Randolph Clarke Harrison[1] (born November 2, 1977)[1] is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Justin Taylor on the Showtime drama Queer as Folk.

Randy Harrison
Harrison in 2007
Born (1977-11-02) November 2, 1977 (age 47)
EducationUniversity of Cincinnati (BFA)
OccupationActor
Years active1985–present

Early life and college

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Harrison was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he starting acting early. He attended Bicentennial Elementary School and starred as Peter Pan in the school play. He was also active in the Actorsingers and played Winthrop in a 1987 production of The Music Man.[2] He moved to Alpharetta, Georgia, with his family at age eleven.[3] He attended Pace Academy, a private prep school in Atlanta.[4] His father is an executive with a large paper company, while he has described his mother as a "thwarted artist."[5] His only sibling, an older brother, is a bank manager.[5]

Harrison attended the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in musical theatre. During his time at CCM, Harrison starred in university productions such as Hello Again, Shopping and Fucking, and Children of Eden. He also had roles in other theatrical venues across the U.S., in productions such as Violet at the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, 1776 at the St. Louis Municipal Theatre and West Side Story at the Forestburg Playhouse, as well as productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Real Inspector Hound and A Cheever Evening.

Career

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Harrison made his television debut playing Justin Taylor, a gay teen, in 2000's American version of Queer as Folk, based on the British television series. The series ran for five seasons, ending in 2005. In 2002, Harrison played the character Sean in Bang Bang You're Dead, a made-for-television movie based on the play of the same name. Harrison stars as Brutus in cinematographer/director/writer Patrick Donelley's postmodern feature film adaptation of Julius Caesar opposite actor John Shea as the title role.

In 2002, Harrison starred in the play Deviant at the New York International Fringe Festival. In summer 2004, Harrison made his Broadway debut as Boq in the musical Wicked. His Off Broadway credits include A Letter for Ethel Kennedy (MCC Theater, 2002), the Father in Oak Tree (Perry Street Theatre, 2006), Young Spencer in Edward II (Red Bull Theatre, 2007–08), Eros in Antony and Cleopatra (Theatre for a New Audience, 2008), Laszlo Fickes/Gerhardt Zeitzler in A Singing Forest (Public Theatre, 2009), and Kevin Adams-Weller in Harbor (Primary Stages, 2013). Harrison has also done several staged readings for Red Bull Theatre and starred in their "In the Raw" workshop production of A Tyger's Heart in February 2011.

Harrison has a substantial résumé in regional theatre, most prominently as a featured player since 2005 at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Roles with BTF include Alan Strang in Equus (2005), the title role in Amadeus (2006), Bill Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (2007), Frank Gardner in Mrs. Warren's Profession (2007), Lucky in Waiting for Godot (2008), Osvald Alving in Ghosts (2009), Nagg in Endgame (2010), and the title character in The Who's "Tommy" (2011). Other regional theatre credits include Lysander/Thisbe/Cobweb in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, presented in spring 2006 by the SITI Company (where Harrison has studied extensively through Skidmore College and in Manhattan); Tom in the Guthrie Theater's production of The Glass Menagerie (2007); Andy Warhol in the Yale Repertory Theatre's production of Pop! (2009); Sebastian in the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of Twelfth Night (2010); Tim in the Studio Theatre's production of Habit of Art; and Ken in the George Street Playhouse's production of Red (2012).

In 2006, Harrison co-founded the Arts Bureau (tAB) [1], an umbrella organization encompassing theatre, film, music, and writing. In July 2007, he starred in tAB's first production, a heartwarming story, ultimately, based on the work of Anton Chekhov. In late 2007/early 2008, Harrison shot and starred in the first tAB short film, Thinking, which has been shown at several film festivals. In Summer 2008, tAB shot its first feature film Lorton Lake.

Personal life

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Harrison, who is gay, dated Advertising Age columnist Simon Dumenco from 2002 to 2008; the two met when Dumenco interviewed Harrison for a New York magazine cover story.[6][7][8] As of December 2009, Harrison lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with his cats Ella and Aggie.[9]

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2000 – 2005 Queer as Folk Justin Taylor Main cast; 83 episodes
2015 Mr. Robot Harry Recurring role[10]
2017 New York is Dead Clipboard Guy/... Recurring role; 5 episodes

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2002 Bang Bang You're Dead Sean Television film
2008 Thinking... "Boy"
2010 Julius Caesar Brutus
2011 Lorton Lake
2012 Gayby Barman Cameo appearance
2014 Such Good People Alex Reardon
2015 Sam & Julia Sam
2015 Photo OP Jacob

