Michael Urie
{{Short description|American actor (born 1980)}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Michael Urie
| image = Michael Urie ATX Television Festival 2016 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Urie in 2016
| birth_name = Michael Lorenzo Urie
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1980|8|8}}
| birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S.
| education = {{ubl|Collin College|Juilliard School (BFA)}}
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1993–present
}}
Michael Lorenzo Urie (born August 8, 1980) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Marc St. James on the ABC comedy drama television series Ugly Betty and Brian on the Apple TV+ series Shrinking, a role for which he won a Critics Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor.{{Cite web |title=Michael Urie Praises 'Up and Comer' Costar Harrison Ford as He Wins Critics Choice Award for 'Shrinking' |url=https://people.com/critics-choice-awards-2025-michael-urie-praises-up-and-comer-costar-harrison-ford-8788378 |access-date=March 31, 2025 |website=People |language=en}} He can be heard as Bobby Kerns in As the Curtain Rises, an original podcast soap opera from the Broadway Podcast Network.{{Cite web |url=https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcast/as-the-curtain-rises/ |title=As the Curtain Rises – Broadway's First Digital Soap Opera | Broadway Podcast Network|date=October 17, 2020}}
Early life and education
Michael Urie was born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Plano. He is of Scottish and Italian descent.{{cite web |url=http://living.scotsman.com/comedy/Interview-Michael-Urie-comedian.6450941.jp?articlepage=3 |title=Interview: Michael Urie, Comedian |work=The Scotsman |first=Kate |last=Copstick |date=August 3, 2010 |access-date=September 21, 2010 |quote=He is, he reveals, part Scots by descent.}}{{cite web |url=http://www.netglimse.com/celebs/pages/michael_urie/index.shtml |title=Michael Urie: Biography |access-date=September 21, 2010 |publisher=NetGlimse.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110618144958/http://www.netglimse.com/celebs/pages/michael_urie/index.shtml |archive-date=June 18, 2011 }} He graduated from Plano Senior High School in 1998.{{cite news |url=http://www.dallasvoice.com/its-an-ugly-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-1022331.html |title=It's an Ugly Job, But Somebody Has to Do It |work=Dallas Voice |first=Arnold Wayne |last=Jones |date=February 22, 2007}}
Urie then studied at Collin County Community College before being accepted at the Juilliard School in New York City. While there, he was a member of the Drama Division's Group 32 from 1999 to 2003.{{cite web |url=http://www.juilliard.edu/alumni/news/news_decades/2011-2012/1202/index.php |title=Alumni News |publisher=The Juilliard School |date=February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314071224/http://www.juilliard.edu/alumni/news/news_decades/2011-2012/1202/index.php |archive-date=March 14, 2012}} Urie graduated from Juilliard in 2003.
Career
Urie, while still a student at Juilliard, performed in the world premiere of Love and Happiness (2001) at the Consolati Performing Arts Center, starring as a sixteen-year-old trying to get rid of his mother's boyfriend.{{cite web |url=http://www.curtainup.com/loveandhappiness.html |title=Love and Happiness |access-date=May 28, 2007 |work=CurtainUp |first=Elyse |last=Sommer}}
He received the 2002 John Houseman Prize for Excellence in Classical Theatre from the Juilliard School. His classical credits include Shakespeare, Jacobean drama, and commedia dell'arte.{{cite web |url=http://abc.go.com/primetime/uglybetty/index?pn=bios#t=actor&d=27075 |title=Ugly Betty – Bios |access-date=September 23, 2008 |publisher=ABC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317043558/http://abc.go.com/primetime/uglybetty/index?pn=bios#t=actor&d=27075 |archive-date=March 17, 2009 |url-status=dead}}
Urie played the central character in the stage play WTC View as well as in the film adaptation.
He is on the board of Plum Productions and serves as its casting director. With the same company he has produced and appeared in Prachtoberfest and lowbrow (and a little bit tacky). As a freelance producer, he has worked on Like The Mountains and The Fantasticks (Four Players Theatre). He also directed the latter production.
