Randy Harrison

Randolph Clarke Harrison (born November 2, 1977) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Justin Taylor on the Showtime drama '' Queer as Folk''.

Early life and college

Harrison was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he starting acting early. He attended Bicentennial Elementary School and starred as Peter Pan in the school play. He was also active in the Actorsingers and played Winthrop in a 1987 production of ''The Music Man''. He moved to Alpharetta, Georgia, with his family at age eleven. He attended Pace Academy, a private prep school in Atlanta. His father is an executive with a large paper company, while he has described his mother as a "thwarted artist." His only sibling, an older brother, is a bank manager.

Harrison attended the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in musical theatre. During his time at CCM, Harrison starred in university productions such as ''Hello Again'', '' Shopping and Fucking,'' and ''Children of Eden''. He also had roles in other theatrical venues across the U.S., in productions such as ''Violet'' at the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, ''1776'' at the St. Louis Municipal Theatre and ''West Side Story'' at the Forestburg Playhouse, as well as productions of ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''The Real Inspector Hound'' and '' A Cheever Evening''.

Career

Harrison made his television debut playing Justin Taylor, a gay teen, in 2000's American version of ''Queer as Folk'', based on the British television series. The series ran for five seasons, ending in 2005. In 2002, Harrison played the character Sean in '' Bang Bang You're Dead'', a made-for-television movie based on the play of the same name. Harrison stars as Brutus in cinematographer/director/writer Patrick Donelley's postmodern feature film adaptation of ''Julius Caesar'' opposite actor John Shea as the title role.

In 2002, Harrison starred in the play ''Deviant'' by Sophie Rand at the New York International Fringe Festival. In summer 2004, Harrison made his Broadway debut as Boq in the musical ''Wicked''. His Off Broadway credits include ''A Letter for Ethel Kennedy'' by Christopher Gorman (MCC Theater, 2002), the Father in ''Oak Tree'' (Perry Street Theatre, 2006), Young Spencer in ''Edward II'' (Red Bull Theatre, 2007–08), Eros in ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (Theatre for a New Audience, 2008), Laszlo Fickes/Gerhardt Zeitzler in ''A Singing Forest'' (Public Theatre, 2009), and Kevin Adams-Weller in ''Harbor'' ( Primary Stages, 2013). Harrison has also done several staged readings for Red Bull Theatre and starred in their "In the Raw" workshop production of ''A Tyger's Heart'' in February 2011.

Harrison has a substantial résumé in regional theatre, most prominently as a featured player since 2005 at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Roles with BTF include Alan Strang in ''Equus'' (2005), the title role in '' Amadeus'' (2006), Bill Bibbit in ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (2007), Frank Gardner in '' Mrs. Warren's Profession'' (2007), Lucky in ''Waiting for Godot'' (2008), Osvald Alving in ''Ghosts'' (2009), Nagg in ''Endgame'' (2010), and the title character in ''The Who's "Tommy''" (2011). Other regional theatre credits include Lysander/Thisbe/Cobweb in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival production of ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', presented in spring 2006 by the SITI Company (where Harrison has studied extensively through Skidmore College and in Manhattan); Tom in the Guthrie Theater's production of ''The Glass Menagerie'' (2007); Andy Warhol in the Yale Repertory Theatre's production of ''Pop!'' (2009); Sebastian in the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of ''Twelfth Night'' (2010); Tim in the Studio Theatre's production of '' Habit of Art''; and Ken in the George Street Playhouse's production of ''Red'' (2012).

In 2006, Harrison co-founded the Arts Bureau (tAB

an umbrella organization encompassing theatre, film, music, and writing. In July 2007, he starred in tAB's first production, ''a heartwarming story, ultimately'', based on the work of Anton Chekhov. In late 2007/early 2008, Harrison shot and starred in the first tAB short film, ''Thinking'', which has been shown at several film festivals. In Summer 2008, tAB shot its first feature film ''Lorton Lake''.

In 2024, Harrison announced he had decided to leave the public eye and change careers to become a therapist.

Personal life

Harrison, who is gay, dated ''Advertising Age'' columnist Simon Dumenco from 2002 to 2008; the two met when Dumenco interviewed Harrison for a ''New York'' magazine cover story. As of December 2009, Harrison lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with his cats Ella and Aggie.

Filmography

Television

Film

Theater

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Randy
1977 births
American gay actors
American male musical theatre actors
American male television actors
LGBTQ people from Georgia (U.S. state)
LGBTQ people from New Hampshire
Living people
Male actors from Brooklyn
Male actors from Georgia (U.S. state)
Male actors from New Hampshire
Pace Academy alumni
People from Nashua, New Hampshire
People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn
University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music alumni