David Jonathan Pittu (; born April 4, 1967) is an American actor, writer and director. Pittu was born and grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut where, as a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

senior, he was a finalist in the NFAA's Arts Recognition Talent Search in Drama. He graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's Tisch School of the Arts in 1989. Pittu's theater work includes plays and musicals, and he has received two Tony Award nominations. He was nominated for the 2007 Best Featured Actor in a Musical for playing Bertolt Brecht in Harold Prince's '' LoveMusik'' and for the 2008 Best Featured Actor in a Play for his multiple-role turn in the Mark Twain comedy ''

Is He Dead? ''Is He Dead?'' is a play by Mark Twain based on his earlier 1893 short story. The play, written by Twain in 1898, was first published in print in 2003 after Mark Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin read the manuscript in the archives of the Ma ...

'' adapted by David Ives and directed by

Michael Blakemore Michael Howell Blakemore AO OBE (18 June 1928 – 10 December 2023) was an Australian actor, writer and theatre director who also made some films. A former Associate Director of the National Theatre, in 2000 he became the only individual to ...

. He received the Daryl Roth 2010 Creative Spirit Award. He received the 2009 St. Clair Bayfield Award for his performance in ''Twelfth Night'' at the Delacorte Theatre in 2009, directed by Daniel Sullivan. Also under Sullivan's direction, he played Paul Wolfowitz and others, in David Hare's ''

Stuff Happens ''Stuff Happens'' is a play by David Hare, written in response to the Iraq War. Hare describes it as "a history play" that deals with recent history. The title is inspired by Donald Rumsfeld's response to widespread looting in Baghdad: "Stuff h ...

'' in 2006 at the

Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: A ...

, which received a

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

for Outstanding Ensemble. He wrote and starred in ''What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling'', a musical satire about a luckless, eternally "up-and-coming" composer-lyricist. Pittu also wrote the lyrics, with music by Randy Redd to ''What's That Smell'', which premiered

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at the Atlantic Theater Company in September 2008. The play with music received two

Lucille Lortel Award The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres ...

nominations including one for Best Off-Broadway Musical, and was included in both the Entertainment Weekly and ''The New York Times'' Top 10 Best Lists in Theater 2008. Other notable theater work: David Ives' ''The Heir Apparent'' (2014 Off-Broadway, CSC, director John Rando);

Bill Cain Bill Cain, SJ (c. 1947–), is an American playwright and Jesuit priest. He founded a Shakespeare company in Boston, and the ''New York Times'' has praised him for his "impish humor". Works Cain wrote the play ''Stand Up Tragedy'' and the play ...

's ''Equivocation'' (2010, Off-Broadway Manhattan Theater Club) directed by

Garry Hynes Garry Hynes (born 10 June 1953) is an Irish theatre director. She was the first woman to win the prestigious Tony Award for direction of a play. Biography Hynes was born in Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon, and educated at St. Louis Convent at ...

;

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

's ''

The Coast of Utopia ''The Coast of Utopia'' is a 2002 trilogy of plays: ''Voyage'', ''Shipwreck'', and ''Salvage'', written by Tom Stoppard with focus on the philosophical debates in pre-revolution Russia between 1833 and 1866. It was the recipient of the 2007 T ...

'' (2006, Broadway, Lincoln Center);

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

's ''Celebration'' and ''The Room'' (2005, Off-Broadway, Atlantic Theater Company); and

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

's ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

'', part of the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

Sondheim Celebration (2002). His performance as

Leo Frank Leo Max Frank (April 17, 1884August 17, 1915) was an American lynching victim convicted in 1913 of the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan, an employee in a factory in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was the superintendent. Frank's trial, convicti ...

in the National Tour of

Jason Robert Brown Jason Robert Brown (born June 20, 1970) is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards for his work on ''Parad ...

's ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'', directed by

Harold Prince Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre. One of the foremost figures in 20th-century theat ...

, earned him the 2001 National Broadway Award (Best Actor in a Musical). He appeared in the ''

Encores! Encores! is a Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, Tony-honored concert series dedicated to reviving United States, American Musical theatre, musicals, usually with their original orchestrations. Presented by New York City Center since 1994, E ...

'' staged concert productions ''Of Thee I Sing'' (2007, as the French ambassador); '' Bells Are Ringing'' (2010, as Sandor); ''It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman'' (2013, as Dr. Abner Sedgwick) and

Girl From the North Country "Girl from the North Country" (occasionally known as "Girl ''of'' the North Country") is a song written by Bob Dylan. It was recorded at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City in April 1963, and released the following month as the second tr ...

at the Public Theater (2018, as Reverend Marlowe). His film credits include '' True Story'', ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'' and ''

Men in Black 3 ''Men in Black 3'' (stylized as ''MIB³'') is a 2012 American science fiction action comedy film based on the comic book series, in turn based on the conspiracy theory. It is the third installment in the ''Men in Black'' film series. Direct ...

''. For television he has appeared in ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a struc ...

'', PBS' '' Mercy Street'', ''

The Following ''The Following'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson, and jointly produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television. The The Following (season 1), first s ...

'', ''

The Knick ''The Knick'' is an American period medical drama television series on Cinemax created by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler and directed by Steven Soderbergh. The series follows Dr. John W. Thackery (Clive Owen) and the staff at a fictionalized v ...

'', ''

Damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

'', ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...

'', ''

Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...

'', ''

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts and music * "The Fringe", or Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * Purple fri ...

'', ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'', as well as numerous appearances on all of the ''Law & Order'' series. He is a narrator of audio books. He read

Donna Tartt Donna Louise Tartt (born December 23, 1963) is an American novelist. She wrote the novels '' The Secret History'' (1992), '' The Little Friend'' (2002), and ''The Goldfinch'' (2013), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was adapted into ...

's Pulitzer Prize winner '' The Goldfinch'', which received two "Audie" Awards: Best Literary Fiction and Best Male Solo Performance, 2014. In December 2022, Pittu was placed on two years' probation and ordered to do community service by a judge in Connecticut. He had been charged with animal cruelty for allegedly leaving a dog in a locked car. According to police, on Aug. 22, a manager of the Shoprite on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield notified police that a dog had been left in a locked car in the parking lot in front of the store. Police said witnesses told them the dog had been in the car for more than 40 minutes. Police said Pittu later acknowledged that he knew it had been too hot in the car to leave his dog, but they said he showed no remorse for having done so.https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Actor-gets-probation-in-dog-abuse-case-17669776.php

Filmography

Film

Television

Videogames

References

External links

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American Theatre Wing BiographyDavid Pittu gets the satirical spotlight in What's That SmellActors Words, Writers Voice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittu, David 1967 births American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American male television actors American male voice actors American people of Romanian descent Audiobook narrators Drama Desk Award winners Living people Tisch School of the Arts alumni Male actors from Connecticut People from Fairfield, Connecticut