John Gallagher, Jr. Biography

John Howard Gallagher, Jr. (born June 17, 1984) is an American actor and musician known for originating the role of Moritz Stiefel in Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's rock musical Spring Awakening, which earned him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He also played Johnny aka "Jesus of Suburbia" in Green Day's Broadway musical, American Idiot and Lee in the 2011 Broadway production of Jerusalem. , he plays Jim Harper in Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom.

Early life

Gallagher was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware with his parents and two older sisters. His parents, John, Sr. and June Gallagher, are folk musicians.

He eventually went on to play in numerous bands, including Not Now Murray, What Now, Annie's Autograph, and Old Springs Pike.

Before and throughout his Spring Awakening run, he was in Old Springs Pike. On January 23, 2008, his fellow band members announced his departure. The next day, Gallagher made an official announcement confirming his departure on his MySpace page. Old Springs Pike later officially changed their name to The Spring Standards.

Gallagher played Tom Sawyer as a child actor at the Delaware Children's Theatre.

Stage career

Gallagher has appeared in three plays by playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. He originated the role of Jeff in Abaire's hit play Kimberly Akimbo, appeared in the ill-fated United Kingdom production of Fuddy Meers, and he received critical acclaim for his role in Rabbit Hole, which marked his Broadway debut. He also appeared in the Manhattan Theatre Club Production of the David Marshall Grant play Current Events.

Gallagher originated the role of Moritz Stiefel in Spring Awakening on Broadway after performing the role Off-Broadway and in workshops at Lincoln Center. The rock musical, with music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater premiered Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Company on May 19, 2006 and ran through August 5, 2006. Spring Awakening opened on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on December 10, 2006. Gallagher won the 2007 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance. On December 16, 2007, he left Spring Awakening and was succeeded two days later by Blake Bashoff.

Gallagher starred in productions of the dramas, Port Authority, by Conor McPherson and Farragut North by Beau Willimon. Both plays were productions of the Atlantic Theater Company, the same theater that premiered Spring Awakening.

Gallagher starred in American Idiot, a musical based on the Green Day album of the same name, along with fellow Spring Awakening alumni Brian Charles Johnson and Gerard Canonico. American Idiot premiered in Berkeley, California at the Berkeley Repertory Theater on September 4, 2009. The show's run ended on November 15, 2009. It began previews on Broadway at the St. James Theatre March 24, 2010 and officially opened on April 20, 2010. It was later nominated for three 2010 Tony Awards, of which it won two. Gallagher played Johnny aka "Jesus of Suburbia". Gallagher departed American Idiot on February 27, 2011 and was succeeded by Van Hughes The show's run ended on April 24, 2011.

On February 17, 2011, it was announced that Gallagher would be in the Broadway production of The Royal Court Theatre's Jerusalem. The production was directed by Ian Rickson, and opened on April 21, 2011 at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street). He played the role of Lee until leaving the production on July 17, 2011.

Film and television

Gallagher has appeared in several television programs, including The West Wing, Law & Order: SVU, NYPD Blue, Ed, Love Monkey, and Hallmark Hall of Fame's film The Flamingo Rising. Film credits include Pieces of April, Woody Allen's Whatever Works, Jonah Hex, Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret, and Short Term 12.

He plays Jim Harper in Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom that airs on HBO.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	'	Gary	Television film
2003	Pieces of April	Timmy Burns
2006	Mr. Gibb	Brett Mullen
2009	Whatever Works	Perry
2010	Jonah Hex	Lieutenant Evan
2011	Margaret	Darren
2013	Short Term 12	Mason
2013	Broadway Idiot	Himself	Documentary
2014	'	Cody	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Law & Order	Terrence Holt	Episode: "Girl Most Likely"
2002	The West Wing	Tyler	Episode: "20 Hours in America (Part 1)"
2003	Ed	Eric	Episode: "The Decision"
2003	NYPD Blue	Ray Spier	2 episodes
2004	Law and Order: Criminal Intent	Gary	Episode: "Conscience"
2006	Love Monkey	Paul	2 episodes
2009	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Jeff Lynwood	Episode: "Lead"
2012"present	'	James "Jim" Harper	Main cast

Theatre

Year	Title	Role
2003	Kimberly Akimbo	Jeff
2006	Rabbit Hole	Jason
2006"2007	Spring Awakening	Moritz
2008	Port Authority	Kevin
2008	Farragut North	Stephen
2010"2011	American Idiot	Johnny
2011	Jerusalem	Lee

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2007	Tony Award	Best Featured Actor in a Musical	Spring Awakening
2007	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical	Spring Awakening
2007	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance	Spring Awakening
2007	Broadway.com Audience Award	Favorite Featured Actor in a Broadway Musical	Spring Awakening
2010	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance	American Idiot
2010	Broadway.com Audience Award	Favorite Leading Actor in a Broadway Musical	American Idiot