Larry Owens (actor)

American comedian, writer, and singer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Larry Owens is an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer. He received a Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk Award for his leading performance in the off-Broadway musical A Strange Loop. He has acted on television shows including Search Party, High Maintenance, Modern Love and Abbott Elementary.

Born
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer
  • singer
  • comedian
Yearsactive2015–present
KnownforA Strange Loop
Quick facts Born, Occupations ...
Larry Owens
Born
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer
  • singer
  • comedian
Years active2015–present
Known forA Strange Loop
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Early life and education

Owens was born and raised in East Baltimore, Maryland.[1] He named Hairspray as a musical he saw growing up that helped him see musical theater as a career path.[1] He loved the work of Stephen Sondheim and nurtured his interest at the performing arts camp Stagedoor Manor.[2]

Owens graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia in 2008.[3] He trained in acting and improvisational theater at Steppenwolf, where Tarell Alvin McCraney, Amy Morton and K. Todd Freeman were some of his instructors.[4][5]

Career

Owens moved to New York in 2015 to pursue a professional career in the performance arts.[2] He was a volunteer at the Musical Theatre Factory and there connected with playwright Michael R. Jackson, who wrote A Strange Loop.[2]

Theatre

Owens performed in the musical theater productions Spamilton and Gigantic.[6] He also performed for Catherine Cohen's Cabernet Cabaret and hosted his own monthly show Decolonize Your Mind with Karen Chee.[7]

In 2019, he received critical acclaim for his performance in Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop, performed off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons and directed by Stephen Brackett.[6][4] Vinson Cunningham write in The New Yorker: "Owens... performs Jackson’s songs with power, humor, and pathos, filling in the textual gaps in Usher’s characterization with an entire life’s worth of mannerism and style."[8] For his performance he won a Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, among other accolades.[9][10]

In July 2021, he starred in the original solo show Sondheimia, performed at Feinstein's/54 Below.[6]

Television

Owens was a staff writer for the truTV game show Paid Off.[11] He acted on season four of High Maintenance as well as the television shows Search Party, Abbott Elementary, Dash & Lily, Life & Beth, and Modern Love.[1][12][13][14] He is a voice actor in the Amazon animated series Fairfax.[15]

Personal life

Owens is queer.[7]

Filmography

Stage

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Location Notes Ref
2012 Fat Camp Darnell American Theatre of Actors Off-Broadway [16]
2014 Grease Roger The Muny [17]
2014 Dreamgirls Tiny Joe Dixon / TV Stage Manager / The Five Tuxedos / Film Executive / Security Guard / Ensemble Gerding Theater at the Armory [17]
2015 Gigantic Darnell Vineyard Theatre Off-Broadway [16]
2016–2017 Spamilton Sondheim / Little Orphan Annie Triad Theatre Off-Broadway [18]
2017–2018 Puerto Rican Traveling Theater Off-Broadway [19]
2019 A Strange Loop Usher Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway [2]
2021 Sondheimia Protagonist Feinstein's/54 Below Solo show; also writer. [20]
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Television

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2020 Betty Devereaux 1 episode [6]
2020 High Maintenance Arnold 1 episode [2]
2020 The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America Belize Television movie [21]
2020 Helpsters Billy Bug 1 episode [22]
2020 Dash & Lily Artsy Guide 1 episode [6]
2021 Modern Love Toby Dooley Episode: "How Do You Remember Me?" [14]
2021–2022 Fairfax Jules (voice) Recurring role [15]
2021–2022 Search Party Idiot / Ritchie Recurring role [13]
2022 Life & Beth Clark Recurring role [23]
2022 Ziwe Pastor Episode: "Critical Race Theory"
2022–2025 Abbott Elementary Zach 7 episodes [12]
2022 Harley Quinn Music Meister (voice) Episode: "It's a Swamp Thing"
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Film

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2018 To Dust Stanley [24]
2018 A Chest of Drawers Barnaby Cromwell Short film [25]
2019 Last Ferry Shane [24]
2021 Puppet Me Host Short film [26]
2023 Problemista Craigslist [27]
2023 Dumb Money Chris
2023 Urkel Saves Santa: the Movie Santa (voice)
TBA Silent Retreat Eric Post-production [28]
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Awards and nominations

For A Strange Loop

2019

2020

References

External links

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