John Cullum

John Cullum (born March 2, 1930) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in many stage musicals and dramas, including On the Twentieth Century (1978) and Shenandoah (1975), winning the Tony Awards for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for each. He earned his first Tony nomination as lead actor in a musical in 1966 for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever in which he introduced the title song, and more recently received Tony nominations for Urinetown The Musical (2002) (best actor in a musical) and as best featured actor in a musical the revival of 110 in the Shade (2007). He portrayed tavern owner Holling Vincoeur on the television drama series Northern Exposure (6 seasons), earning an Emmy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor in a Drama. He was featured in fifteen episodes of the NBC television series ER as Mark Greene's father. He was the farmer in the landmark television drama The Day After. He has made multiple guest appearances on Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as attorney, now judge, Barry Moredock, and appeared as Mike's father, Big Mike, in several episodes of The Middle. Personal life Cullum was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of a banker. He attended Knoxville High School and the University of Tennessee. He played on the university's Southeastern Conference championship tennis team and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta. He starred in "Chucky Jack", an outdoor drama about Tennessee Governor John Sevier, at the old Hunter Hills Theater in Gatlinburg. Cullum has been married to Emily Frankel since 1959. They have one son, JD Cullum, who is also an actor. Career He made his Broadway debut as Sir Dinadan in Alan Jay Lerner's and Frederick Loewe's Camelot in 1960. He also understudied Richard Burton (King Arthur) and Roddy McDowall (Arthur's son Mordred), going on four times when Burton became ill and succeeding McDowall. He would go on to play Laertes opposite Burton's 1964 Broadway performance as Hamlet (and in the film version of the production) and in Burton's final Broadway appearance in Noël Coward's Private Lives in 1983. In 1965, he was called in to replace Louis Jourdan during the Boston tryout of the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. It was his first starring role on Broadway, netting him a Theatre World Award and his first Tony Award nomination. The original cast album received a Grammy Award (presented to lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Burton Lane). He portrayed Edward Rutledge of South Carolina in the Broadway musical 1776, providing a dramatic highlight with his performance of "Molasses to Rum," a tirade against the hypocrisy of some Northerners over the slave trade ("They don't keep slaves, but they are willing to be considerable carriers of slaves to others. They're willing – for the shilling.") Cullum had been the third Rutledge on Broadway, but played the role the longest and repeated it for the 1972 film. He is well known for premiering the role of Charlie Anderson in the musical Shenandoah, which began at Goodspeed Opera House, Connecticut in 1974. Cullum won the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards when the show was produced on Broadway in 1975. He also played the role at Wolf Trap, Virginia, in June 1976, opened the national tour for 3 weeks in Fall 1977 in Chicago, and starred in the limited run Broadway revival in 1989.