| Len Cariou | |
| Birth Name: | Leonard Joseph Cariou |
| Birth Date: | 30 September 1939 |
| Birth Place: | Saint Boniface, Manitoba, Canada |
| Alma Mater: | St. Paul's College |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Awards: | Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical |
Leonard Joseph Cariou (; born September 30, 1939) is a Canadian stage actor, singer and stage director. He gained prominence for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Stephen Sondheim's musical (1979) alongside Angela Lansbury for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He also received Tony nominations for his roles in the Betty Comden and Adolph Green musical Applause (1970), and the Sondheim musical A Little Night Music (1973).
He is also known for his film roles in A Little Night Music (1977), The Four Seasons (1981), Thirteen Days (2000), About Schmidt (2002), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Prisoners (2013), and Spotlight (2015). He portrayed Franklin D. Roosevelt in the HBO film Into the Storm (2009) for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He also is known for his recurring television roles in Murder, She Wrote (1985-1992), Brotherhood (2005-2006), and Damages (2010). Since 2010, he has starred as the patriarch Henry Reagan, NYPD Police Commissioner (retired), in the multi-generational CBS series Blue Bloods.
Leonard Joseph Cariou was born on September 30, 1939, in Saint Boniface, Manitoba.[1] [2] Cariou's father was Breton and his mother was of Irish descent.[3] Cariou attended Miles Macdonell Collegiate for grades 10 and 11, where he directed and starred in the school plays, and he later attended St Paul's College.[4]
Cariou made his first appearance in Damn Yankees at Rainbow Stage in Winnipeg in 1959, and was a founding member of the Manitoba Theatre Centre.[5] He was offered a scholarship at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal but, married with a young child and financial responsibilities, he was forced to decline the honor. Instead, he learned his craft by spending two years at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, and returned in 1981 to lead the company as Prospero, Coriolanus, Brutus, and Petruchio.
Cariou also became a lead actor at the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis in the 1960s, where he played Orlando in As You Like It; Agamemnon in Tyrone Guthrie's compilation of The House of Atreus; Iago; Oberon; and the title roles in Henry V, Oedipus the King, and King Lear. He also was an associate director.In 1968, Cariou made his Broadway debut in The House of Atreus. Two years later, Cariou landed his first starring role opposite Lauren Bacall in Applause, a musical adaptation of the film All About Eve. It earned him a Tony Award nomination as Best Actor in a Musical and won him the Theatre World Award.
In 1973, he received his second Tony nomination for A Little Night Music; he reprised the role of Fredrik for the 1977 film version opposite Elizabeth Taylor. Six years later he won both the Tony and Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of in the Stephen Sondheim musical opposite Angela Lansbury. Cariou's early film credits include One Man (1977), and the 1977 Harold Prince-directed screen adaptation of A Little Night Music with Elizabeth Taylor.
In 1981 Cariou starred in the Alan Alda directed comedy-drama The Four Seasons alongside Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, and Sandy Dennis. During these years, Cariou also appeared in a number of benefits, including A Christmas Carol for the Riverside Shakespeare Company in New York, playing Scrooge, with Helen Hayes, Raul Julia, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, directed by W. Stuart McDowell at the Symphony Space in 1985.[6] His next projects included the Alan Jay Lerner–Charles Strouse musical Dance a Little Closer (1983), Arthur Miller's sole musical, Up from Paradise (1983), Teddy & Alice (1987), and Ziegfeld (1988).
Regionally, Cariou has starred in many productions at theatres throughout North America, including The Kennedy Centre, the Mark Taper Forum, Lincoln Centre, the Long Wharf Theatre and the Old Globe. He has played the title role of Macbeth for Toronto Arts Productions, and Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon for Canadian Stage in Toronto. He has appeared multiple times throughout his career at the Manitoba Theatre Centre. In 1984, having directed "Death of a Salesman" at the Citadel Theater, Edmonton, he played the lead in "King Lear" and was appointed associate director. In 1985 he played Stalin there in David Pownall's "Master Class". Cariou appeared at The Geffen Theatre as Joe Keller in a notable production of All My Sons, a role he reprised in 2009 at the Gate Theatre in Dublin, where it was the longest-running, highest-grossing run of a play in that theatre's history. He also appeared at The Geffen in Neil Simon's Rose and Walsh and Heroes with George Segal.
