Christopher John O'Neill is a comedian and

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actor, best known for playing the role of Elder Arnold Cunningham in the musical ''

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''. While performing at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

with his two-man traveling comedy act, '' The Chris and Paul Show'', O'Neill was spotted by a casting director and invited to audition for the role of Elder Cunningham. He joined the first national tour as Elder Cunningham in December 2012, his professional acting debut, and in January 2015 he joined the Broadway cast. In 2019, ''The Chris and Paul Show'' competed in the NBC comedy competition television series ''

Bring the Funny ''Bring the Funny'' is an American comedy competition series that aired on NBC from July 9 to September 17, 2019. Hosted by comedian Amanda Seales, the series features various comedy acts performing in front of an audience for a chance to win $ ...

'', making it to the finals of the show's first season.

Early life

Christopher John O'Neill grew up in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

, the son of Rich and Karen O'Neill. His father is a

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

and

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-educated pianist, and his mother is a

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teacher. He also has one brother, Brian. While O'Neill took up music and performed in musicals and plays, he grew up wanting to be a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. By his sophomore year at Stamford High School, Chris O’Neill had been kicked off the soccer team for his poor grades and felt he had nothing to look forward to. By the end of high school he wanted to be a professional comedian. O'Neill applied to several college theater programs, but owing to a lack of experience, was not accepted into any of them.

''The Chris and Paul Show''

Starting in 2000, O'Neill and Paul Valenti began collaborating as a sketch-comedy duo called ''The Chris and Paul Show''. O'Neill described the duo's style as "stupid and abrupt"; it also involved physical comedy. In 2003, shortly after O'Neill graduated high school, the pair moved to New York City, where O'Neill worked a series of retail and service jobs while Valenti found gigs for the duo to perform at. ''The Chris and Paul Show'' did receive some acclaim, with O'Neill receiving the Best Actor in a Comedy award from the

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and the duo receiving Best Newcomer award at the 2011

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. They were also nominated for the same award at the 2011

, which invited them to return in 2012. In 2019, ''The Chris and Paul Show'' competed in the NBC comedy competition television series ''

'', making it to the finals of the show's first season.

''The Book of Mormon''

While performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, O'Neill and Valenti were both spotted by a casting director for the musical ''

''. The two made it through several auditions in Los Angeles before O'Neill was invited to New York for a month-long training camp and extended audition. Over a dozen other people auditioned for the role of Elder Cunningham at the training camp, including

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor and singer. The son of film and theater producer Marc Platt (producer), Marc Platt and philanthropist Julie Platt, he began his acting career in musical theater as a child and ...

and Cody Strand, who would be chosen to play the role in Chicago and on Broadway, respectively. O'Neill was selected to play Elder Cunningham for the first national tour, replacing original cast member Jared Gertner, who left the national tour for the soon-to-open West End production. He made his debut on December 28, 2012. The performance was also the national tour debut of Mark Evans, who replaced

Gavin Creel Gavin James Creel (April 18, 1976 – September 30, 2024) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter best known for his work in musical theater. Over his career he received a Grammy Award, a Tony Award, two Drama Desk Awards and a Laurence O ...

(who also left for West End) as Elder Price. The role was O'Neill's first in professional musical theater. On January 6, 2015, O'Neill joined the Broadway cast of ''The Book of Mormon'', with Gavin Creel joining the Broadway Cast as Elder Price the same night.

Personal life

O'Neill married his longtime girlfriend, Jennifer Viola Sessions, in April 2013. He has two daughters, Harper and Hailey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Christopher John Male actors from Stamford, Connecticut Living people 21st-century American comedians American male musical theatre actors Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)