Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer. After starting her professional career with The Acting Company in 1972, she soon gained acclaim for her leading performances on the Broadway and West End stage. Known for playing bold, resilient women in musical theater, she has received numerous accolades, including three Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards and two Grammy Awards. She was inducted to the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2006.
She made her Broadway debut in Three Sisters in 1973. She went on to receive three Tony Awards: two for Best Actress in a Musical for her roles as Eva Perón in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita (1980) and Rose in Gypsy (2008) and one for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for playing Joanne in the Stephen Sondheim revival Company (2022). She was Tony-nominated for The Robber Bridegroom (1975), Anything Goes (1988), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2006), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010), and War Paint (2017).
For her performances on the West End stage she received two Laurence Olivier Awards: one for Best Actress in a Musical for her performances as Fantine in the original London cast of Les Misérables and Moll in The Cradle Will Rock in 1985, and the second for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical for Company in 2019. She was nominated for her role as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in 1993. She has two Grammy Awards for the recording of the 2007 Los Angeles Opera production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
On television, she starred in the drama series Life Goes On (1989–1993). She is a two-time Emmy Award Nominee for The Song Spinner (1995) and Frasier (1998). She acted in three Ryan Murphy series: American Horror Story (2013–2014, 2022), Pose (2019), and Hollywood (2020). She also acted in Oz (2003), Will & Grace (2005), 30 Rock (2009–2012), Glee (2011), Girls (2014) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2017), Steven Universe (2016–2019), Penny Dreadful (2014–2016), Agatha All Along (2024), And Just Like That... (2025), The Artist (2025), Palm Royale (2025) and Elsbeth (2026). LuPone's film roles include 1941 (1979), Witness (1985), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Summer of Sam (1999), State and Main (2000), Heist (2001), and Beau Is Afraid (2023).
Early life and education LuPone was born on April 21, 1949 in Northport, New York, on Long Island, the daughter of Italian-American parents Angela Louise (), a library administrator at the C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University and Orlando Joseph LuPone, a school administrator and English teacher at Walt Whitman High School in Huntington, NY. Her great-great aunt was 19th-century Spanish-born Italian opera singer Adelina Patti. Her father's side came from Abruzzo, while her mother's side is Sicilian. Lucille Ball was a family friend, having attended grade school with LuPone's mother. Her older brother Robert LuPone was a Tony-nominated actor, dancer, and director who originated the role of Zach, the director, in A Chorus Line. She grew up Catholic. LuPone is a dual citizen of Italy and the United States.
LuPone was part of the first graduating class of Juilliard's Drama Division (1968–1972: Group 1), which also included actors Kevin Kline and David Ogden Stiers. She graduated from Juilliard in 1972 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. According to LuPone, her rigorous Juilliard training has instilled in her "a respect for the craft of acting and the stage" but said it did little to prepare her for the realities of pursuing a career on Broadway. LuPone has a mezzo-soprano vocal range, and she is known for her strong/high "Broadway" belt singing voice. In a 2008 interview, she maintained that she was "an actor who sings" and thankful she "had a voice".
Career 1970–1979: Early roles and breakthrough In 1972, LuPone became one of the original members of The Acting Company, formed by John Houseman.Hornby, Richard. Mad About Theater, Hal Leonard Corporation, 1996, , p. 245 The Acting Company is a nationally touring repertory theater company.Alumni theactingcompany.org. Retrieved August 24, 2010. LuPone's stint with the company lasted from 1972 to 1976 and she appeared in many of their productions, such as The Cradle Will Rock, The School for Scandal, Women Beware Women, The Beggar's Opera, The Time of Your Life, The Lower Depths, The Hostage, Next Time I'll Sing to You, Measure for Measure, Scapin, Edward II, The Orchestra, Love's Labours Lost, Arms and the Man and The Way of the World. She made her Broadway debut in the play The Three Sisters as Irina in 1973.Hischak, Thomas S. and Boardman, Gerald. American theater. Oxford University Press US, 2001. . p.94 For her work in The Robber Bridegroom (1975) she received her first Tony Award nomination, for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. The Acting Company honored LuPone on March 12, 2012 in an event called "Patti's Turn" at the Kaye Playhouse.Gans, Andrew. "Patti's Turn, Tribute to Patti LuPone, Will Feature Kristin Chenoweth, Kevin Kline, Sutton Foster, Laura Benanti" Playbill, February 13, 2012, retrieved January 11, 2017
In 1976, theater producer David Merrick hired LuPone as a replacement to play Genevieve, the title role of the troubled pre-Broadway production of The Baker's Wife. The production toured at length but Merrick deemed it unworthy of Broadway and it closed out of town."'The Baker's Wife' history" www.musicalschwartz.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010