From 1985 to 1992, Cariou appeared in multiple episodes of the popular television mystery series Murder, She Wrote with his friend and former Sweeney Todd co-star Angela Lansbury. Cariou portrayed the recurring character of Michael Hagarty, characterized as an Irish international man of mystery who worked as a secret agent for British MI-6. He would get Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), the title character of the show, involved in mysteries involving international intrigue.
Cariou also appeared on Broadway in Night Watch, Cold Storage, The Speed of Darkness, Neil Simon's The Dinner Party (with Henry Winkler and John Ritter) and Proof (with Anne Heche and Neil Patrick Harris). He directed Don't Call Back on Broadway as well. His off-Broadway appearances include Master Class, Papa (an Ernest Hemingway one-man show) and Mountain (Justice William O. Douglas). He appeared as Cap'n Andy in the Broadway national tour of Show Boat opposite Cloris Leachman.
Cariou narrated Major League Baseball's World Series films from 1992 to 1997. In addition, he was the narrator of "An Amazin' Era", a video commemorating the 25th anniversary of the New York Mets franchise. He narrated both the original 1986 version and an update that was produced in 1989. He has recorded a number of books, including several by Michael Connelly, for audiotape release. He also narrated the 1989 Academy Award-winning documentary The Johnstown Flood.
In 1993, Cariou was in the TV movie Miracle on Interstate 880. He played Buck Helm. He also guest-starred in an episode of North of 60 when he portrayed Sarah Birkett's estranged father. In 1995, Cariou became the first actor to portray Walt Disney in the Annette Funicello biography A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story, based on her book of the same name. In 1997, Cariou appeared in the episode "Coda". He appeared to Captain Kathryn Janeway as an alien disguised as Admiral Janeway, her deceased father.
During the 2000s he acted in Thirteen Days (2000), About Schmidt (2002), Secret Window (2004) in which he starred alongside Johnny Depp, who would later go on to play Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the Tim Burton-directed musical based on the Broadway show in which Cariou starred. He acted in Boynton Beach Club (2005), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), and played the father in the 2007 film 1408, and the nominal lead role in The Onion Movie, based on the satirical newspaper. In 2009, Cariou portrayed Franklin D. Roosevelt in the HBO movie Into the Storm, earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.
In 2010, Cariou appeared as Madoff-like Ponzi scheme man Louis Tobin in the drama Damages, the main antagonist in season three. Cariou has appeared in episodes of The West Wing, Law & Order, The Practice, and The Outer Limits. He had a continuing role in 2006–2007 as power broker Judd Fitzgerald in the series Brotherhood. He played an American naval officer in 2013's den Orolige Mannen (the Troubled Man), adapted from one of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander novels. In 2018 he starred alongside Bruce Willis in Death Wish as Dr. Paul Kersey's father-in-law. He currently appears as Henry Reagan, the former New York City Police Commissioner and patriarch of the current commissioner's family on Blue Bloods.
More recently, Cariou portrayed Cardinal Law in Spotlight, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2015. He also starred in the short play Happy Birthday, Mr. Abernathy by Lloyd Suh for a public radio show and podcast, Playing On Air.[7]
Cariou has been married to author Heather Summerhayes since October 25, 1985.[8] Before his marriage, he had relationships with actresses Glenn Close and Lauren Bacall.[9]
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Damn Yankees | Ensemble member | Rainbow Stage | |
| 1961 | data-sort-value="Threepenny Opera, The" | The Threepenny Opera | Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre | |
| Mister Roberts | ||||
