Ben Vereen Biography

Ben Vereen (born October 10, 1946) is an American actor, dancer, and singer who has appeared in numerous Broadway theatre shows. Vereen graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts.

Early years

Vereen was born Benjamin Augustus Middleton on October 10, 1946, in Miami, Florida. While still an infant, Vereen and his family relocated to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. He was adopted by James Vereen, a paint-factory worker and his wife, Pauline, who worked as a maid. He discovered he was adopted when he applied for a passport to join Sammy Davis, Jr. on a tour of "Golden Boy" to London when he was 25.

During his pre-teen years, he exhibited an innate talent for drama and dance and often performed in local variety shows. At the age of 14, Vereen enrolled at the High School of Performing Arts, where he studied under world-renowned choreographers Martha Graham, George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins. Upon his graduation, he struggled to find suitable stage work and was often forced to take odd jobs to supplement his income. He was 18 years old when he made his New York stage bow off-off Broadway in The Prodigal Son at the Greenwich Mews Theater. By the following year, he was in Las Vegas, performing in Bob Fosse's production of Sweet Charity, a show with which he toured in 1967"68. He returned to New York City to play Claude in Hair in the Broadway production, before joining the national touring company.

The following year, he was cast opposite Davis in the film adaptation of Sweet Charity. After developing a rapport with Davis, Vereen was cast as his understudy in the upcoming production of Golden Boy, which toured England and ended the run at the Palladium Theatre in London's West End.

Stage

He was nominated for a Tony Award for Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972 and won a Tony for his appearance in Pippin in 1973. Vereen appeared in the Broadway musical Wicked as the Wizard of Oz in 2005. Vereen has also performed in one-man shows and actively lectures on black history and inspirational topics.

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Type	Notes
1965	The Prodigal Son	Dancer	Greenwich Mews Theater	Off-Broadway	Choreography by Martha Graham
1967-68	Sweet Charity"	Dancer	US & Canada Tour	Touring	Cast by Bob Fosse for the US Touring Company
1968-72	Hair	Hud	Biltmore Theatre	Broadway	Alternated roles: Hud & Claude Tony Award for Best Musical
1968	Hair	Claude	National Tour	Broadway	Tony Award for Best Musical
1968	Golden Boy	Understudy to Sammy Davis Jr.	London Palladium	Touring	International Tour
1970	Gurton's Apocalyptic Needle	Alternate roles	The New Troupe	Touring	Touring company repertory included: The Holy Ghostly & Melodrama Play
1970-71	No Place to be Somebody	Alternate roles	Touring Company	Touring
1971-73	Jesus Christ Superstar	Judas Iscariot	Mark Hellinger Theatre	Broadway	1972 Tony Award® Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1972-74	Pippin	Leading Player	Imperial Theater	Broadway, U.S. tour	1973 Tony Award® Best Actor in a Musical [winner]
1985	Grind	LeRoy	Shubert Theater	Broadway	Replacement
1992-93	Jelly's Last Jam	Chimney Man	Shubert Theater	Broadway	Replacement
1995-96	A Christmas Carol	Actor	Madison Square Garden	Broadway
1999	Chicago	Billy Flynn	U.S. & Canada Tour	Touring
2001	Fosse	Performer	Shubert Theater	Broadway	Replacement
2002	I'm not Rappaport	Midge	Shubert Theater	Broadway, U.S. tour	Revival, Play, Comedy
2003	The Exonerated	Actor	Off-Broadway	Off Broadway
2005-6	Wicked	The Wonderful Wizard of Oz	Gershwin Theatre	Broadway	Replacement

Television

Vereen has also starred in numerous television programs, and is best known for the role of Chicken George in Alex Haley's landmark TV miniseries Roots, for which he received an Emmy nomination in 1977.

Vereen's four-week summer variety series, Ben Vereen ... Comin' At Ya, aired on NBC in August 1975 and featured regulars Lola Falana, Avery Schreiber and Liz Torres.

In 1978, on a Boston Pops TV special, Vereen performed a tribute to Bert Williams, complete with period makeup and attire, and reprising Williams' high-kick dance steps, to vaudeville standards such as "Waitin' for the Robert E. Lee".

He was cast opposite Jeff Goldblum in the short-lived detective series Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980). During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Vereen worked steadily on television with projects ranging from the sitcom Webster to the drama Silk Stalkings.

In 1985, Vereen starred in the Faerie Tale Theatre series as Puss in Boots alongside Gregory Hines. He appeared on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode, "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse", in which he played Will Smith's biological father. He made several appearances on the 1980s sitcom Webster as the title character's biological uncle.

He also appeared as Mayor Ben (a leopard) on the children's program Zoobilee Zoo. In 1993 he appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Interface", as the father of Roots co-star LeVar Burton's Geordi LaForge - fellow Roots star Madge Sinclair portrayed his wife (Geordi's mother) as well. In Roots, Vereen had played the grandson of another Burton character, Kunta Kinte. He also appeared on the television series The Nanny episode "Pishke Business". In 2010, he appeared on the television series How I Met Your Mother episodes "Cleaning House" and "False Positive" as Sam Gibbs, the long lost father of James Gibbs, Barney Stinson's brother.

