Stephen Spinella (born October 11, 1956) is an American stage, television, and film actor.

Early life

Spinella was born in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Italy, to a father who was an American naval airplane mechanic. He grew up in

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...

, and graduated from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

with a degree in drama. He also attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts' Graduate Acting Program, graduating in 1982. Spinella won consecutive Tony awards for Best Featured Actor and Best Actor in a Play for his performance as Prior Walter in '' Angels in America: Millennium Approaches'' (1993) and '' Angels in America: Perestroika'' (1994) respectively. He was also nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for '' James Joyce's The Dead''.

Personal life

Spinella is gay.

Work

Stage

* April 1985: '' A Bright Room Called Day'' – Baz (workshop production directed by

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Among his stage work, he is most known for ''Angels in America'', which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaime ...

) * May 4, 1993 – December 4, 1994: '' Angels in America: Millennium Approaches'' – Prior Walter/Man in Park * November 23, 1993 – December 4, 1994: '' Angels in America: Perestroika'' – Prior Walter * February 14, 1995 – September 17, 1995: '' Love! Valour! Compassion!'' – Perry Sellars * December 14, 1997 – August 30, 1998: ''

A View from the Bridge ''A View from the Bridge'' is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was first staged on September 29, 1955, as a one-act verse drama with '' A Memory of Two Mondays'' at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The run was unsuccessful, ...

'' – Alfieri * December 3, 1998 – March 21, 1999: ''

Electra Electra, also spelt Elektra (; ; ), is one of the most popular Greek mythology, mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, ''Electra (Sophocles play), Electra'' by Sophocles and ''Ele ...

'' – Servant to Orestes * January 11, 2000 – April 16, 2000: '' James Joyce's The Dead'' – Freddy Malins * December 4, 2002 – January 26, 2003: ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938. Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written", it presents the fictional American town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 ...

'' – Simon Stimson * December 10, 2006 – 2007: '' Spring Awakening'' – Adult Men * May 15, 2009 – June 28, 2009: '' The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures'' – Pill * October 19, 2010 – November 7, 2010: ''An Iliad'' – The Poet * December 2, 2012 – December 23, 2012: ''

Volpone ''Volpone'' (, Italian for "sly fox") is a comedy play by English playwright Ben Jonson first produced in 1605–1606, drawing on elements of city comedy and beast fable. A merciless satire of greed and lust, it remains Jonson's most-perfo ...

'' – Volpone * April 21, 2014 – May 4, 2014: ''The Velocity of Autumn'' – Chris * April 17, 2018 – July 22, 2018: ''

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a 1991 American two-part Play (theatre), play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', may be presented separate ...

'' – Roy M. Cohn * March 20, 2019–present: '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'' – Vernon Dursley/ Severus Snape/

Lord Voldemort Lord Voldemort ( , in the films) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. He first appears in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997) and returns either in pers ...

Film

* 1995: '' Virtuosity'' as Dr. Darrel Lindenmeyer * 1995: ''

Tarantella Tarantella () is a group of various Southern Italy, southern Italian Italian folk dance, folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania, Sicilia, and Apulia. It is characterized by a fast Beat (music), upbeat tempo, usually in Ti ...

'' as Frank * 1996: '' Faithful'' as Young Man at Rolls * 1997: '' The Jackal'' as Douglas * 1997: ''David Searching'' as Hummus Guy * 1997: '' Love! Valour! Compassion!'' as Perry Sellars * 1998: ''The Unknown Cyclist'' as Doug Stein * 1998: ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

'' as Carter Macleish * 1998: ''Out of the Past'' as Michael Wigglesworth (voice of) * 1999: '' Cradle Will Rock'' as Donald O'Hara * 1999: '' Ravenous'' as Knox * 2001: '' Bubble Boy'' as Chicken Man * 2004: '' House of D'' as Ticket Seller * 2004: '' Connie and Carla'' as Robert/Peaches * 2007: '' And Then Came Love'' as Stuart * 2008: ''Stone & Ed'' as Concierge * 2008: ''

Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

'' as Rick Stokes * 2010: ''

Rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

'' as Lieutenant Chad * 2012: '' Lincoln'' as Congressman Asa Vintner Litton * 2012: '' House of Dust'' as Psychiatrist * 2018: '' Can You Ever Forgive Me?'' as Paul * 2019: '' Windows on the World'' as Albert * 2019: '' Bad Education'' as Thomas "Tom" Tuggiero

Television

* 1993: '' And the Band Played On'' as Brandy Alexander * 1997: '' What the Deaf Man Heard'' as Percy * 2000: ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'' as Andy Polone * 2001: '' The Education of Max Bickford'' as Rex Pinsker * 2002: '' Alias'' as Mr. Kishell; Boyd Harkin * 2002: '' Ed'' as Bob McCarthy * 2003: ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Casey, and David Lee (scr ...

'' as Randall Schoonover * 2004: '' Huff'' as Mr. Heard * 2005: ''

Will & Grace ''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a Gay men, gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra ...

'' as Bret * 2005: ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002, to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

'' as Joel Kemper * 2006: '' Everwood'' as Father Patrick * 2006: '' 24'' as Miles Papazian, 10 episodes * 2006: '' Heroes'' as Oliver Dennison * 2006: ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'' as Malar Pascowitz * 2007: '' Nip/Tuck'' as Dr. Capler * 2008: ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

'' as Dr. Heller ** " You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" (5x01) ** " What More Do I Need?" (5x07) ** " City on Fire" (5x08) ** " Everybody Says Don't" (5x23) * 2008:

The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, t ...

(Season 2x19) as ADA Marc Odenthal * 2009: ''

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer that aired on HBO from 2006 to 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a Mormon fundamentalism, fundamentalist Mor ...

'' as Eric (Season 3, Episode 4) * 2014: '' The Normal Heart'' as Sanford * 2015: '' The Knick'' as A.D. Elkins * 2018: '' Elementary'' (Season 6, Episode 10) Professor Merrick Hausmann * 2019: '' Tales of the City'' (episode: "The Price of Oil") as Chris * 2019: ''

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Jon Bokenkamp and developed by John Eisendrath. It stars James Spader as Raymond Reddington, an international criminal and one of the FBI's Most Wanted fugitives ...

'' (Season 6, Episode 9: Minister D) as Jordan Loving

References

External links

* * *
Stephen Spinella
Downstage Center XM radio interview by the

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

, December 2006 * Stephen Spinella interviewed i
Performance
Working in the Theatre seminar video by the

, September 1993 {{DEFAULTSORT:Spinella, Stephen 1956 births 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Actors from Maricopa County, Arizona American gay actors American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American male television actors American people of Italian descent Drama Desk Award winners LGBTQ people from Arizona Living people Male actors from Arizona People from Glendale, Arizona Theatre World Award winners Tisch School of the Arts alumni Tony Award winners University of Arizona alumni