| 1962 | Macbeth | Ensemble member | Stratford Festival | |
| data-sort-value="Tempest, The" | The Tempest | Various | ||
| Cyrano de Bergerac | Ensemble member | |||
| data-sort-value="Taming of the Shrew, The" | The Taming of the Shrew | Groom / Walter Sugarsop | ||
| 1963 | Troilus and Cressida | Margarelon | ||
| data-sort-value="Comedy of Errors, The" | The Comedy of Errors | Ensemble member | ||
| Timon of Athens | Servilius | |||
| Cyrano de Bergerac | Ensemble member | |||
| 1964 | Love's Labour's Lost | Longaville | Chichester Festival Theatre | |
| 1964 | Richard II | Sir John Bushy | Stratford Festival | |
| data-sort-value="Country Wife, The" | The Country Wife | Ensemble member | ||
| Le Bourgeois gentilhomme | Cléonte | |||
| 1966 | As You Like It | Orlando de Boys | Guthrie Theater | |
| data-sort-value="Skin of Our Teeth, The" | The Skin of Our Teeth | |||
| S.S. Glencairn | ||||
| 1968 | data-sort-value="House of Atreus, The" | The House of Atreus | Orestes | |
| Twelfth Night | Feste | |||
| Serjeant Musgrave's Dance | Serjeant "Black Jack" Musgrave | |||
| 1969 | Othello | Iago | Goodman Theatre | |
| Much Ado About Nothing | American Shakespeare Theatre | |||
| Three Sisters | ||||
| 1969 | Henry V | King Henry V | ANTA Theatre | |
| 1970–1972 | Applause | Bill Sampson | Palace Theatre | |
| 1971 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Christian de Neuvillette | Guthrie Theater | |
| data-sort-value="Taming of the Shrew, The" | The Taming of the Shrew | |||
| 1972 | Night Watch | John Wheeler | Morosco Theatre | |
| data-sort-value="Midsummer Night's Dream, A" | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Oberon | Guthrie Theater | |
| 1973 | Oedipus Rex | Oedipus | ||
| Sondheim: A Celebration | Various | Shubert Theatre | ||
| 1973–1974 | data-sort-value="Little Night Music, A" | A Little Night Music | Fredrik Egerman | Majestic Theatre Shubert Theatre |
| 1974 | King Lear | King Lear | Guthrie Theater | |
| 1975 | Equus | Dr. Martin Dysart | Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre | |
| Cyrano de Bergerac | Cyrano de Bergerac | |||
| 1977 | data-sort-value="Sorrow Beyond Dreams, A" | A Sorrow Beyond Dreams | The Writer | Marymount Manhattan Theatre |
| Cold Storage | Richard Landau | Lyceum Theatre | ||
| 1979–1980 | Sweeney Todd | Gershwin Theatre | ||
| 1981 | Coriolanus | Caius Marcius Coriolanus | Stratford Festival | |
| data-sort-value="Taming of the Shrew, The" | The Taming of the Shrew | Petruchio | ||
| 1982 | Julius Caesar | Marcus Brutus | ||
| data-sort-value="Tempest, The" | The Tempest | Prospero | ||
| 1981–1983 | Up from Paradise | God | Jewish Repertory Theater | |
| 1983 | Dance a Little Closer | Harry Aikens | Minskoff Theatre | |
| 1983–1984 | King Lear | King Lear | Citadel Theatre | |
| 1984–1985 | Coriolanus | Caius Marcius Coriolanus | Stratford Festival | |
| data-sort-value="Taming of the Shrew, The" | The Taming of the Shrew | Petruchio | ||
| Arms and the Man | Sergius Saranoff | |||
| data-sort-value="Tempest, The" | The Tempest | Prospero | ||
| Julius Caesar | Marcus Brutus | |||
| data-sort-value="Tempest, The" | The Tempest | Prospero | ||
| 1985 | Traveler in the Dark | Sam | Mark Taper Forum | |
| 1985–1986 | Master Class | Joseph Stalin | Citadel Theatre | |
| 1986 | Master Class | Joseph Stalin | Union Square Theatre | |
| 1987 | Teddy & Alice | President Theodore Roosevelt | Minskoff Theatre | |
| 1988 | Ziegfeld | Florenz Ziegfeld | ||
| 1989 | Measure for Measure | Vincentio | Vivian Beaumont Theater | |
| data-sort-value="Anastasia Game, The" | The Anastasia Game | Gen. Alexei Bounine | Merrimack Repertory Theatre | |
| 1990–1993 | Mountain | William O'Douglass | Ford's Theatre Plays and Players Theatre | |
| 1991 | data-sort-value="Speed of Darkness, The" | The Speed of Darkness | Joe | Belasco Theatre |
| 1992 | data-sort-value="Touch of the Poet, A" | A Touch of the Poet | Cornelius Melody | Long Wharf Theatre |
| 1996 | Papa | Ernest Hemingway | Douglas Fairbanks Theater | |