Theater

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Year Title Role Notes
1985 Oliver Child Chorus Actorsingers, Nashua, NH
1987 Music Man Winthrop Actorsingers, Nashua, NH
Hello Again Young Thing University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)
Shopping and Fucking Robbie University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)
Children of Eden Abel University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)
The Hot Mikado Gentleman from Japan University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)
Rags University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)
1999 Violet Billy Dean Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati
1999 1776 The Courier St. Louis Municipal Theater
Grease St. Louis Municipal Theater
Anything Goes St. Louis Municipal Theater
West Side Story Action Forestburg Playhouse
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Benjamin Forestburg Playhouse
Babes in Arms Lee Calhoun Forestburg Playhouse
Cabaret Forestburg Playhouse
The Real Inspector Hound
A Cheever Evening
2002 Deviant
2004 Wicked Boq Broadway
2005 Equus Alan Strang Berkshire Theatre Festival
2006 A Midsummer Night's Dream Lysander/Thisbe/Cobweb
2006 Amadeus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Berkshire Theatre Festival
2006 An Oak Tree The father
A Letter From Ethel Kennedy
2007 The Glass Menagerie Young Tom Guthrie Theater
2007 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Billy Bibbit Berkshire Theatre Festival
2007 Mrs. Warren's Profession Frank Gardner Berkshire Theatre Festival
2007/2008 Edward the Second Young Spencer
2008 Antony and Cleopatra Eros April/May
2008 Waiting for Godot Lucky Summer
Berkshire Theatre Festival
2009 The Singing Forest Laszlo Fickes/Gerhardt Zeitzler April/May
The Public Theater
2009 Ghosts Oswald Summer
Berkshire Theatre Festival
2009 POP! Andy Warhol Fall
Yale Repertory Theatre
2010 Caligula by Albert Camus Scipio January
Red Bull Theatre Revelations Reading
2010 Endgame Nagg Summer
Berkshire Theatre Festival
2011 The Who's Tommy Tommy Summer
Berkshire Theatre Festival
2011 The Habit of Art Tim Fall
The Studio Theatre
2012 Red Ken January 31 – February 26 at George Street Playhouse
March 23 – April 4 at Allen Theatre, Cleveland
2012 Silence! The Musical Dr. Chilton July 18 – September 9 at Elektra Theater, NYC
2013 Harbor Kevin July 23 – September 8
by Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters, NYC
2014 Atomic Musical Paul Tibbets and Edward Teller[11] June 26 – August 16
The Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row[12]
2014 Amadeus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart October 9–26 Ensemble Theater Co. at The New Vic, Santa Barbara, CA
2016 Cabaret[13] Emcee January 26, 2016 - February 19, 2017, Roundabout Theater Co. Nat'l Tour
2017 Sunday in the Park with George George June 17 – August 20, 2017 Guthrie Theater
2017 Rocky Horror Show Frank-N-Furter October 13–29, 2017 Bucks County Playhouse
2018 Angels in America Prior Walter April 17 – July 22, 2018
Berkeley Rep
2018 Christmas on the Rocks[14][15] Tiny Tim,
Charlie Brown,
Ralphie, Hermie
Nov 27- Dec 23, 2018
Theater Works Hartford[16]
2019 Cabaret[17] Emcee Jul 17 - Aug 10, 2019

Ogunquit Playhouse

2021 Cock[18] John Studio Theatre
2022 ...what the end will be[19] Charles May 12 – July 10, 2022

Laura Pels Theatre

References

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  1. ^ a b "Randy Harrison - Biography". IMDb, Inc. Amazon. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  2. ^ "The Music Man (1987)". The Actorsingers. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  3. ^ "Randy Harrison's biography". Showtime. Archived from the original on February 19, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  4. ^ "SPEED READS", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 12, 2001. Accessed November 9, 2007. " Harrison, a 1996 graduate of Pace Academy in Buckhead, stars in Showtime's "Queer as Folk," which depicts the lives and loves of a group of gay men and lesbians."
  5. ^ a b "Windy City Times interview". Archived from the original on October 15, 2007.
  6. ^ "NY Mirror". The Village Voice. March 30, 2004.
  7. ^ "Simon Dumenco - I Want Media". I Want Media. April 28, 2004.
  8. ^ "Gay Celebrity Boyfriends". AfterElton.
  9. ^ Gates, Anita (December 13, 2009). "A Musical's Star Plays, and Admires, Warhol". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (May 1, 2015). "USA Network's Mr. Robot Adds Shield, Queer as Folk and Smash Alums". TV Line. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  11. ^ Mandell, Jonathan (June 13, 2014). "Randy Harrison's Manhattan Project". New York Theater. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  12. ^ "Randy Harrison Replaces Preston Sadleir in New Off-Broadway Musical ATOMIC". Broadway World. May 2, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  13. ^ "Cabaret the Musical - Tony Award Winner Best Musical Revival". Cabaret the Musical. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  14. ^ "Randy Harrison Joins The Cast Of CHRISTMAS ON THE ROCKS". Broadway World. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  15. ^ Rizzo, Frank. "Randy Harrison Taps Into His Loopy Side for Holiday Show". Zip06.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  16. ^ "CHRISTMAS ON THE ROCKS". theaterworkshartford.org. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  17. ^ Marois, Dan. "BWW Review: CABARET at Ogunquit Playhouse". Broadway World. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  18. ^ "Randy Harrison isn't taking any chances with his career". Metro Weekly. April 12, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  19. ^ "...what the end will be". www.roundabouttheatre.org. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
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