Harry Connick Jr.

Harry Connick Jr.

Active - 1989 - 2021  |   Born - Sep 11, 1967 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States  |   Genres - Comedy, Romance, Drama

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Biography by AllMovie

Harry Connick Jr. is, first and foremost, known for his abilities behind a piano and for his smooth, baritone vocals. Connick is a prodigious performer, having released some 15 albums by the age of 30. He was approached by Rob Reiner to put together some music for the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally. He brought together an orchestra and covered many popular big-band era songs. An album was put together and prompted a whirlwind tour that helped the album sell amazingly well. Because of this success and Connick's Aw Shucks personality, film appearances were inevitable. His first was in 1990's Memphis Belle and he has consistantly worked in film since then, most notably as Will Smith's wisecracking friend in Independence Day, and in an unexpected turn as the mimicking, murdurous psychopath in Copycat (1995). The late '90s found Connick in larger roles that were a testament to his versatility, including Hope Floats (1998) and Wayward Son (1999). In 2000, Connick brought in the new millennium with a role in My Dog Skip. In 1994, Connick married model Jill Goodacre and together they have two daughters.

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Factsheet

  • At age 5, played the piano at his father's inauguration as New Orleans district attorney.
  • Trained under jazz great Ellis Marsalis, father of Branford and Wynton.
  • Broke through when he recorded the soundtrack for the hit 1989 film When Harry Met Sally...
  • Wrote the music and lyrics for the New Orleans-set musical Thou Shalt Not, which ran on Broadway in 2001.
  • Became Honorary Chair of Habitat for Humanity's "Operation Home Delivery," benefiting Gulf Coast victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
  • Helped launch Musicians' Village, a neighborhood that provides housing and a music center for New Orleans musicians who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina.
  • Made his Broadway debut as a performer in the 2006 revival of The Pajama Game.
  • A practicing Catholic, he performed at a pre-Mass concert at Yankee Stadium during Pope Benedict XVI's 2008 visit to the U.S.
  • Received an honorary doctorate from Tulane University, his parents' alma mater, in 2009.
  • Performed a 15-day sold-out run of Harry Connick, Jr. In Concert on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theater in the summer of 2010.