On this date in 1978, actor Andrew Scott Rannells was born in Omaha, Neb., to Charlotte and Ronald Rannells, the fourth of five siblings. He attended Catholic schools, including Creighton Prep, an all-boys Jesuit high school. He served as an altar boy and revealed later he was targeted sexually by a Creighton priest, causing him to renounce Catholicism.
He took acting classes as a child and after high school moved to New York City to study theater at Marymount Manhattan College for two years before starting to work professionally, mostly in voice roles. Among his first live roles was the character James in the touring production of “Pokémon Live!” in 2000-01. The character was a hurtful description of a gay person, which by then Rannells knew he was.
After more roles in regional productions, he had his Broadway debut in 2005 as Link Larkin in “Hairspray.” In 2011 he originated the role of Elder Price in “The Book of Mormon, a musical written by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and “Avenue Q” composer Robert Lopez. Rannells was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical and won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for his performance in the show’s original Broadway cast recording.
He played a stripper in the film “Bachelorette” (2012), a lead character in the 2012–13 TV series “The New Normal” and the recurring role of Elijah on the HBO series “Girls.” Rannells played Whizzer Brown in the 2016-17 Broadway revival of “Falsettos,” directed by James Lapine, and Larry in the 2018 revival of “The Boys in the Band” in honor of the play’s 50th anniversary. It won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.
He played Trent Oliver in Netflix’s 2020 movie musical “The Prom” and in 2022 made his London stage debut originating the role of Jim Bakker in the musical “Tammy Faye” nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He reunited in 2023 with “Book of Mormon” co-star Josh Gad for a limited Broadway production of “Gutenberg! The Musical!”
Rannells came out as gay at age 18 to family and friends and has been in a relationship with actor Tuc Watkins since they met during “The Boys in the Band” revival, it was reported in 2019.
In his book “Too Much Is Not Enough: A Memoir of Fumbling Toward Adulthood” (2019), he alleged being assaulted by a Catholic priest during the sacrament of confession: “I felt safe and heard and understood. Then, with unexpected force, he kissed me. On the lips. He muscled his tongue into my mouth and held the back of my head still. Then he released me and made the sign of the cross on my forehead. He smiled,” Rannells wrote, adding that he “walked away, stunned.”
He tried to avoid the priest during the rest of the school year but he was included on the guest list at Rannell’s graduation party at home. As the priest prepared to leave the party, “he grabbed me by the back of the neck and forced his tongue in my mouth. I just stood there and let him. I didn’t kiss back, but I also didn’t move. He smiled at me and walked to his car. I went into our kitchen and slammed a glass of wine before going back out to the party.”
He wrote much of his second memoir, “Uncle of the Year” (2023), during the pandemic lockdown. It was published when he was 45. According to a fairly lukewarm review in the Bay Area Reporter for the book’s purported omissions, the reviewer continued: “Rannells is one of the few recognizable openly gay actors today, so we want to grasp the challenges that status has engendered in his life. Ultimately, Rannells is such a delightful talented companion we want to hear more.”
PHOTO: Rannells at the 2025 premiere of “Liberation” on Broadway, photo by Philip Romano under CC 4.0.
