Roger Bart

Early life and education

Bart was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of a teacher and a chemical engineer, and grew up in Bernardsville, New Jersey. His uncle is journalist Peter Bart. He graduated from Bernards High School in 1980 and was later inducted into the school's hall of fame.

He earned his BFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in 1985.

Bart was close friends with Jonathan Larson: both worked as waiters between theater jobs and frequently hung out at each other's workplaces. He participated in early presentations of Larson's work including Tick, Tick... Boom! and Rent; the main character "Roger" from Rent is named after him.

Career

He made his Broadway debut in Big River as Tom Sawyer in 1985. Additional theatre credits include Jonathan in the Alan Menken/Tim Rice musical King David, Harlequin in Triumph of Love, Snoopy in the Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (for which he won the Drama Desk Award and a Tony), Carmen Ghia and later Leo Bloom in The Producers (earning Drama Desk and Tony nominations), and The Frogs at Lincoln Center, which reunited him with fellow Producers star Nathan Lane and Susan Stroman.

In 1996 and 1997, Bart appeared as Bud Frump in the USA national tour of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

On television, Bart played George Carlin's son on The George Carlin Show (1994), and on Bram & Alice (2002) he portrayed Bram's assistant, Paul Newman. He became widely known to viewers with his portrayal of George Williams, the unhinged homicidal pharmacist in love with Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), on Desperate Housewives, which earned him a SAG Award.

Bart provided the singing voice for teenage Hercules in Disney's Hercules, as well as the singing voice of Scamp in Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure. He was featured in the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives with Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, Christopher Walken and Glenn Close, and in The Producers (2005), in which he reprised his role of "common-law assistant" Carmen Ghia.

In December 2006, Bart played Howard "The Weasel" Montague in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries The Lost Room. In 2007, he starred as Stuart in Hostel: Part II, the sequel to 2005's Hostel, and had supporting roles in American Gangster and Spy School. In 2008, he appeared in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, the sequel to 2004's Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and The Midnight Meat Train.

Bart also originated the lead role of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein in the musical adaptation of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, which opened on Broadway in November 2007, following a run in Seattle. He reprised the role alongside former Broadway co-stars Shuler Hensley and Cory English in the United States national tour that launched in September 2009. He ended his run on August 8, 2010, and was succeeded by Christopher Ryan. Bart originally portrayed the role of Igor in the original workshop read-through.

Brad Oscar and Bart reprised their roles as Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, respectively, in a production of The Producers at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. The show ran from August 23–29, 2010.

In 2011, Bart was cast in the recurring role of Mason Treadwell on the ABC drama series Revenge.

In 2013, Bart was cast in the recurring role of Roger Riskin on the Showtime drama series Episodes.

Bart was originally set to play the dual role of Charles Frohman and Captain James Hook in the 2014 A.R.T. pre-Broadway production of Finding Neverland. He was ultimately replaced by Michael McGrath.

In 2016, Bart returned to Broadway in the musical Disaster!

In 2017, Bart was cast in the recurring role of Vice Principal Nero on the second season of the Netflix comedy-drama series A Series of Unfortunate Events.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/06/series-of-unfortunate-events-nathan-fillion-tony-hale-sara-rue-lucy-punch-roger-bart-season-2-cast-1202110544/|title='Series Of Unfortunate Events': Nathan Fillion, Tony Hale, Sara Rue, Lucy Punch & Roger Bart Join Season 2 Cast|last=Petski|first=Denise|date=June 9, 2017| website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=April 1, 2018}}

In 2018, Bart was cast in the main role of Judge Wilson on the Freeform drama series Good Trouble, the spin-off of The Fosters.

In 2019, Bart was cast as Hades in the world premiere of Disney's musical, Hercules. That same year, he was announced to play Dr. Emmett Brown in the musical adaptation of Back to the Future. After playing the role at the Manchester Opera House and West End's Adelphi Theatre, he reprised the part in the Broadway production.

In 2021, Bart cameoed in the film adaptation of Tick, Tick... Boom!, 30 years after performing in the original show with Jonathan Larson. A character in the film played by Joshua Henry is named "Roger" after him, and is loosely inspired by Bart.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Gardner, Amanda. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE6DD1E3CF930A35755C0A9679C8B63 "THEATER; Tony Awards' New Jersey Ties"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', July 23, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
2. Horwitz, Simi. (November 8, 2007). "First Banana". Backstage.
3. Hatala, Greg. [http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf/2014/06/glimpse_of_history_arm-in-arm_at_commencement.html "Glimpse of History: Arm-in-arm at commencement"], ''[[The Star-Ledger]]'', June 23, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2019. "Some of the school's notable alumni include Tony Award-winning actor Roger Bart ('80), John Geils Jr. of the J. Geils Band ('64) and Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep ('67)."
4. "Roger Bart". IMDb.
5. McPhee, Ryan. "To Days of Inspiration: Explore the Evolution of ''Rent'' Through Jonathan Larson's Own Notes".
6. "STAGE TO SCREENS: Roger Bart Discusses Producers and "Housewives"".
7. {{IBDB name. 31148
8. Rousuck, J. Wynn. (May 31, 1996). "A cheery revival for 'How to Succeed'". The Baltimore Sun.
9. "Ralph Macchio is fun in 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying' Oct. 1-6".
10. Berson, Misha. (October 10, 1996). "How To Succeed in Show Business ... – Since His 'Karate Kid' Days, Ralph Macchio Has Matured – In Age And Talent". The Seattle Times.
11. {{IMDb name. 0058372
12. Jones, Kenneth. (July 30, 2009). "Together Again: Bart and Hensley Will Tour in ''Young Frankenstein''".
13. "The Producers".
14. Stanhope, Kate. (November 17, 2011). "Desperate Housewives' Roger Bart Uncovers Revealing Revenge Role". Yahoo Entertainment.
15. Marechal, AJ. (June 3, 2013). "Roger Bart to Recur on Showtime's 'Episodes' (Exclusive)". Variety.
16. [https://playbill.com/article/tony-winner-swap-michael-mcgrath-to-replace-roger-bart-in-arts-finding-neverland-opening-july-23-com-322454 Tony Winner Swap: Michael McGrath To Replace Roger Bart in A.R.T.'s Finding Neverland Opening July 23]
17. Lloyd Webber, Imogen. (November 5, 2015). "Look Out! All-Star Disaster! Will Hit Broadway, Starring Adam Pascal, Roger Bart, Faith Prince & More".
18. Gans, Andrew. (October 15, 2019). "Tony Winner Roger Bart Joins Cast of Back to the Future Musical". Playbill.
19. Hall, Margaret. (22 March 2023). "Jelani Remy, Liana Hunt, Nathaniel Hackmann, More Join Back to the Future on Broadway".
20. (November 19, 2021). "An Exhaustive List of Every Broadway Cameo in Tick, Tick … Boom!".
21. (November 17, 2021). "'tick, tick…BOOM!' Q&A with Andrew Garfield and Lin-Manuel Miranda".
22. Grobar, Matt. (2025-01-31). "Kyle Mooney, Ken Jeong, Roger Bart & Jane Krakowski Among 12 Additions To Amazon MGM's Holiday Family Comedy 'The Man With The Bag'".
23. Evans, Greg. (June 20, 2019). "'Hercules' Stage Musical Adaptation Finds Its Strongman: Jelani Alladin Among Cast Announced For Shakespeare In The Park Production".