Biography for
Stephen Spinella More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

11 October 1956, Naples, Campania, Italy

Birth Name

Stephen Nicholas Spinella

Height

5' 9¼" (1.76 m)

Trivia

Has won two Tony Awards for his roles in the two parts of "Angels in America": in 1993, as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) for "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches," and in 1994, as Best Actor (Play) for: "Angels in America: Perestroika." He was also Tony-nominated in 2000 as Best Actor (Featured Role - Musical) for "James Joyce's The Dead."

Graduated from the University of Arizona drama department.

He appeared for the first time on TV in a cameo as a man dying from AIDS complications in the Emmy-winning HBO movie _And the Band Played On (1993)_ (TV).

He attended Glendale High School in Glendale, Arizona, and then Phoenix College and the University of Arizona. He later studied at New York University where he met budding playwright Tony Kushner. After seeing him in a university production, Kushner invited Spinella to be in his play, "The Age of Assassins" and began writing parts specifically for the actor.

Vaulted from obscurity with his frighteningly realistic portrayal of AIDS-ravaged Prior Walter in Tony Kushner's two-part stage epic "Angels in America". An openly gay actor, he has since played in a number of gay-related themes on stage, film and TV.

Moved to New York from Arizona, where he was raised, in 1979, and paid his dues for many years working in restaurants while acting in regional theater and off off Broadway shows.

MFA in Acting - New York University, Tisch School of the Arts (1982).

Personal Quotes

If you want to be a theater actor, where do you live now? Young actors struggle on a Broadway salary. A lot of them live in shoe boxes; some of them are literally three to a shoebox. New York has gotten prohibitively expensive.

Where Are They Now

(November 2006) Currently acting in the new musical "Spring Awakening" on Broadway as Adult Men.