Harry Connick Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and former television host. As of 2019, he has sold over 30 million records worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 16million in certified sales. He has had seven top20 U.S. albums, and ten number-one U.S. jazz albums, earning more number-one albums than any other artist in U.S. jazz chart history as of 2009.
Connick's best-selling album in the United States is his Christmas album When My Heart Finds Christmas. His highest-charting album is Only You, which reached No.5 in the U.S. and No.6 in Britain. He has won three Grammy Awards and two Emmy Awards. He played Leo Markus, the husband of Grace Adler on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace from 2002 to 2006.
Connick began his acting career playing a tail gunner in the World War II film Memphis Belle. He played a serial killer in Copycat before being cast as a fighter pilot in the blockbuster Independence Day. Connick's first role as a leading man was in Hope Floats with Sandra Bullock. He also lent his voice to the animated cult classic The Iron Giant. His first thriller film since Copycat was Basic with John Travolta. Additionally, he played a violent ex-husband in Bug, and starred in two romantic comedies: P.S. I Love You with Oscar-winner Hilary Swank, and New in Town with Oscar-winner Renée Zellweger. In 2011, he appeared in the family film Dolphin Tale as Dr. Clay Haskett and in its 2014 sequel.
Early life
Harry Connick Jr. was born and raised in New Orleans. His mother, Anita Frances Livingston, was a lawyer and judge in New Orleans. His father, Harry Connick Sr., was the district attorney of Orleans Parish from 1973 to 2003. He has an older sister named Suzanna.His parents also owned a record store. Connick's father was a Roman Catholic of Northern Irish descent, while his mother, who died of ovarian cancer when he was 13 years old, was Jewish and from New York; his part-Jewish heritage would later inspire him to play Jewish doctor Leo on Will & Grace. In addition to his career as a prosecutor, Connick Sr. also had a career performing weekly gigs at French Quarter Clubs. Connick and his sister, Suzanna, were raised in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans. Harry Connick began learning to play keyboards at age three, playing publicly at age five, and recording with a local jazz band when he was ten. At the age of nine, Connick performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 Opus 37 with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra.
Later he played a duet with Eubie Blake at the Royal Orleans Esplanade Lounge in New Orleans. The song was "I'm Just Wild About Harry". It was recorded for a Japanese documentary called Jazz Around the World. The clip was also shown in a Bravo special called Worlds of Harry Connick, Junior. in 1999. His musical talents were developed at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and under the tutelage of Ellis Marsalis Jr. and James Booker.
Connick attended Jesuit High School, Isidore Newman School, Lakeview School, and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, all in New Orleans. After an unsuccessful attempt studying jazz at Loyola University New Orleans as well as giving recitals in the classical and jazz piano programs at Loyola, he left the city. He lived at the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City while he was a student at Hunter College and the Manhattan School of Music.
There he met Columbia Records executive George Butler, who persuaded him to sign with the label. His first record, Harry Connick Jr., was mainly an album of instrumental standards. He soon acquired a reputation in jazz because of his regular performances at various high-profile New York City venues. His next album, 20, featured vocals and added to his success.
Career
''When Harry Met Sally...'', success on charts and in movies
Connick's reputation was growing, and director Rob Reiner asked him to provide a soundtrack for his romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally..., starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. The soundtrack consisted of several standards, including "It Had to Be You", "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore". The soundtrack earned double-platinum status in the United States. Connick won his first Grammy Award for Best Jazz Male Vocal Performance for his work on the soundtrack.Connick made his screen debut in Memphis Belle, based on a true story about a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber crew in World War II. In that year, he began a two-year world tour. In addition, he released two albums in July 1990: the instrumental jazz trio album Lofty's Roach Souffle and a big-band album of mostly original songs titled We Are in Love, which also went double platinum. We Are in Love earned him his second consecutive Grammy for Best Jazz Male Vocal.
"Promise Me You'll Remember", his contribution to the Godfather III soundtrack, was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 1991. In a year of recognition, he was also nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Performance in a Variety Special for his PBS special Swingin' Out Live, which was also released as a video. In October 1991, he released his third consecutive multi-platinum album, Blue Light, Red Light, on which he wrote and arranged the songs. Also in October 1991, he starred in Little Man Tate, directed by Jodie Foster, playing the friend of a child prodigy who goes to college.