Since 1977, LuPone has frequently collaborated with David Mamet, appearing in his plays The Woods, All Men Are Whores, The Blue Hour, The Water Engine (1978),"'The Water Engine' listing, 1978 ibdb.com. Retrieved August 27, 2010. Edmond, The Old Neighborhood (1997)," 'The Old Neighborhood' listing, 1997" ibdb.com. Retrieved August 27, 2010. and The Anarchist (2012). The New York Times reviewer wrote of LuPone in The Old Neighborhood, "Those who know Ms. LuPone only as a musical comedy star will be stunned by the naturalistic fire she delivers here. As Jolly, a part inspired by Mr. Mamet's real-life sister and his realized female character, Ms. LuPone finds conflicting layers of past and present selves in practically every line. She emerges as both loving matriarch and wounded adolescent, sentimental and devastatingly clear-eyed."Brantley, Ben. Theater Review; A Middle-Aged Man Goes Home, to Mametville The New York Times, November 20, 1997 In 1978, she appeared in the Broadway musical adaptation of Studs Terkel's Working, which ran for only 24 performances."Internet Broadway Database listing, 'Working' " ibdb.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
1979–1999: Evita and Broadway stardom
In 1979, LuPone starred in the original Broadway production of Evita, the musical based on the life of Eva Perón, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and directed by Harold Prince."Internet Broadway Database listing, 'Evita'" ibdb.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010. She reportedly won the role over 200 auditionees, including Meryl Streep, Ann-Margret and Raquel Welch. Although LuPone was praised by critics, she has since said that her time in Evita was not an enjoyable one. In a 2007 interview, she stated "Evita was the worst experience of my life," she said. "I was screaming my way through a part that could only have been written by a man who hates women. And I had no support from the producers, who wanted a star performance onstage but treated me as an unknown backstage. It was like Beirut and I fought like a banshee."Green, Jesse. "Adapted from "Let Her Entertain You. Please!" The New York Times, July 8, 2007 Despite the trouble, LuPone won her first Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina", a song she performed for the show, became one of her signature songs throughout her career. It was not until she had reprised the role in a production in Sydney when she had finally enjoyed the part and felt comfortable singing the score. LuPone and her co-star, Mandy Patinkin, remained close friends both on and off the stage.
In 1980, LuPone's cabaret act, "Patti LuPone at Les Mouches," played for 27 consecutive weeks on Saturday evenings at midnight following her 8pm performance in Evita. The New York Daily News reviewed saying, "Anyone who thinks there are no volcanoes in New York should check out Les Mouches any Saturday midnight in March. It’s here at the witching hour that Patti LuPone fulminates, thunders and showers the room with sparks of her debut cabaret act." In 2008, a restored recording was released as an album by Ghostlight Records.
In 1983, John Cassavetes and LuPone workshopped a production of a play called Thornhill by Meade Roberts. The play, directed by Cassavetes, starred LuPone as Eugene O'Neill's wife Carlotta Monterey, and Cassavetes as O'Neill. The production also featured cast members Ben Gazzara and Carol Kane.
Also in 1983, LuPone starred as Rosalind opposite Val Kilmer in As You Like It at the Guthrie Theatre directed by Liviu Ciulei. In the same year, founding alumni of The Acting Company reunited for an off-Broadway revival of Marc Blitzstein's landmark labor musical The Cradle Will Rock at the American Place Theater. It was narrated by John Houseman with LuPone in the roles of Moll and Sister Mister.Rich, Frank. "'Labor Opera' By Blitzstein Is Revived", The New York Times, May 10, 1983. p. C11 The production premiered at The Acting Company's summer residence at Chautauqua Institution, toured the United States including an engagement at the Highland Park, Illinois' Ravinia Festival in 1984 and played in London's West End.
When the run ended, LuPone remained in London to create the role of Fantine in Cameron Mackintosh's original London production of Les Misérables, in 1985, which premiered at the Barbican Theatre at that time the London home of the Royal Shakespeare Company." 'Les Misérables' listing, 1985" johncaird.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010. LuPone had previously worked for Mackintosh in a short-lived Broadway revival of Oliver! in 1984, playing Nancy opposite Ron Moody as Fagin.Rich, Frank. "Theater: Moody in 'Oliver!'", The New York Times, April 30, 1984, p. C11 For her work in both The Cradle Will Rock and Les Misérables, LuPone received the 1985 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical, making LuPone the first American actor or actress to win an Olivier Award."Patti LuPone biography" pbs.org. Retrieved August 24, 2010."Olivier Winners 1985" officiallondontheater.co.uk. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
She returned to Broadway in 1987 to star as nightclub singer Reno Sweeney in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of Cole Porter's Anything Goes. Starring opposite Howard McGillin, they both received Tony nominations for their performances.Bennetts, Leslie. "No Tears For LuPone's Reno" The New York Times, October 22, 1987Internet Broadway database listing, 'Anything Goes'" ibdb.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010. The Lincoln Center cast reassembled for a one-night-only concert performance of Anything Goes in New York in 2002."Internet Broadway database listing, 'Anything Goes' concert" ibdb.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
Among LuPone's film credits are Fighting Back, Witness, Steven Universe: The Movie, Just Looking, The Victim, Summer of Sam, Driving Miss Daisy, King of the Gypsies, 1941, Wise Guys, Nancy Savoca's The 24 Hour Woman and Savoca's Union Square, Family Prayers and City by the Sea. She has also worked with playwright David Mamet on his films State and Main and Heist. In 1987, LuPone starred as Lady Bird Johnson in the TV movie, LBJ: The Early Years (1987)."LBJ listing" allmovie.com. Retrieved August 27, 2010.Corry, John. "TV VIEW; 'LBJ' – A POWERFUL PORTRAIT" New York Times, February 1, 1987