In 2006, Urie began appearing in the ABC dramedy Ugly Betty as Marc St. James, the assistant of Wilhelmina Slater, played by Vanessa Williams. The show began with the concept that Wilhelmina would have a different assistant in each episode; thus Urie was originally billed as a guest star in the credits.Jacqueline Cutler, "Celebrity Scoop: Michael Urie". Winston-Salem Journal. November 7, 2009. However, Williams loved their chemistry, and Urie was signed on as a full-time regular midway through the first season. He and the cast were nominated for Screen Actors Guild awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2007 and 2008.[http://imdb.com/name/nm1235530/awards Michael Urie – Awards] The role earned Urie a Ewwy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2009. He remained with Ugly Betty until the show's cancellation in 2010.
During the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, Urie hosted TLC's reality-based series Miss America: Reality Check. The program followed the contestants participating in the 2008 Miss America Pageant.Regina Schaffer. "Miss America gets real (or just about as real as a beauty pageant can get)". The Press of Atlantic City (NJ). January 4, 2008. page B1.
Urie has returned often to his theater roots, including directing a one-night celebrity-performed staging of Howard Ashman's unproduced musical Dreamstuff. The musical was reimagined by Howard's partners Marsha Malamet and Dennis Green and performed at Los Angeles's Hayworth Theatre as part of the Bruno Kirby celebrity reading series.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} He has also been on Live with Regis and Kelly and has also starred in the 2008 Disney blockbuster production Beverly Hills Chihuahua as the voice of Sebastian.
Urie originated the role of Rudi Gernreich in the 2009 off-Broadway play The Temperamentals, about the foundation of the early LGBT rights organization the Mattachine Society. Urie received a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor.{{Cite news |last=Healy |first=Patrick |title=Honors and the End for Temperamentals |work=The New York Times |date=May 20, 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/theater/06arts-HONORSANDTHE_BRF.html |access-date = May 23, 2010}}
In January 2012, Urie made his Broadway debut, joining the cast of the second revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in the role of Bud Frump.{{cite web |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/488364 |title=How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2011 revival) |website=IBDB.com |publisher=Internet Broadway Database}}
Urie has also started his own website for videoblogging and live chats.{{cite web |title=Michael Urie |url=http://www.michaelurie.net |publisher=MichaelUrie.net |access-date=December 2, 2012}} In 2012, Urie also starred as the mysterious limo driver James in the film adaptation of Wendy Mass's children's book Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, written and directed by Tamar Halpern.
Urie was one of the leads in CBS's short-lived series Partners. The multi-camera comedy, from Will & Grace creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, centered on lifelong friends and business partners – one straight and one gay.{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2012/02/ugly-bettys-michael-urie-gets-lead-in-partners-pooch-hall-joins-ray-donovan-232051/ |title=Ugly Betty{{'}}s Michael Urie Gets Lead in Partners, Pooch Hall Joins Ray Donovan |access-date=February 17, 2012 |website=Deadline Hollywood |first=Nellie |last=Andreeva |date=February 16, 2012}} The series premiered on September 24, 2012, but was cancelled after only six episodes had aired.{{cite web | url=https://www.yidio.com/show/partners | title=Partners}}
His performance in 2013's one-man show Buyer & Cellar won him a Clarence Derwent Award{{cite web |title=Annaleigh Ashford, Michael Urie Receive Equity's Clarence Derwent Award |url=http://www.actorsequity.org/AboutEquity/EquityAwards/derwent_award2013.asp |publisher=ActorsEquity.org |access-date=July 20, 2014}} as well as a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.{{cite news |last=Meyer |first=Dan |date=August 15, 2019 |title=Upcoming Grand Horizons Star Michael Urie to Host The Acting Company's 2019 Fall Gala |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/upcoming-grand-horizons-star-michael-urie-to-host-the-acting-companys-2019-fall-gala |newspaper=Playbill |access-date=September 3, 2019}}
In April 2015, Urie became the host of Cocktails & Classics on Logo TV, in which he and panels of celebrity friends watch and comment on classic movies while imbibing cocktails named or made for the films. Films profiled on the series have included All About Eve, Steel Magnolias, Valley of the Dolls, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Mommie Dearest.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4724436/ Cocktails & Classics at the Internet Movie Database].
