Michael Benjamin Washington is an American actor and playwright known for his works in the plays, Blueprints to Freedom: An Ode to Bayard Rustin (2015), The Boys in the Band (2018), and Flies in the Mirror (2019). He also worked in the web films, The Boys in the Band (2020), and American Auto (2020).
Wiki/Biography
Michael Benjamin Washington was born on Thursday, June 7, 1979 (age 42 years; as in 2020), in Dallas, Texas. His zodiac sign is Gemini. He did a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a Major in Drama and Minor in Journalism from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 6′ 1″
Eye Color: Black
Hair Color: Black
Family & Ethnicity
He is a Black American. Nothing is known about his family. He has a sister.
Career
In 1998, he made his New York debut with the play, Saturday Night in the role of ‘Ted’ at Second Stage Theatre. He made his Broadway debut with the play Mamma Mia! (2001) as ‘Eddie.’
He has acted in many Broadway plays, such as The Summer Bride, Funny Girl (2002), Miracle Brother (2004), La Cage Aux Folles (2004), The Viz (2006), The Boys in the Band (2018), Call Me Madam (2019), Pride Plays (2019), and Flies in the Mirror (2019). Michael turned author with the play, Blueprints to Freedom: An Ode to Bayard Rustin (2015) and authored another Broadway play titled Pride Plays (2019).
In 2004, he made his TV debut with series, The Jury as ‘Myles.’
He has acted in many plays including Hope & Faith (2005), Law & Order (2009), 10 Things I Hate About You (2010), Glee (2010), 30 Rock (2009-10), Wendall and Vinnie (2013), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2017), and Ratched (2020). He made his film debut with Love & Other Drugs (2010) as ‘Richard.’
He has acted in many films such as Open Books (2010), Save The Date (2014), Until the Wedding (2019), The Boys in the Band (2020), and American Auto (2020).
Favorite Things
- Plays: ‘Torch Song Trilogy’ by Harvey Fierstein, ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ by John Guare
- Musical: Pippin by Bob Fosse and Roger O. Hirson
- Playwright: Harvey Fierstein
Facts/Trivia
- When he was eleven years old, he got his SAG-AFTRA (The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) card.
- He is a presidential scholar in arts and also serves as a National Reviewer and Masterclass Instructor for National YoungArts Foundation. He is a member of the Broadway Inspirational Voices.
- He also served as the board of directors of Moonshine Project, an off-Broadway company, which is dedicated to developing new works by young artists.
- He was awarded San Diego Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Play, and Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play for ‘Blueprints to Freedom: an ode to Bayard Rustin’ (2015).
- In 2019, Benjamin received the Human Rights Campaign’s Visibility Award at St. Louis Dinner.