Early life
Wolpe was born in Newburgh, New York. Wolpe majored in American history at George Washington University and was active in the university's theater department. Upon graduation, Wolpe attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota to teach theater.Career
Wolpe made his Broadway debut in ''Onward Victoria'', which closed on opening night. Other Broadway appearances include ''Copperfield (musical), Copperfield'' (Mr. Dick), ''Into the Light (musical), Into the Light'' (Peter Vonn), and ''The Sound of Music'' (replacement for Max Dettweiler). While in a national tour of ''Little Shop of Horrors (musical), Little Shop of Horrors'', Wolpe was asked to audition for ''The Drowsy Chaperone'' by producer Roy Miller, with whom he had worked at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. Wolpe was cast as Feltzeig, a producer. Wolpe created the role of the Wizard in ''Wicked (musical), Wickeds original workshops in Los Angeles. Beginning July 10, 2007, he played the Wizard on Broadway. Wolpe played his final performance as the Wizard in the Broadway company on July 27, 2008, and was replaced by P.J. Benjamin. Wolpe recently reprised the role as The Wizard in the first U.S. National Tour of Wicked (musical), ''Wicked'', where he replaced Lee Wilkof. His run started on September 6, 2008 and ended exactly a year later. Wolpe was succeeded by Richard Kline. In addition to ''Little Shop'', Wolpe has appeared in National tours of ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' and ''South Pacific (musical), South Pacific''. Off-Broadway, Wolpe has appeared in ''Mayor (musical), Mayor'' (Mayor Koch),'' Brownstone'', ''Company (musical), Company'', and ''The Wonder Years''. His regional theatre credits include ''The Baker's Wife'' (Baker), ''Gypsy'' (Herbie opposite Betty Buckley), ''The Tale of the Allergist's Wife'' (Paper Mill Playhouse), ''A Class Act'', ''Radio Gals'' (Pasadena Playhouse), ''Fiddler on the Roof'' (Tevye in six productions), ''Fiorello!'', and ''She Loves Me'' (Reprise! L.A.). On television, he was a series regular on ''Baby Talk'' and ''You're the One (TV series), You're the One''. Wolpe has guest starred on more than 80 television programs including ''L.A. Law'' (on which he played a victim of Tourette syndrome), ''ER (TV series), ER'', ''Six Feet Under (TV series), Six Feet Under'', ''The Golden Girls'', ''The King of Queens'', ''Ally McBeal'', and ''Chappelle's Show''. In May 2012, Wolpe premiered in the role of Morty in a new off-Broadway show based on the eponymous ''Old Jews Telling Jokes'' podcast.Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolpe, Lenny American male musical theatre actors American male television actors Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni University of Minnesota alumni Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1951 births