Lea Michele

Lea lives in Brentwood, LA. She dated her Glee costar Cory Monteith from the end of 2011 until his death in July 2013. ‘If You Say So’ from Louder and ‘Hey You’ from Places were her tributesto him.

She is an active supporter of animal rights and Gay rights. She actively participates in PETA advertising campaign for supporting animal rights.

She and her best friend, Jonathan Groff, performed for True Colors Cabaret to support LGBT equality. She also performed at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner to support gay rights.

Lea Michele Sarfati was born in Bronx, NY on 29th August 1986 to Mark David Sarfati and Edith Thomasina. Her Dad was a real estate agent and a former delicatessen owner, while her mother was a retired nurse.

She is of Greek, Thessalonian, Roman, and Neapolitan descent. Her father is a Sephardic Jew and her mother, an Italian American Catholic. She was raised a Catholic.

The family moved to Tenafly, New Jersey, when she was 5. At an age this young, she started attending Broadway and her family actively supported her by renting a place in Manhattan.

She attended the Rockland Country Day School in Congers, New York. Later, she was homeschooled and attended High school at Tenafly High School.

She started using her middle name because she was teased for the pronunciation of her last name. She started using it during ‘Les Miserables’ and since then she has using it professionally. She acted in plays like ‘Les Miserables’, ‘Ragtime’, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, and ‘Spring Awakening’.

After getting success in many Broadway theatricals, she was picked for the Fox musical drama series ‘Glee’ as the lead actress and singer. The series started in 2009. Her role was widely appreciated and won her many awards.

In 2010, the Glee star cast performed on stage at various locations in the USA including Phoenix, LA, Chicago, and New York. These ‘Glee Live! In Concert! Shows’ were then expanded later.

She performed at various concerts including ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ and the ‘Grammy’s MusiCares’.

She was later cast in ‘New Year’s Eve’ as the love interest of Ashton Kutcher. The movie made quite a success and was released worldwide on December 9th, 2011.

In 2012, it was announced that she would release her first independent album. The year 2013 saw her first single ‘Cannonball’ from the album ‘Louder’. It was a smash hit and reached #75 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 list. The music video was released in January 2014. This was followed by another 4 hit songs in the album,‘Battlefield’, ‘Louder’, ‘What is Love’, and ‘You’re Mine’.

Lea was a great success at Broadway. Her debut as young Cosette in ‘Les Miserables’ was very well appreciated. In the later years, she also played Eponine Thenardier. Along with that, she also received notable success in theatricals like ‘Spring Awakening’ and ‘Ragtime’.

Glee was her most notable work as an actress as well as a singer. The writers and directors, impressed by her Broadway work, cast her as the lead for the series. Her role won her many awards after the first year of the show and she got ample appreciation from her fans and critics.

Her first album ‘Louder’ was released at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. The album was another success for her. It was more a rock/ pop album rather than being theatrical-based, which she was known for. The singles in the album were played worldwide and received notable recognition in countries like USA, Australia, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, and others. About 62,000 copies were sold in the first week of release in the USA.

Her second album was also a hit. As compared to the first, it was a little less popular worldwide.