| 1996–1998 | Show Boat | Cap'n Andy | Tour | |
| 1998 | Paramour | General St. Pe | Old Globe Theatre | |
| 2000 | Sweeney Todd | Royal Festival Hall | ||
| 2000–2001 | data-sort-value="Dinner Party, The" | The Dinner Party | Andre Bouville | Mark Taper Forum |
| 2001–2002 | Copenhagen | Niels Bohr | National tour | |
| 2002 | Funny Girl | Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. | New Amsterdam Theatre | |
| 2002–2003 | Proof | Robert | Walter Kerr Theatre | |
| 2003 | No Strings | Louis de Pourtal | New York City Center | |
| Rose and Walsh | Walsh | Geffen Playhouse | ||
| data-sort-value="Persians, The" | The Persians | Darius the Great | National Actors Theatre | |
| Follies | Benjamin Stone | John Hancock Hall | ||
| 2004 | Kismet | Hajj | Reprise Theatre Company | |
| 2006 | All My Sons | Joe Keller | Geffen Playhouse | |
| 2007 | Heroes | Henri | ||
| 2008 | Frost/Nixon | President Richard Nixon | Canadian Stage Company | |
| 2009 | Broadway Backwards 4 | Various | Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS | |
| 2010 | Brigadoon | Mr. Lundie | Irish Repertory Theatre | |
| Broadway Backwards 5 | Various | Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS | ||
| 2011 | Broadway Backwards 6 | Various | ||
| 2014 | Guys and Dolls | Arvide Abernathy | Carnegie Hall | |
| 2016–2019 | Broadway and the Bard | HimselfLion Theatre, NYC | US and Canada National Tour | |
| 2019 | Harry Townsend's Last Stand | Harry Townsend | New York City Center |
| Year | Title | Theatre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Of Mice and Men | Guthrie Theater | |
| 1974 | data-sort-value="Petrified Forest, The" | The Petrified Forest | |
| data-sort-value="Crucible, The" | The Crucible | ||
| 1979 | Don't Call Back | ||
| 1984 | Death of a Salesman | ||
| 1985 | Cold Storage |
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | One Man | Jason Brady | |
| data-sort-value="Little Night Music, A" | A Little Night Music | Fredrik Egerman | |
| 1978 | Drying Up the Streets | Larry | |
| 1981 | data-sort-value="Four Seasons, The" | The Four Seasons | Nick Callan |
| 1988 | Lady in White | Phil Terragrossa | |
| 1994 | Getting In | Dr. Lionel Higgs / Dr. Ezekiel Higgs | |
| 1995 | Never Talk to Strangers | Henry Taylor | |
| 1996 | Executive Decision | Secretary of Defense Charles White | |
| 2000 | Thirteen Days | Dean Acheson | |
| 2002 | About Schmidt | Ray Nichols | |
| 2004 | Secret Window | Sheriff Dave Newsome | |
| 2005 | data-sort-value="Greatest Game Ever Played, The" | The Greatest Game Ever Played | Stedman Comstock |
| Boynton Beach Club | Jack | ||
| 2006 | Flags of Our Fathers | Mr. Beech | |
| 2007 | 1408 | Joe Enslin | |
| 2008 | data-sort-value="Onion Movie, The" | The Onion Movie | Norm Archer |
| 2013 | Prisoners | Father Patrick Dunn | |
| 2015 | Spotlight | Cardinal Bernard Law | |
| 2018 | Death Wish | Ben Gibbs | |
| Bumblebee | Hank | ||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Quest | Unknown | 1 episode | |
| 1964 | Festival | Ragnar | 1 episode | |
| 1979 | data-sort-value="Great Detective, The" | The Great Detective | Tanner | 1 episode |
| 1981 | Madame X | John Abbott | Television film | |
| 1985–1992 | Murder, She Wrote | Michael Hagarty / Monsignore O'Shaugnessy | 7 episodes | |
| 1985 | David Brogan | Television film | ||
| 1989 | data-sort-value="American Playwrights Theater: The One Acts, The" | Pat Sweeney | 1 episode | |
| 1990 | Gabriel's Fire | Judge Norton Heller | 1 episode | |
| 1991 | Kurt Vonnegut's Monkey House | Ambassador Kelly | 1 episode | |
| 1992 | data-sort-value="Ray Bradbury Theater, The" | The Ray Bradbury Theater | Douglas | 1 episode |
| Street Legal | Christin Peveril | 1 episode | ||
| 1993 | North of 60 | Mike Birkett | 1 episode | |
| Class of '61 | Dr. Leland Peyton | Television film | ||
| data-sort-value="Sea Wolf, The" | The Sea Wolf | Dr. Picard | Television film | |
| 1993–2008 | Law & Order | Edgar Beezley / Mac Geller / Captain Allard Bunker | 3 episodes | |
| 1994 | Witness to the Execution | Jake Tyler | Television film | |
