Robert Franklin Bingham (October 29, 1946 – February 8, 2025) was an American actor and singer. Bingham is best known for playing the role of

Caiaphas Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD) was the High Priest of Israel during the first century. In the New Testament, the Gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John indicate he was an organizer of ...

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ''Jesus C ...

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

'' in the first USA concert tour, original Broadway cast, original French cast, and in the 1973 film version.Smith, Gary Allen
''Epic Films: Casts, Credits and Commentary on More Than 350 Historical Spectacle Movies''
McFarland & Company, Inc. (2006), p. 137

Life and career

Bingham was born on October 29, 1946, in Seattle, and was raised in

Edmonds, Washington Edmonds is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located in the southwest corner of the county, facing Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains to the west. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located ...

. He attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

for three years and studied singing with Ernest J. Anderson and acting with Larry and Pamela Liester's Home Adjunct, Inc. His first professional appearance was in a touring production of the musical ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

'' in 1970, first at the Moore Theatre in Seattle that ran for more than three months, a local record, and then in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. In the 1970s Bingham led a Buddhist group dedicated to world peace. Bingham played the role of

in the original concert tour of ''

'' and went on to perform the role in the original Broadway production which ran from 1971 to 1973, and in a Paris production. He appeared in the film by Juan Orol, ''El fantástico mundo de los hippies'' in 1972. Along with

Barry Dennen Barry Dennen (February 22, 1938 – September 26, 2017) was an American actor and writer. He is best known for playing Pontius Pilate on the original 1970 recording of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' as well as the subsequent 1971 stage musical and 1 ...

( Pilate) and

Yvonne Elliman Yvonne Marianne Elliman (born December 29, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who performed for four years in the first cast of the stage musical ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. She scored a number of hits in the 1970s and achieved ...

(

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

) and Carl Anderson (

Judas Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of ...

), Bingham reprised his Broadway role in the 1973 film ''

''. In 1974, he played God in the original production of '' Up from Paradise'', by

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

, in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. He retired from show business soon afterwards and worked as COO managerial position in a Talon zipper factory. In April 2015, he appeared on-stage at the Hollywood Boulevard Cinema in a question and answer session with Ted Neeley, Barry Dennen and Kurt Yaghjian following a showing of a remastered version of the 1973 film ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. This was as part of a national screening tour. His reminiscences of appearing in the 1973 film were recorded with those of the rest of the original cast in the DVD ''Superstar: the Making and Reunion of the Film'' (2015). Bingham lived in

Brewster, New York Brewster is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and the principal settlement within the town (New York), town of Southeast, New York, Southeast in Putnam County, New York, Putnam County, New York (state), New York, United Sta ...

, with his wife Idilcia Aracena, and his two children, Franklin and Yasamin. He died on February 8, 2025, at the age of 78.

References

External links

*
Bingham's Official Facebook Page

Bob Bingham on Yahoo! Movies

'Jesus Christ Superstar' on MSN movies
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bingham, Bob 1946 births 2025 deaths American male stage actors American basses Male actors from Seattle University of Washington alumni People from Edmonds, Washington