Norbert Leo Butz Biography

Norbert Leo Butz (born January 30, 1967) is an American actor and singer best known for his work in Broadway theatre. He is a two-time winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and is one of only nine actors ever to have won the award twice as lead actor.

Personal life

Butz was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elaine (ne Bourisaw) and Norbert Butz. He was raised in a middle-class family; his parents are devout Catholics. He is the seventh of 11 children in his family and is named after his father, Norbert. Some of his first theatre roles included playing the male leads at local all-girl high schools, such as Cor Jesu Academy and Nerinx Hall. He graduated from Bishop DuBourg High School. Butz earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University and a Master of Fine Arts from The University of Alabama/Alabama Shakespeare Festival's Professional Actor Training Program.

The murder of his sister, Teresa Butz, made national news when an assailant stabbed both her and her partner in her Seattle-area home on July 19, 2009.

Butz's daughter, Georgia Teresa, was born on January 2, 2011. Butz has two additional daughters, Clara and Maggie Davis, from a previous marriage.

Career

Butz made his Broadway debut as a replacement swing -a type of understudy- in Rent in 1996, after original swing David Driver was fired. Butz ultimately replaced Adam Pascal as Roger in 1997. Additional Broadway credits include Thou Shalt Not (Camille Raquin, 2001-2002), for which he received a Tony Award nomination; Wicked (the original Fiyero, 2003); and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Freddy) for which he received the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, a Drama League Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award. His Off-Broadway credits include The Last Five Years (Jamie), Songs for a New World (Lead Male 2), Saved (Fred), and Juno and the Paycock (Jerry Devine), and he has toured as the Emcee in Cabaret and as Freddy in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Butz's film roles have included Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five (Pawnbroker), Noon Blue Apples (Howard Philips), and West of Here (Josiah Blackwell).

Butz's projects include the film Dan in Real Life (with Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, and Dane Cook), released in October 2007, the world premiere of Is He Dead?, a hitherto unproduced Mark Twain play that opened at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre on December 9, 2007, and Fifty Words Off-Broadway with Elizebeth Marvel at the Lucille Lortle Theatre (2008). In January 2008, he appeared as Captain Richard King in the miniseries adaptation of the Lonesome Dove prequel, Comanche Moon.

Starting December 23, 2008, Butz stepped in to replace Jeremy Piven in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow; Piven suddenly and unexpectedly dropped out of the play after he claimed to be experiencing health problems related to high mercury levels in his blood. Butz took over the part until January 13, 2009, when William H. Macy assumed the role for the remainder of the play's run.

Butz taught at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey for the spring semester in 2008 in the drama department.

He starred as Rowdy Kaiser in the ABC show The Deep End.

From April to May 9, 2010, he returned to the Broadway stage in ENRON as Jeffrey Skilling. Despite Tony nominations, the play struggled with ticket sales.

Butz starred in the 2011 drama indie film Higher Ground with Vera Farmiga, who also directed it.

Butz originated the role of Carl Hanratty in the musical Catch Me If You Can which played pre-Broadway tryouts at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, Washington from July 28 through August 14, 2009. Butz played the role of Carl Hanratty in the Broadway production of Catch Me if You Can, which opened on April 10, 2011 and closed in September 2011. For this role he won his second Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and his second Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

In April 2012, Butz appeared as himself in one episode of the NBC musical drama Smash. Butz played Hal Wilner in Greetings from Tim Buckley, a film on Tim and Jeff Buckley, which premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

From November 29, 2012 to January 6, 2013, Butz appeared on Broadway in Theresa Rebeck's Dead Accounts, opposite Katie Holmes, Jayne Houdyshell, Josh Hamilton, and Judy Greer.

In 2013 he starred in the new Andrew Lippa musical Big Fish, which premiered in Chicago in the spring and opened on Broadway in the Neil Simon Theatre in October, directed by Susan Stroman.

In 2012, he played Uncle Peck in a limited engagement revival of Paula Vogel's play How I Learned to Drive. He also starred in the 2013 film Better Living Through Chemistry. He plays Kevin Rayburn in the 2015 Netflix television show Bloodline.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five	Pawnbroker
2000	Looking for an Echo	Vocals for Anthony
2002	Noon Blue Apples	Howard Phillips
	West of Here	Josiah Blackwell
2007	Dan in Real Life	Clay
	Playing Chicken	Jake	Television movie
2010	Fair Game	Steve
2011	Higher Ground	Pastor Bill
	The Miraculous Year	Terry Segal	Television movie
2012	County	Billy	Television movie
	Greetings from Tim Buckley	Hal Wilner
	Disconnect	Peter
2013	The English Teacher	Vice Principal Phil Pelaski
2014	Better Living Through Chemistry	Agent Andrew Carp

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	John Fenwick	Episode: "Misleader"
2008	Comanche Moon	Capt. Richard King	Episode: "#1.2"
2009	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Archie Beuliss	Episode: "In Treatment"
2010	The Deep End	Rowdy Kaise	7 episodes
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Larry Lamotte	Episode: "Bump and Grind"
2011	The Good Wife	Mr. Medina	Episode: "Two Courts"
	The Late Show with David Letterman	Carl Hanratty	Episode: "Dr. Phil/Chris Hemsworth/Catch Me If You Can"
	Blue Bloods	Detective Kramer	Episode: "Moonlighting"
2015-present	Bloodline	Kevin Rayburn	Series Regular
2016	Mercy Street	Dr. Byron Hale	Series Regular

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996-2008	Rent	Roger Davis
2000	Juno and the Paycock	Jerry Levine
2001	Saved
2001-2002	Thou Shalt Not	Camille Raquin
2002	The Last Five Years	Jamie
2003-2004	Wicked	Fiyero
2005-2006	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels	Freddy
2007-2008	Is He Dead?	Jean-Franois Millet
2008-2009	Speed-the-Plow	Bobby Gould
2008	Fifty Words	Adam
2010	Enron	Jeffrey Skilling
2011	Catch Me If You Can	Agent Carl Hanratty
2012-2013	Dead Accounts	Jack
2012	How I Learned to Drive	Peck
	Barack on Broadway
2013	Big Fish	Edward Bloom

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
2002	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical	Thou Shalt Not
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical	The Last Five Years
2003	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actor in a Play	Buicks
2005	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical
	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical
2011	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Catch Me if You Can
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical

Discography

• Memory and Mayhem: Live at 54 Below (2013)
• The Angel Band Project: An Evening With Norbert Leo Butz (2014)
• Untitled Winter 2015 Project (Announced)