In November 1992, Connick released 25, a solo piano collection of standards that again went platinum. He also re-released the album Eleven. Connick contributed "A Wink and a Smile" to the Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack, released in 1993. His multi-platinum album of holiday songs, When My Heart Finds Christmas, was the best-selling Christmas album in 1993.
Mid-1990s: funk
In 1994, Connick decided to branch out. He released She, an album of New Orleans funk that also went platinum. In addition, he released a song called " Whisper Your Name" for the soundtrack of The Mask, starring Jim Carrey, which is his most successful single in the United States to date.Connick took his funk music on a tour of the United Kingdom in 1994, an effort that did not please some of his fans, who were expecting a jazz crooner. Connick also went on a tour of the People's Republic of China in 1995, playing at the Shanghai Center Theatre. The performance was televised live in China for what became known as the Shanghai Gumbo special. In his third film Copycat, Connick played a serial killer who terrorizes a psychiatrist. The following year, he released his second funk album, Star Turtle, which did not sell as well as previous albums, although it did reach No. 38 on the charts. However, he appeared in the most successful movie of 1996, Independence Day, with Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum.
Late 1990s: Jazz and ''Hope Floats''
For his 1997 release To See You, Connick recorded original love songs, touring the United States and Europe with a full symphony orchestra backing him and his piano in each city. As part of his tour, he played at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, with his final concert of that tour in Paris being recorded for a Valentine's Day special on PBS in 1998. He also continued his film career, starring in Excess Baggage opposite Alicia Silverstone and Benicio del Toro.In May 1998, he had his first leading role in director Forest Whitaker's Hope Floats, with Sandra Bullock being the female lead. In 1999 he released Come By Me, his first album of big band music in eight years, and embarked on a world tour, visiting the United States, Europe, Japan, and Australia. In addition, he provided the voice of Dean McCoppin in the animated film The Iron Giant.
2000–2002: Broadway debut, musicals, ''Will & Grace''
Connick wrote the score for Susan Stroman's Broadway musical Thou Shalt Not, based on Émile Zola's novel Thérèse Raquin which was written in 2000. The play premiered in 2001. His music and lyrics earned him a Tony Award nomination. He was also the narrator of the film My Dog Skip, released in that year.In March 2001, Connick starred in a television production of South Pacific with Glenn Close; it was televised on the ABC network. He also starred in Mickey, a movie; John Grisham wrote the screenplay. In October 2001, he released two albums: Songs I Heard, featuring big band re-workings of children's show themes, and 30, featuring Connick on piano with guest appearances by several musical artists. Songs I Heard won Connick a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Album; he toured performing songs from the album, holding matinees. At the performances each parent in attendance had to be accompanied by a child.
In 2002, he received a for a "system and method for coordinating music display among players in an orchestra." Connick appeared as Grace Adler's boyfriend and later husband, Leo Markus on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace from 2002 to 2006.
2003–2005: ''Connick on Piano'' and ''Only You''
In July 2003, Connick released his first instrumental album in fifteen years, Other Hours Connick on Piano Volume 1. It was released on Branford Marsalis' new label Marsalis Music leading to a short tour of nightclubs and small theaters. Connick appeared in the film Basic. In October 2003, he released his second Christmas album, Harry for the Holidays; it went gold and reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. He also had a television special on NBC featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Lane, Marc Anthony, and Kim Burrell. Only You, his seventeenth album for Columbia Records, was released in February 2004. A collection of 1950s and 1960s ballads, Only You, was in the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic and was certified gold in the United States in March 2004. The Only You big band toured the U.S., Australia, with a few stops in Asia. Harry for the Holidays was certified platinum in November 2004.A music DVD Harry Connick Jr."Only You" in Concert was released in March 2004, after it had first aired as a Great Performances special on PBS. The special won him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction. The DVD received a Gold & Platinum Music VideoLong Form awards from the RIAA in November 2005.
An animated holiday special, The Happy Elf aired on NBC in December 2005; Connick was the composer, the narrator, and one of the executive producers. The show was released on DVD soon afterwards. The holiday special was based on his original song The Happy Elf, from his 2003 album Harry for the Holidays. Another album from Marsalis Music was recorded in 2005, Occasion : Connick on Piano, Volume 2, a duo album with Harry Connick Jr. on piano and Branford Marsalis on saxophone. A music DVD, A Duo Occasion was filmed at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival 2005 in Canada; it was released in November 2005.
He appeared in another episode of the Will & Grace sitcom in November 2005, he was in three more episodes in 2006.