Sam Harris

Sam Harris (singer)

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Sam Harris

Harris in 1990
Born Samuel Kent Harris
June 04 1961
Cushing, Oklahoma, United States
Occupation Recording artist and actor
Website
Official website

Samuel Kent "Sam" Harris (born June 4, 1961) is an American pop and musical theatre recording artist as well as a television, stage and film actor.

Career

Singing

Harris got his start as the grand champion singer of Star Search in its premiere season in 1983. He gained acclaim and became best known for his winning rendition of the song "Over the Rainbow" on the show.[1][2][3][4][5] "Over the Rainbow" has since become his signature song.[6] His appearance on Star Search led to him landing a contract with Motown Records. His first single, "Sugar Don't Bite," was a Top 40 hit, reaching #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1984. He is a multi-million selling recording artist with nine studio albums to his credit. He can also be heard on numerous concert, guest artist and cast recordings. He has toured extensively in concert and has played to sold-out audiences at major venues including New York's Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheater and London's West End. He has appeared with the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra, at the White House and has sung on a variety of television specials and live productions. On February 12, 2008, he released a new single entitled "War on War" that became an internet phenom with music videos made by the general public. The song became a part of his album, "Free," which was released that summer. The single "Change Is On The Way" was written to support the Obama campaign and was heard on numerous television shows and behind internet videos around the time of the election. In 2010, Sam wrote and released "My Reclamation" - which has become the anthem for marriage equality.

Stage

On Broadway, he received a Drama Desk nomination for his role in the Tommy Tune-directed revival of Grease, and a Drama League Award as well as Tony, Outer Critic's Circle and Drama Desk Award nominations for his work in Cy Coleman's Tony nominated musical The Life. He's also appeared on Broadway in Mel Brooks' Tony Award winning musical The Producers, in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and in the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar, Cabaret, Hair, and Pippin. He also starred in the self-penned shows Hardcopy, Different Hats, Revival and the critically acclaimed SAM. Harris' most recent theatrical outing was the film-to-musical adaptation of The First Wives Club seen in a limited run at San Diego's The Old Globe Theatre in the summer of 2009.

Films

Harris has appeared in three feature films to date: In the Weeds (2000, as Jonathan), the documentary Little Man (2005, as himself) and "Elena Undone" (2010, as Tyler).

Television

Harris co-created the television series Down to Earth (1984, which ran for 4 years and 104 episodes). He was a series regular on The Class (2006-2007 - Perry Pearl). Harris is also credited on "Rules of Engagement," (Jackie, recurring, 2009), The Wayne Brady Show (2003 - Actor, 1 episode) and the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration (2001, music supervisor). He has also appeared on numerous talk shows including The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1997 and 2000 - 3 episodes), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1994 - 1 episode), Brunch as a co-host (2006 - 1 episode), The Oprah Winfrey Show (1997 and 2001 - two episodes), Dr. Phil's 500th episode (2005), The View (2007 - 1 episode), "The Tyra Banks Show" (2010), "The Dr. Drew Show" (2011).[7]

Author

Sam Harris authored Ham (Slices of a Life) in 2014; an entertaining collection of essays and stories which is autobiographical.

Personal life

Harris and Danny Jacobsen, who is a director and presentation coach for numerous blue-chip companies and also a film producer,[8] have been together since 1994. They adopted a son, Cooper Atticus Harris-Jacobsen, in April 2008 [9] and the couple married on November 1, 2008.

Harris relayed in an interview with The Advocate in 2004 that he is a recovering alcoholic.[10]

Stage work

  • Jesus Christ Superstar (1990)
  • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1994)
  • Grease (1994)
  • The Life (1997)
  • The Producers (2002)
  • The Jazz Singer (1998) (workshop)
  • Funny Girl (2002) (benefit concert)
  • Mack & Mabel (2003) (benefit concert)
  • Pippin (2005)
  • The First Wives Club (2009)
  • Let Me Sing (2010) (reading)

References

External links

This page was last modified 10.03.2014 13:41:11

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