Filmography

• Sweet Charity (1969)
• Gas-s-s-s (1971)
• Funny Lady (1975)
• All That Jazz (1979)
• Cycling Through China (1982) (documentary)
• Sabine (1982)
• The Zoo Gang (1985)
• Buy & Cell (1987)
• Once Upon a Forest (1993) (voice)
• Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998)
• I'll Take You There (1999)
• The Painting (2001)
• Idlewild (2006)
• And Then Came Love (2007)
• Tapioca (2007)
• An Accidental Friendship (2008)
• Mama, I Want to Sing! (2011)
• Broadway: The Next Generation (2011) (documentary)
• Khumba (2013) (voice)

Television work

• Ben Vereen... Comin' at Ya (1975) (summer replacement series - only 4 episodes produced)
• Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style (1976)
• The Muppet Show (1976)
• Roots (1977) (miniseries)
• The Carol Burnett Show (1977)
• The Sentry Collection Presents Ben Vereen: His Roots (1978)
• Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980) (canceled after 12 episodes)
• Pippin: His Life and Times (1981)
• SCTV 1984
• Charmkins (1983) (voice)
• The Jesse Owens Story (1984)
• Ellis Island (1984) (miniseries)
• Webster (cast member from 1984"1985)
• A.D. (1985) (miniseries)
• The Magic of David Copperfield VIII: Walking Through the Great Wall of China (1986) (TV special)
• Lost in London (1985) roots
• Faerie Tale Theatre Puss in Boots (1985)
• Zoobilee Zoo (1986"1987)
• You Write the Songs (1986"1987)
• Jenny's Song (1988)
• J.J. Starbuck (cast member in 1988)
• Rockin' Through the Decades (1990)
• The Kid Who Loved Christmas (1990)
• Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme (1990)
• Silk Stalkings (cast member from 1991"1993)
• Intruders (1992)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Interface" (Dr. Edward LaForge, 1993)
• Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse" (Lou Smith, 1994)
• The Nanny: "Pinske Business" (1994)
• Portraits of Courage (1996"1997)
• Promised Land (1996 TV series) (3 episodes in 1999)
• The Feast of All Saints (2001)
• Grey's Anatomy (2007)
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent: "Senseless" (Rev. Jeremiah Morris, 2007)
• "Your Mama Don't Dance" (Judge, 2008)
• How I Met Your Mother: "Cleaning House" and "False Positive" (Sam Gibbs, 2010)

Awards

Theater

• 1973 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical: Pippin [winner]
• 1973 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance: Pippin [winner]
• 1972 Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical: Jesus Christ Superstar [nominee]
• 1972 Theatre World Award: Jesus Christ Superstar [winner]

Television

• 1985 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
• 1976 Golden Globe: New Star of the Year - Actor - Nominee
• 1977 Emmy: Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Variety or Music - Nominee
• 1977 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series - Nominee
• 1992 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special - Nominee

Other

The Community Mental Health Council awarded Ben with their 2004 Lifeline Celebration Achievement Award. For his humanitarian contributions, he has received a number of awards including Israel's Cultural and Humanitarian Awards, three NAACP Image Awards, an Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award and a Victory Award. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Arizona, Emerson College, St. Francis College, and Columbia College in Chicago. In 2001, Medgar Evers College created the Ben Vereen Scholarship for the Performing Arts, and in 2004, he received an Achievement in Excellence Award from his alma mater, the High School of the Performing Arts.

He was the first simultaneous winner of the "Entertainer of the Year," "Rising Star," and "Song and Dance Star" awards from the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA). He also earned a coveted spot in the Casino Legends Hall of Fame.

Ben was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for his performance in the Hallmark movie An Accidental Friendship. In 2004, Ben was nominated for a "Career Achievement Award" by the Le Prix International Film Star Awards Organization.

In 2011, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

In 2012, Ben was inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Vereen has appeared as a public speaker and humanitarian speaking on such topics as black history, overcoming adversity, and the importance of continuing education.

In 2007 he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and has a website in which he shares his personal story along with advice from medical experts.[8]

According to the 'Fayetteville Observer' of April 29, 2006, Vereen learned while applying for a passport in the late 1960s that he was adopted. His birth certificate revealed that his birth name was Benjamin Augustus Middleton, that he was the son of Essie Middleton, and that he was born in Laurinburg, NC. In April 2006, Vereen visited Scotland County with a genealogist on a search for family members and learned that his mother's name was Essie May Pearson. The Laurinburg Exchange reported: "Vereen, an adoptee who learned that he was born in Laurinburg and made a celebrated trip to Scotland County in 2006 to reconnect with family. While on the trip he learned his mother had died 24 years before, but that several relatives still lived in the area." According to her acquaintances, Essie had gone on a trip when Ben was a child, and had left her baby in someone's care. When she returned, the child was gone. In the April 28, 2006 interview with the 'Laurinburg Exchange', Vereen said that his visit "has just all been so overwhelming ... I've finally found my family". In May 2006, he met his mother's daughter, (his sister), Gloria Walker, of New Haven, Connecticut. He also has a brother, James Middleton, who lives in Tucson, Arizona.

His 16-year-old daughter, Naja, was killed in an auto accident in 1987, on the New Jersey Turnpike when a truck overturned on her car.

In 1992, Vereen was the victim of a life-threatening automobile accident when he was struck by a car driven by record producer David Foster while walking along a Malibu highway. His critical injuries (including a broken leg) required him to undergo arduous physical rehabilitation in the ensuing months.

Vereen is the godfather of R&B superstar Usher and is also the first cousin once removed of New England Patriots running back Shane Vereen. Vereen was the keynote speaker for the Boys & Girls Clubs in St. Petersburg, Florida annual alumni tribute gala held in October 2007.

In August 2011, Vereen was named Co-Artistic Director of Tampa's Broadway Theatre Project.

In September 2012, Vereen filed for divorce from his wife Nancy Bruner Vereen of 36 years citing irreconcilable differences.