In November 2018, Urie starred as Arnold Beckoff in Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song revival on Broadway.{{Cite web |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/acclaimed-torch-song-revival-with-michael-urie-extends-again |title=Acclaimed Torch Song Revival, with Michael Urie, Extends Again {{!}} Playbill|website=Playbill|date=October 23, 2017 |access-date=April 8, 2018}}{{Cite news |url=https://deadline.com/2018/02/torch-song-broadway-return-harvey-fierstein-michael-urie-mercedes-ruehl-1202296389/ |title=Torch Song To Re-Alight On Broadway In November In Former Home |last=Hipes |first=Patrick |date=February 20, 2018 |website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=April 8, 2018}}
He had a recurring role as Redmond, the gossipy book agent, in the popular TVLand drama-comedy series Younger, produced by Darren Star.{{Cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2016/09/younger-season-3-darren-star-interview-tv-land-1201731395/ |title=Younger: Darren Star on Ageism and Liza's 'Mid-Love Crisis' in Season 3 |last=Nguyen |first=Hanh |date=September 28, 2016 |website=IndieWire |access-date=July 8, 2019}}
In 2018, Urie played Prince Hamlet in the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of Hamlet in Washington, DC.{{Cite web |url=https://wtop.com/entertainment/2018/02/shakespeare-theatre-company-stages-hamlet-with-modern-espionage-twist/ |title=Shakespeare Theatre Company stages Hamlet with modern espionage twist |date=February 5, 2018 |publisher=WTOP |access-date=July 8, 2019}} He reprised the role in mid-2019 for the company's "Free for All" production run.{{Cite web |url=https://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2019/07/18/hamlet-free-for-all/ |title=Review: Hamlet at the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Free for All |last=Howes |first=Sophia |date=July 18, 2019 |website=DC Metro Theater Arts |access-date=August 5, 2019}}
On September 13, 2019, it was announced that Urie would once again team up with his Ugly Betty co-star Becki Newton on a sitcom project for CBS and Warner Bros. Television called Fun, in which he would both co-star and serve as a co-executive producer with creator Michael Patrick King and fellow Ugly Betty showrunners Tracy Poust and Jon Kinnally.[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/michael-urie-becki-newton-star-michael-patrick-king-cbs-comedy-1239625 "Michael Urie, Becki Newton to Star in Michael Patrick King CBS Comedy"] from The Hollywood Reporter (September 13, 2019) CBS passed on the pilot of the series on May 4, 2020.{{Cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2020/05/cbs-comedy-pilot-fun-becki-newton-michael-urie-not-going-forward-dead-michael-patrick-king-1202925599/ |title=CBS Comedy Pilot Fun Starring Becki Newton & Michael Urie Not Going Forward |date=May 5, 2020|accessdate=February 7, 2025|work=Deadline Hollywood|first=Nellie |last=Andreeva}}
In 2021, Urie starred in the Netflix Christmas romantic comedy Single All the Way.{{Cite news |last=Bugbee |first=Teo |date=December 2, 2021 |title=Single All the Way Review: Cookie Cutter Christmas |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/02/movies/single-all-the-way-review.html |access-date=December 12, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}
In 2023, Urie starred in the Apple TV+ series Shrinking.{{Cite web |title=Michael Urie stars in new show 'Shrinking' |url=https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/on-stage-episodes/2023/02/10/michael-urie-stars-in-new-show--shrinking- |access-date=April 29, 2023 |website=ny1.com |language=en}}
Personal life
