Taye Diggs

Taye Diggs

Taye Diggs was born on January 2, 1971 in Newark, New Jersey. He is the oldest of five children born to Marcia and Andre Young. Diggs grew up in Rochester, New York where he attended Allendale Columbia School. He later transferred to School of the Arts. He also received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Syracuse University. Diggs participated in many theatre productions as a child and also made his Broadway debut with the Tony award winning musical “Carousel”. His first major career role was in the musical “Rent” which won a Tony Award as well as a Pulitzer Prize. It was on the set of “Rent” that he met his future wife, Idina Menzel. He also starred in the movie version of the play, which was made in 2005. Diggs and Menzel have one son named Walker Nathaniel Diggs, born in September 2009. The couple divorced in 2014 after more than ten years of marriage.

His next role was in the “The Wild Party” where he starred opposite Idina. Diggs had a small appearance in the Broadway production “Wicked” as well. After this, Diggs accepted a role on the television soap opera “Guiding Light”. He made his big-screen debut with the film “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” which cast him into the Hollywood spotlight. His other films include “Go”, “AWOL Groom”, “The Wood” and “The House on Haunted Hill”. He also featured on an episode of “America’s Next Top Model”. He made a guest appearance on the television drama “Ally McBeal”. Diggs was cast in the film version of “Chicago” to play the character of the Bandleader. He also appeared in the Broadway version, but played a different character, Billy Flynn.

Taye Diggs next got the lead role on a television show called “Kevin Hill” which only ran for one season, despite excellent ratings with viewers and critics. He then made an appearance on an episode of “Punk’d” which was hosted by actor Ashton Kutcher. He also appeared on the final season of the popular television sitcom “Will and Grace” on which he played Will’s love interest. He then starred in an ABC drama called “Daybreak” on which he played a detective. The pilot episode showed him trapped in the same day repeatedly, trying to clear his name of murder charges. The show started in May 2006 but was cancelled by November due to poor ratings.

In 2007, Diggs appeared in the television drama “Private Practice” which was a spin-off of the popular series “Grey’s Anatomy”. He also had a role on Grey’s Anatomy, when a crossover between the two shows was created. On the show, he starred opposite Kate Walsh. Diggs also appeared in the show “The West Wing” in which he played a secret agent. He worked as a narrator for the documentary “The Fab Five” about University of Michigan basketball stars. Since 2014, he has starred in the television drama “Murder in the First”. He also starred in the independent film “Between Us” which has won a number of awards at international film festivals. Diggs has returned to the stage for many performances, including “A Soldier’s Play” and the Broadway production “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”. Taye Diggs is currently the co-director of a dance studio along with his Broadway co-star Andrew Palermo.

 


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