Sam Tutty (born 9 April 1998) is an English actor. He is most known for his

title role The title character in a Narrative, narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The ...

in the West End production of the musical ''

Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important role for himself in a t ...

'' for which a then 22-year-old Tutty won a

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, becoming one of the youngest winners of the award. In 2021, he joined the cast of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

'' as

Timmy Simons Timmy Simons (born 11 December 1976) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He was known for his tireless work ethic and penalty-taking ability, having scored 48 competitive goals through penalties, mi ...

Early life and education

Sam Tutty was born on 9 April 1998 in

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

. His father left when he was ten years old and he, his mother, and younger brother soon moved to Hull. After returning to West Sussex, Tutty attended Imberhorne Secondary School, notably appearing in many school productions such as ''The Wizard of Oz''. Tutty attended the

Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England. It was founded in 1911 by Italia Conti, an actress. The first production at Italia Conti Academy was the play ''Where the Rainbow Ends''. For ...

, where he learned to dance, amassed his repertoire of songs, and gained his foundation in theatre etiquette.

Acting career

Tutty made his off-West End debut as Daniel in the British Theater Academy's production of ''

Once on This Island ''Once on This Island'' is a coming-of-age one-act stage musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. It is based on the 1985 novel ''My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl'' by Rosa Guy, a Caribbean-set retelling o ...

'' at the

Southwark Playhouse Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. History The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They identified the need for a h ...

. After an intensive auditions process in which he was originally cast as Evan's alternate, Tutty was cast as the main Evan Hansen in the West End production of ''Dear Evan Hansen'' at the

Noel Coward Theatre Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places * Noel, Missouri, United States, a city *Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid *Mount Noel, Britis ...

. Previews for the show began on 29 October 2019 and the show officially opened on 19 November 2019. Tutty's performance gained widespread praise from critics. He went on to receive numerous awards, including

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Award ...

. At age 22, he is one of the youngest winners of the most prestigious UK theatrical award. On 25 May 2021, it was announced that Tutty had joined the cast of the

soap opera ''

''. He made his debut appearance as

on 4 June 2021. After 21 episodes, the character was killed off to allow Tutty to reprise his role of Evan Hansen after the re-opening of the West End production in October 2021 following the forced closure due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In 2022 Tutty performed the song "Heart Of A Stranger" for '' The Robbie Sherman Songbook''.

Theatre credits

Filmography

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tutty, Sam 1998 births 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts English male musical theatre actors English male soap opera actors Laurence Olivier Award winners Living people Male actors from Kingston upon Hull People from Crawley