| Love on The Run | Noah Cross | Television film | ||
| 1995–2000 | data-sort-value="Outer Limits, The" | The Outer Limits | Doc Wells / Father Anton Jonasceu | 2 episodes |
| 1996 | Swift Justice | Al Swift | Main cast 13 episodes | |
| data-sort-value="Summer of Ben Tyler, The" | The Summer of Ben Tyler | Spencer Maitland | Television film | |
| 1997 | Admiral Edward Janeway | 1 episode ("Coda") | ||
| Charles Emery | 1 episode | |||
| American Experience | Narrator (voice) | 1 episode | ||
| 1998 | Mentors | Alexander Graham Bell | 1 episode | |
| 1999 | data-sort-value="Practice, The" | The Practice | Defense Attorney Weiland | 1 episode |
| In the Company of Spies | The President | Television film | ||
| 2000 | D.C. | Senator William Abbott | 1 episode | |
| Nuremberg | Francis Biddle | Television film | ||
| data-sort-value="West Wing, The" | The West Wing | Pharmaceutical Executive | 1 episode | |
| 2003 | Ed | Mr. Stuckey | 1 episode | |
| 2004 | Sex Traffic | Magnus Herzoff | Miniseries | |
| 2005 | Numb3rs | Alan Emrick | 1 episode | |
| 2006–2007 | Brotherhood | Judd Fitzgerald | Recurring role 10 episodes | |
| 2007 | Frank McCarty | 1 episode | ||
| 2008 | Army Wives | Randall Meade | 1 episode | |
| 2009 | Into the Storm | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Television film | |
| Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice | Narrator | 9 episodes | ||
| 2010 | Damages | Louis Tobin | 5 episodes | |
| 2010–present | Blue Bloods | Henry Reagan | Main role | |
| 2013 | Wallander | Atkins | 1 episode | |
| 2019 | When They See Us | Robert Morgenthau | Miniseries |
On Broadway, Cariou has earned three Tony nominations for 'Best Actor in a Musical' in 1970 for Applause, in 1973 for A Little Night Music, and in 1979 for Sweeney Todd. He won the Tony for Best Performance By A Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance in Sweeney Todd.[10]
In 2004, Cariou was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[11] In 2009, Cariou portrayed Franklin D. Roosevelt in the HBO movie Into the Storm, earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. On June 23, 2012, Cariou was honored by having his name added to the Miles Macdonell Collegiate Alumni of Distinction, for his contribution to theater and arts. His introduction to the theater started with a starring role in the school production of The Pirates of Penzance. He holds the Order of Manitoba. He was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) by the University of Windsor on 2 June 1984.[12] He received and Honorary Degree from the University of Winnipeg in 1992.[13]
On December 27, 2018, Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada, announced that Cariou would be one of 103 recipients becoming an Officer of the Order of Canada for his achievements as an actor of stage and screen, and for his commitment to Canadian cultural institutions.[14] He was invested with the Insignia of the Order of Canada on 26 October 2023 by Governor General of Canada Mary Simon.[15] He also received the Canadian Version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.[16]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Tony Award | Best Actor in a Musical | Applause | ||
| Theatre World Award | Applause and King Henry V | ||||
| 1973 | Tony Award | Best Actor in a Musical | A Little Night Music | ||
| 1977 | Canadian Film Award | Best Actor | One Man | ||
| 1979 | Tony Award | Best Actor in a Musical | Sweeney Todd | ||
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actor In A Musical | ||||
| 1991 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Mountain | ||
| The Speed of Darkness | |||||
| Gemini Award | Best Actor in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series | Kurt Vonnegut's Monkey House | |||
| 2002 | Touring Broadway Awards | Best Actor in a Play | Copenhagen | ||
| 2009 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Into the Storm | ||
| 2019 | Drama League Award[17] | Distinguished Performance | Harry Townsend's Last Stand | ||