Leslie Odom Jr.

Birth Name: Leslie Odom Jr.

Nickname/Stage Name: Leslie Odom Jr.

Birth Date: August 6, 1981

Genres: Drama, Musical, Thriller

Occupation(s): Actor, Singer, Songwriter

Years Active: 1998 till Present

Net Worth: N/A

 

Personal Life

Leslie Odom Jr. was born in Queens, New York. He grew up in Philadelphia. He married actress Nicolette Kloe Robinson in December 2012.

The couple has two children; daughter Lucille Ruby (born in 2017) and son Able Phineas (born in 2021).

Education

Odom attended Julia R. Masterman School and Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. He got a degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He also attended Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he studied Theater.

Career

The actor started out performing in theatrical productions before nabbing a recurring role on CSI: Miami between 2003 and 2006.

Odom appeared in several short films before getting a supporting role in the 2012 war film Red Tails. He featured in Kenneth Branagh's 2017 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express.

He further starred as abolitionist William Still in the 2019 film Harriet. His other movie projects include Music, One Night in Miami, and Needle in a Timestack.

Awards

Princess Grace Award (2002, 2012)

Tony Award (2016)

Grammy Award (2016)

Broadway.com Audience Award (2016)

Black Film Critics Circle Award (2020)

Critics' Choice Award (2020)

Hawaii Film Critics Society Award (2021)

Independent Spirit Award (2021)

Online Film Critics Society Award (2021)

Quote

"Raising a young black girl, I can't tell you how difficult it is for me to find books and films and works of art that are not centered around white people and white beauty and white genius and white joy. Ushering black and brown beauty into the world is still political, and it is still important because the examples are few and far between."

Trivia

He is an accomplished singer and dancer.

He is friends with actress Cynthia Erivo.

According to his memoir, he met his wife, Nicolette Robinson, when he started taking professional acting lessons from her father, Stuart Robinson.

Movies

Scarecrow Joe (2007)

Red Tails (2012)

Luna Goes Cruising (2015)

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Harriet (2019)

One Night in Miami (2020)

Needle in a Timestack (2021)