Princess Grace Statue Award, 2016

Princess Grace Award
Theater Scholarship, 2002
Carnegie Mellon University

Tony and Grammy Award- winning performer, Leslie Odom, Jr., has taken the entertainment world by storm across a variety of media – spanning Broadway, television, film, and music.

On television, Odom Jr will star in and executive produce the ABC pilot UNTITLED LESLIE ODOM JR PILOT with Simpson Street and Kerry Washington about joint pastors at a young, hip, diverse church in LA. He also will soon begin production on a lead role in David Chase’s movie prequel to the Award-winning HBO series SOPRANOS, THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK.  Leslie recently completed production on four feature films: writer-director Takashi Doscher’s ONLY, the feature film directorial debut MUSIC from recording artist, Sia,  NEEDLE IN A TIMESTACK written and directed by John Ridley, and Kasi Lemmons’ HARRIET for Focus Features.

He was last seen on the big screen in Kenneth Branagh’s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS for Twentieth Century Fox. Previous film work includes the 2012 historical drama, RED TAILS, executive produced by George Lucas.

Odom Jr is best known for his breakout role as ‘Aaron Burr’ in the smash hit Broadway musical, HAMILTON, for which he received a 2015 Drama Desk Award nomination and won the Tony Award for “Best Actor in a Musical”. He also won a Grammy Award as a principal soloist on the original cast recording. He made his Broadway debut in RENT and starred in the stage adaption of LEAP OF FAITH. Off-Broadway he appeared in VENICE at the Public Theater. He also starred opposite Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo in a 2014 City Center Encores! revival of Jonathan Larson’s TICK, TICK…BOOM!

In December 2017, Odom Jr. returned to the New York City stage in a solo concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The cabaret-style performance was crafted around signature songs and music that shaped this artist’s journey, all performed with a world-class band in front of a live audience. The show was filmed for broadcast as an hour-long PBS special as part of the 17-time Emmy Award-winning series, LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER, and premiered April 27, 2018.

A Grammy Award- winning recording artist, Odom Jr.’s self-titled debut album was part-funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign and released in 2014 by Borderlight Entertainment, Inc. In June 2016, the album was re-released with additional material and charted at #1 on the Billboard Jazz chart and #147 on the Billboard 200. In winter 2017, he re-released Simply Christmas as a deluxe edition with new arrangements and new songs. The holiday album hit #1 on iTunes and Billboard Jazz Charts.

On March 27, 2018, Odom Jr. added the title of author to his resume with the release of his book – FAILING UP: HOW TO TAKE RISKS, AIM HIGHER, and NEVER STOP LEARNING. Written in the style of a commencement speech, the book brings together what Odom Jr. has learned in life so far, tapping into universal themes of starting something new, following your passions, discovering your own potential, and surrounding yourself with the right people. FAILING UP is about unlocking your true potential and making your dreams come true even when it seems impossible. The book is being published by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers.