Jonathan Groff

In 2009, Jonathan revealed he was gay. He dated actor Gavin Creel from 2009 to 2010. From 2010 to 2013, he was in a relationship with actor Zachary Quinto. He has been a close friend of actor Lea Michele since they worked together.

In April 2015, he was awarded the ‘Point Horizon Award’ for his role in leading the LGBT community. This was closely followed by the ‘Bayard Rustin Award’ in December 2015 for the same cause.

He suffered from melanoma, a type of skin cancer, for which he was successfully treated when he was in his early 20s.

Jonathan Drew Groff was born on March 26, 1985, in Lancaster Pennsylvania, US, to Julie and Jim Groff. His mother was a physical education teacher, and his father was a horse trainer. He was raised in the farming community of Ronks, Pennsylvania, with his elder brother, David.

Although his father was a Mennonite, Jonathan was raised in a conservative Methodist environment by his mother. Both his parents were athletes in their younger days, but they did not put any pressure on their children to pursue any particular profession. Jonathan was interested in performing arts and appeared in several musicals at the ‘Fulton Opera House’ during his school days.

He graduated from the ‘Conestoga Valley High School’ in 2003 and was planning to join ‘Carnegie Mellon University.’ However, the offer to join the national tour of the musical ‘The Sound of Music’ changed the course of his life. Soon, he moved to New York City to join the entertainment industry.

In 2005, he appeared in the musical ‘Fame’ at the ‘North Shore Music Theatre,’ Beverly, Massachusetts, and earned his ‘Actors’ Equity Association’ card. He made his ‘Broadway’ debut with the musical ‘In My Life’ by Joseph Brooks.

From 2006 to 2008, he appeared in the ‘Broadway’ production of the rock musical ‘Spring Awakening’ with Lea Michele. His performance in the musical earned him nominations for a ‘Drama Desk Award’ and the ‘Tony Award’ for the ‘Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical.’

He was also seen in the ‘ABC’ soap opera ‘One Life to Live’ and the ‘Shakespeare in the Park’ production of the rock musical ‘Hair’ during this period. He made his big-screen debut with the role of ‘Michael Lang’ in the drama–comedy film ‘Taking Woodstock’ in 2009.

Jonathan guest-starred in the musical comedy–drama ‘Glee’ with his co-star and good friend Lea Michele in 2010. He made his ‘West End’ debut with the play ‘Deathtrap’ the same year.

He appeared as himself in the web series ‘The Battery’s Down.’ He also appeared as ‘Jase’ in the podcast musical ‘36 Questions.’

Some of his noteworthy films are ‘Taking Woodstock’ (2009), ‘The Conspirator’ (2010), ‘Frozen’ (2013), ‘American Sniper’ (2014), ‘Frozen Fever’ (2015), and the upcoming film ‘Frozen 2’ (2019).

His most notable TV projects are ‘One Life to Live’ (2007), ‘Glee’ (2010–2015), ‘The Good Wife’ (2012), ‘Looking’ (2014–2015), ‘The Normal Heart’ (2014), ‘Looking: The Movie’ (2016), and ‘Mindhunter’ (2017–present).

He has appeared in the web series ‘The Battery’s Down’ (2008–2009) and ‘One True Pairing’ (2015–2016). He was also part of the podcast musical ‘36 Questions’ (2017).

Some of his notable stage performances have been for the plays ‘Honk!’ (2002), ‘Fame’ (2005), ‘Spring Awakening’ (2006–2008), ‘Hair’ (2007), ‘Deathtrap’ (2010–2011), ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ (2013), ‘Hamilton’ (2015–2016), and ‘The Bobby Darin Story’ (2018).