Michael Urie Biography

Michael Lorenzo Urie (born August 8, 1980) is an American actor, television producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Marc St. James on the ABC dramedy series Ugly Betty.

Early life, education and personal life

Urie was born in Dallas and raised in Plano, Texas. He is of Scottish and Italian descent. He graduated from Plano Senior High School in 1998. Urie then studied at Collin County Community College before being accepted at the Juilliard School in New York City. There he was a member of the Drama Division's Group 32 (1999"2003), which also included Jessica Chastain. Urie graduated from Juilliard in 2003.

In June 2009 Urie referred to himself as "a member of the LGBT community" on his website. In an interview with The Advocate in 2010 he said that he was in a relationship with a man and identifies as "queer". He said it never felt wrong when he was with women previously.

Career

Urie, while still a student at Juilliard performed in the world premiere of Love and Happiness (2001) at the Consolati Performing Arts Center, starring as a sixteen-year-old trying to get rid of his mother's boyfriend. In addition to this, he appeared in student productions of Sylvia (1998) and Locked Away (1999) at Quad C Theatre.

He also was the recipient of the 2002 John Houseman Prize for Excellence in Classical Theatre from the Juilliard School and his classical credits include Shakespeare, Jacobean drama, and commedia dell'arte.

Urie played the central character in the stage play WTC View as well as in the film adaptation. He is currently finishing a short documentary film, Two Down that centers on high school speech and debate tournaments, for Frontal Lobe Productions.

He is on the board of Plum Productions and serves as its casting director. With the same company he has produced and appeared in Prachtoberfest and lowbrow (and a little bit tacky). As a freelance producer, he has worked on Like The Mountains and The Fantasticks (Four Players Theatre). He also directed the latter production. His first time directing The Fantasticks was as a high school student at Plano Senior High.

The character of "Marc St. James" on Ugly Betty was not initially intended as recurring; thus Urie was billed in the credits as a guest star. As originally conceived, Wilhelmina Slater was to have a different assistant in each episode. However, Vanessa Williams loved their chemistry, and Michael was signed on as a full-time regular. He and the cast were nominated for Screen Actors Guild awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2007 and 2008. The role earned Urie a Ewwy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2009.

Patti LuPone appeared with Urie to play Marc's mother in one episode.

During the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike Urie hosted TLC's reality-based series "Miss America Reality Check." The program followed the contestants participating in the 2008 Miss America Pageant.

Urie returns often to his theater roots, including his recent direction of a one-night celebrity performed staging of Howard Ashman's unproduced musical "Dreamstuff". The musical was re-imagined by Howard's partners Marsha Malamet and Dennis Green and performed one night only at Los Angeles' Hayworth Theatre as part of the Bruno Kirby celebrity reading series. Eden Espinosa starred in the show along with Fred Willard, Vicki Lewis, David Blue and Luke Macfarlane. He has also been on "Live With Regis and Kelly" and has also starred in the 2008 Disney blockbuster production Beverly Hills Chihuahua as the voice of Sebastian.

On October 29, 2008, he appeared as a guest presenter on the British National Television Awards, awarding for the Best Performance in a Serial Drama.

Urie originated the role of Rudi Gernreich in the 2009 off-Broadway play The Temperamentals, about the foundation of the early LGBT rights organization the Mattachine Society. Urie received a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor.

In January 2012, Urie made his Broadway debut, joining the cast of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying's second revival.

Urie has also started his own website for videoblogging and live chats. In 2012, Urie also starred as the mysterious limo driver James in the film adaptation of Wendy Mass"s popular children"s book Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, written and directed by Tamar Halpern.

Urie landed one of the leads in CBS" half-hour pilot Partners. The multi-camera comedy, from Will & Grace creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, centers on lifelong friends and business partners " one straight and one gay. The pilot also features Sophia Bush as another lead. The series premiered September 24, 2012.

Filmography and television

List of television and films credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Partners	Louis	series regular
2012	Petunia	George McDougal
2011	The Decoy Bride	Steve Korbitz
2011	Brain Trust	Prof. Franklin Gordon	TV movie
2011	Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life	James
2010	Celebrity Ghost Stories	Himself
2010	Under the Pink Carpet	Himself	"Michael Musto, Gay Marriage and Rugby" (Season 5, Episode 4)
2008"2009	Mode After Hours	Marc St. James
2008	Beverly Hills Chihuahua	Sebastian
2008	Tangled Web	Husband
2006"2010	Ugly Betty	Marc St. James	Series regular Nominated"Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2005	WTC View	Eric
2004	Kat Plus One	Roger	TV movie
2003	Uptown Girls	Pig Walker (uncredited)	Uncredited
2002	Undressed	Justin	"Tangled Beards" (Season 6, Episode 20)

List of director and executive producer credits

Year	Title	Notes
2012	He's Way More Famous Than You	Director
2012	Thank You for Judging (Documentary)	Co-Director / Executive producer
2009	House of Kai Milla (TV movie)	Executive producer

Theater

Year	Title	Role
2012	How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying	Bud Frump
2009	The Temperamentals	Rudi Gernreich