In 2009, Urie referred to himself as "a member of the LGBT community" on his website.{{cite web |url=https://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/06/michael_urie.html |title=Michael Urie on Playing an Activist and Assistant on The Temperamentals and Ugly Betty |work=New York |date=June 28, 2009}} In a 2010 interview with The Advocate, he said that he was in a relationship with a man and is queer. He said it never felt wrong when he was with women previously.{{cite news |url=http://www.advocate.com/print/arts-entertainment/people/2010/01/12/not-so-ugly-truth |title=The Not So Ugly Truth |work=The Advocate |date=January 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141117190441/http://www.advocate.com/print/arts-entertainment/people/2010/01/12/not-so-ugly-truth |archive-date=November 17, 2014 }}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 2003
|Pig Walker |Uncredited |
| 2005
| WTC View | Eric | |
| 2008
| Sebastian |Voice |
| rowspan="2"|2011
| data-sort-value="Decoy Bride, The" | The Decoy Bride | Steve Korbitz | |
| Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
| James | |
| 2012
| Petunia | George McDougal | |
| 2013
| He's Way More Famous Than You | Himself | |
| 2014
| Richard Nearly | |
| 2019
| Lavender | Arthur | Short film |
| rowspan="2" |2020
|Nora Highland |Gala Host | |
| Smithtown
|Ian Bernstein | |
| rowspan="3" |2021
|The Extinction of Fireflies |Jay | |
| Swan Song
| Dustin | |
| Single All the Way
| Peter | |
| rowspan="2" |2023
|Summoning Sylvia |Jamie | |
| Maestro
| |
| 2024
| Goodrich |Terry | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Undressed | Justin | Episode: "Tangled Beards" |
| 2004 | Kat Plus One | Roger | Television film |
| 2006–2010 | Ugly Betty | rowspan="2" | Marc St. James | Main role (85 episodes) Nominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated–Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor – Comedy |
| 2008–2009 | Mode After Hours | Main role (19 episodes) | |
| rowspan="3"|2010 | Popatron | Himself | Episode: "1.2" |
| Brain Trust | Prof. Franklin Gordon | Television film | |
| Celebrity Ghost Stories | Himself | Episode: "2.4" | |
| 2012
|Zach Blumenkrantz |Episode: "Y'all Were Great!" | |||
| 2012–2013 | Partners | Louis McManus | Main role (13 episodes) |
| rowspan="2" |2013
|It Could Be Worse |Mike |Episode: "I Need Help" | |||
| Hot in Cleveland | Jeffery | Episode: "Cleveland Indians" | |
| 2014 | Modern Family | Gavin Sinclair | 2 episodes |
| 2014–2016 | data-sort-value="Good Wife, The" | The Good Wife | Stephen Dinovera | 4 episodes |
| rowspan="2"|2015 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Himself | Episode: "Snatch Game" |
| Workaholics | Joey | Episode: "Gayborhood" | |
| 2016 | Almost Royal | Himself | Episode: "Romance" |
| 2016–2021 | Younger | Redmond | 15 episodes |
| 2018 | After Forever | Daniel | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | data-sort-value="Good Fight, The" | The Good Fight | Stephen Dinovera | 2 episodes |
| 2019–2020 | Almost Family | Nate | 3 episodes |
| 2020 | Ms. Guidance | Brant Finklestein | Episode: "The Taming of the Jenny" |
| 2021 | data-sort-value="Bite, The" | The Bite | Josh | 3 episodes |
| 2023–present | Shrinking | Brian | Main role (22 episodes) |
| 2023 | American Dad! | Mark Zuckerberg / Student (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2023–2024 | Krapopolis | Hermes | 11 episodes |
| 2025 | Night Court | Judge Toby Nulman | Episode: “Funnest Judge in the City” |
=Director and executive producer=
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | House of Kai Milla | Executive producer | Television film |
| rowspan="2"|2012 | He's Way More Famous Than You | Director | |
| Thank You for Judging | Co-director; executive producer | Documentary |
Theater
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||
| Year
