Len Cariou

Actor

• Born: September 30, 1939
• Place of Birth: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Contribution: Len Cariou is an accomplished stage and screen actor best known for originating the role of Sweeney Todd in the Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Background

Len Cariou was born on September 30, 1939, in Winnipeg, Canada, to George and Molly Cariou. Early in his childhood, Cariou developed an interest in music thanks largely to his parents, who kept a piano in their house and regularly sang together. Cariou’s mother, in particular, fostered her son’s musical talents, training him as a singer.

When he was in high school, Cariou performed in various pop-singing groups and played at school dances nearly every weekend. He also dabbled in acting and was a prominent member of the drama department at the Miles MacDonnell Collegiate secondary school, regularly performing in and directing a variety of stage shows.

Though he enjoyed performing on stage, Cariou didn’t begin to seriously consider a career as a performer until he met John Hirsch, a Hungarian-born theater director whose work was influential to many aspiring actors. Determined to make it as an actor, Cariou doggedly pursued Hirsch, who eventually relented in 1959 and hired Cariou to be part of the chorus in a production of Damn Yankees. Hirsch was so impressed with Cariou that he asked Cariou to join him at the newly formed Manitoba Theatre Centre to play Ensign Pulver in Mr. Roberts. With that, Cariou’s professional acting career was off and running.

Career

Cariou spent much of the 1960s at the Manitoba Theatre Centre, frequently performing in classical dramas, including Shakespeare’s King Lear and Macbeth. In 1968, he jumped at the opportunity to move on to Broadway, where he first appeared in The House of Atreus. When the show proved to be a hit, Cariou found himself with no shortage of roles to play. Among his most notable performances during this period were Applause (1970) and composer Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music (1973), both of which resulted in Tony Award nominations for Cariou.

Cariou’s impressive work in A Little Night Music eventually led Sondheim to offer him the part that would define his stage career—that of Sweeney Todd, the murderous barber out for bloody revenge in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979). Originating the role alongside Angela Lansbury as the equally depraved Mrs. Lovett, Cariou picked up a Drama Desk Award for outstanding actor in a musical and a Tony Award for best actor in a musical.

Throughout the 1980s, as Cariou was playing Sweeney Todd, he was also beginning to build his résumé as a television actor. He appeared in numerous television movies, including Madame X (1981), The Tempest (1983), and Killer in the Mirror (1986), and as a recurring character alongside his former Sweeney Todd costar Angela Lansbury in several episodes of Murder, She Wrote (1985–92). He also began carving out a place for himself in feature films, appearing in The Four Seasons (1981) and Lady in White (1988). Despite his burgeoning screen career, Cariou never wandered too far from the stage and had roles in shows such as Dance a Little Closer (1983) and Teddy & Alice (1987).

Cariou’s television career continued into the 1990s with appearances in movies such as The Sea Wolf (1993) and Border Line (1999) and various television series. He continued his role as Michael Hagarty in Murder, She Wrote and did guest spots on shows like Street Legal (1992), Swift Justice (1996), and Star Trek: Voyager (1997).

Cariou began the 2000s with his most significant appearance on the Broadway stage since Sweeney Todd, appearing with Neil Patrick Harris and Anne Heche in Proof (2002), the success of which reenergized Cariou’s television career and led to roles in an array of shows, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2007), Brotherhood (2006–7), and Damages (2010). He also landed several notable film roles in About Schmidt (2002), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), and 1408 (2007).

In 2009, Cariou played President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the World War II–era television movie Into the Storm, a portrayal that earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor in a movie. The following year, he took on what would become his biggest television role to date, as Henry Reagan, the patriarch of a family of New York City cops in the CBS series Blue Bloods. The show ran for fourteen seasons and was canceled by CBS despite good ratings and pleas from the cast and fans, though the network hinted there might be an unspecified reincarnation of the show in the future. Cariou appeared in 293 episodes of the show during its run.

While still filming episodes of Blue Bloods, Cariou continued to work in film and on the stage. After having a role in the crime-drama Prisoners (2013), he portrayed Cardinal Law in the Academy Award–winning film Spotlight (2015), about the investigations made by the Boston Globe into the child sexual abuse cases involving local Catholic priests. The following year, he premiered his Off-Broadway one-man show Broadway & the Bard, in which he performed Shakespearean monologues and sonnets as well as songs. With the show largely well received, he was able to tour and perform it around the country over subsequent years. Meanwhile, in 2018 he appeared in the films Death Wish and Bumblebee, and in 2019 he was part of the cast of the Netflix miniseries When They See Us, which provides a fictionalized account of the case in which five teenagers were accused of attacking a woman in Central Park in 1989.

Impact

Cariou has proven his worth as an actor during his long and prolific stage and screen career. His work in originating the character of Sweeney Todd defined the role for the many actors who would later take it on. The diverse characters he has played in myriad plays, television shows, and films have established Cariou as a respected and talented performer.

Personal Life

Cariou has been married three times and has one daughter, Laurel Cariou Freedy, from his first marriage, to Patricia Otter.

Bibliography

Cariou, Len. Conversations with Actors and Directors Performing O’Neill. By Yvonne Shafer. New York: St. Martin’s, 2000. Print.

Chanin, Myra. “Len Cariou, Broadway’s Original Sweeney Todd, Reveals His Canadian Roots.” Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 21 Dec. 2012. Web. 26 June 2013.

Gomberg, Alan. “Spotlight On: Len Cariou.” Talkin Broadway. TalkinBroadway.com, n.d. Web. 31 July 2013.

Kidd, Paul. “From Winnipeg to Broadway.” Saturday Gazette [Montreal] 11 Apr. 1970: 41. Print.

Martz, Fraidie, and Andrew Wilson. A Fiery Soul: The Life and Theatrical Times of John Hirsch. Montreal: Véhicule, 2011. Print.

Ouzounian, Richard. “Frost/Nixon Star Reveals a Hot-Blooded Past.” The Star. Toronto Star Newspapers, 4 Oct. 2008. Web. 26 June 2013.

Russell, Shania. " CBS boss Confirms Blue Bloods Will End this Year, Wants to Give Show 'the sendoff it deserves'." Entertainment Weekly, 2 May 2024, ew.com/blue-bloods-will-end-this-year-with-season-14-cbs-boss-confirms-8642755. Accessed 16 Sept. 2024.