mantello was scheduled to open at the American Airlines Theatre in April 2010, when one of the stars, Megan Mullally, suddenly quit. The production was postponed indefinitely due to her departure.[8]
Mantello directed the Jon Robin Baitz play Other Desert Cities at the Booth Theatre in 2011. He returned to acting for the first time in over a decade with the role of Ned Weeks in the Broadway limited engagement revival of The Normal Heart in April 2011,[9] for which he was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play.[10] Mantello had previously been nominated for the Tony Award for his role as Louis in Angels in America.
He directed the Off-Broadway world premiere of the musical Dogfight in the summer of 2012 at the Second Stage Theater.[11] In January 2013, he directed the Broadway premiere of Sharr White's The Other Place at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. In 2014 he directed Sting's new musical The Last Ship.[12] He directed the Harvey Fierstein play Casa Valentina, which premiered on Broadway in April 2014.[13]
Mantello acted in the revival of The Glass Menagerie which opened on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre in February 2017. Directed by Sam Gold, the play starred Sally Field as Amanda Wingfield, with Mantello playing Tom.[14][15]
In 2018, Joe Mantello was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[16] In 2022, Mantello was featured in the book 50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre.[17]
Personal life
From 1990 to 2002, Mantello was in a relationship with playwright Jon Robin Baitz.[18][19] As of 2018, he lives with Paul Marlow, who owns a custom clothing company in Manhattan.[20]
Theatre credits
As an actor
| Year | Title | Credit(s) | Playwright | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Walking the Dead | Stan | Keith Curran | Circle Repertory Company, Off-Broadway |
| 1992 | The Baltimore Waltz | Third Man | Paula Vogel | Circle Repertory Company, Off-Broadway |
| 1993 | Angels in America: Millennium Approaches | Louis Ironson | Tony Kushner | Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway |
| 1994 | Angels in America: Perestroika | Louis Ironson Sarah Ironson Council of Principalities | ||
| 2010 | The Normal Heart | Ned Weeks | Larry Kramer | John Golden Theatre, Broadway |
| 2017 | The Glass Menagerie | Tom Wingfield | Tennessee Williams | Belasco Theatre, Broadway |
As a director
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Cookie | Dominick | |
| 1997 | Love! Valour! Compassion! | Director | |
| 2020 | The Boys in the Band | Director and producer |
Television
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Three Hotels | Director; Television movie | |
| The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | Mickey | Episode: "Here's Why You Can Never Have Too Much Petty Cash" | |
| 1991–98 | Law & Order | Public Defender / Philip Marco | 2 episodes |
| 1993 | Sisters | Adam Olderberg | Episode: "Moving Pictures" |
| 1995 | Central Park West | Ian Walker | 3 episodes |
| 2014 | The Normal Heart | Mickey Marcus | HBO television film |
| 2020 | Hollywood | Dick Samuels | 7 episodes |
| 2022 | The Watcher | John Graff | 5 episodes |
| American Horror Story: NYC | Gino Barelli | 10 episodes | |
| 2024 | Feud: Capote vs. The Swans | Jack Dunphy | 7 episodes |
Awards and nominations
See also
Notes
- ^ "Joe Mantello Biography (1962-)". www.filmreference.com. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ "Cedar Rapids Gazette Archives, Jun 24, 2003, p. 30". June 24, 2003. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ Times, Windy City (June 25, 2014). "Joe Mantello talks 'The Last Ship,' 'The Normal Heart' - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News Archive - Windy City Times". Windy City Times. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ Pacheco, Patrick (March 19, 1995). "Mr. Mantello's Wild Ride : He had the 'role of a lifetime' in 'Angels in America.' So why is Joe Mantello putting his acting aside? Here's a clue: His other theatrical love is directing.". Retrieved July 5, 2018. – via LA Times.
- ^ Bernstein, Jacob (June 9, 2013). "Turning point: Broadway Joe". T: The New York Times Style Magazine. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
- ^ Burdette, Nicole. "Joe Mantello" Archived November 20, 2011 at the Wayback Machine, BOMB Magazine, Summer 1992
- ^ Green, Jesse."Surviving 'Assassins'".The New York Times, April 11, 2004
- ^ Jones, Kenneth."Broadway Won't See Lips Together, Teeth Apart This Season" Archived March 28, 2010 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, March 25, 2010
- ^ Gans, Andrew."Larry Kramer's 'The Normal Heart', Starring Joe Mantello, Opens on Broadway April 27" Archived May 4, 2011 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, April 27, 2011
- ^ Jones, Kenneth and Gans, Andrew."2011 Tony Nominations Announced; 'Book of Mormon' Earns 14 Nominations" Archived May 7, 2011 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, May 3, 2011
- ^ Healy, Patrick. "New Musical Set in 1960s Coming to Second Stage Theater". "The New York Times", January 31, 2012
- ^ "Sting's Musical 'The Last Ship' Is Broadway Bound". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. September 19, 2013. Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
- ^ Purcell, Carey. "MTC To Present Broadway World Premiere of Harvey Fierstein's 'Casa Valentina'" Archived February 25, 2014 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, September 9, 2013
- ^ Gans, Andrew. "Dates Set for 'Glass Menagerie' Broadway Revival With Sally Field and Joe Mantello" Playbill, June 6, 2016
- ^ McPhee, Ryan. "Read What Critics Had to Say About the Broadway Revival of 'The Glass Menagerie' " Playbill, March 9, 2017
- ^ Lefkowitz, Andy (September 17, 2018). "Joe Mantello, Cicely Tyson, David Henry Hwang & More Named Theater Hall of Fame Inductees". Broadway Buzz. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- ^ Wilson, James F. (2022). "Joe Mantello". 50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre. Noriega and Schildcrout (ed.). Routledge. pp. 151–155. ISBN 978-1032067964.
- ^ Dowd, Maureen. "Director Joe Mantello, Broadway’s Invisible Wizard" The New York Times, May 30, 2018
- ^ Stone, Judith. "Playmates" New York Magazine, retrieved August 9, 2018
- ^ Dowd, Maureen. "Director Joe Mantello, Broadway’s Invisible Wizard" The New York Times, May 30, 2018
See also
References
- Playbill writers (2008). "Playbill Biography: Joe Mantello". Playbill. Archived from the original on June 6, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
- "The Old Globe Presents Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out". The Old Globe. November 12, 2004. Archived from the original on October 7, 2007. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
- "Joe Mantello Biography". The New York Times. 2011. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
External links
- Joe Mantello at IMDb
- Joe Mantello at the American Theatre Wing
- 1992 BOMB Magazine interview with Joe Mantello by Nicole Burdette Archived November 20, 2011 at the Wayback Machine