! Title ! class="unsortable" | Role ! Venue ! class="unsortable" | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | data-sort-value="Temperamentals, The" | The Temperamentals | Rudi Gernreich | New World Stages{{cite web |last=BWW News Desk |title=Out Magazine 'Out 100' Includes Four Temperamentals, Gavin Creel, Neil Patrick Harris & More |publisher=Broadway World |date=November 16, 2009 |url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Out_Magazine_Out_100_Includes_Four_TEMPERAMENTALS_20091116 |access-date=November 17, 2009}} | rowspan="3" |Off-Broadway |
| 2010 | Angels in America | Prior Walter | Signature Theatre Company | |
| 2011 | data-sort-value="Cherry Orchard, The" | The Cherry Orchard | Yepikhodov | Classic Stage Company | |
| 2012 | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | Bud Frump | Al Hirschfeld Theatre | Broadway replacement |
| 2013 | rowspan="3" | Buyer & Cellar | rowspan="3" | Alex More | Barrow Street Theatre | Off-Broadway |
| 2014 | Various | National Tour | ||
| rowspan="3"|2015 | Menier Chocolate Factory | Off West End | ||
| data-sort-value="Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A" | A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum | Hysterium | Two River Theater | Red Bank, New Jersey | |
| Shows for Days | Car | Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater | rowspan="3" |Off-Broadway | |
| 2016 | Homos, Or Everyone in America | The Writer | LAByrinth Theater Company | |
| rowspan="2"|2017 | data-sort-value="Government Inspector, The" | The Government Inspector | Ivan Alexandreyevich Hlestakov | The Duke on 42nd Street | |
| Torch Song | Arnold Beckoff | Second Stage Theater | Broadway | |
| rowspan="2"|2018 | Hamlet | Hamlet | Shakespeare Theatre Company | rowspan="2" |Washington, D.C. |
| How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | Bud Frump | Kennedy Center | ||
| 2018–2019 | Torch Song | Arnold Beckoff | Hayes Theater | Broadway |
| rowspan="2"|2019 | High Button Shoes | Harrison Floy | New York City Center | Encores! |
| data-sort-value="Bright Room Called Day, A" | A Bright Room Called Day | Gregor | The Public Theater | Off-Broadway | |
| 2020 | Grand Horizons | Brian | Hayes Theater | rowspan="2" | Broadway |
| 2021 | Chicken and Biscuits | Logan Leibowitz | Circle in the Square Theatre | |
| 2022 | Jane Anger | William Shakespeare | Shakespeare Theatre Company | Washington, D.C. |
| rowspan="3" | 2023 | The Da Vinci Code | Robert Langdon | Ogunquit Playhouse | Regional |
| Spamalot | Sir Robin / Guard 1 / Brother Maynard | Kennedy Center | Washington, D.C. | |
| Gutenberg! The Musical!
|The Producer | rowspan="2" |Broadway | ||||
| 2023–2024
|Spamalot |Sir Robin / Guard 1 / Brother Maynard | St. James Theatre | |||
| rowspan="2" |2024 | rowspan="3" |Once Upon a Mattress | rowspan="3" |Prince Dauntless | New York City Center | Encores! |
| Hudson Theatre | Broadway | |||
| 2024–2025 | Los Angeles |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{IOBDB name}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- [http://www.ew.com/article/2007/06/22/our-favorite-tv-assistants Entertainment Weekly interview] with Michael Urie and the actors who portray TV assistants Lloyd (Entourage) and Kenneth (30 Rock).
- [http://broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=20795 Interview from Broadway World (August 21, 2007)]
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Michael Urie
|list =
{{Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series}}
{{DramaDesk MusicalFeaturedPerformance}}
{{DramaDesk One-PersonShow}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urie, Michael}}
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male stage actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:American people of Scottish descent
Category:American queer male actors
Category:Drama Desk Award winners
Category:Juilliard School alumni
Category:LGBTQ people from Texas
Category:Male actors from Texas
Category:Participants in American reality television series