Harry Connick Jr.

Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and television host. He has sold over 28 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 16 million in certified sales. He has had seven top 20 US albums, and ten number-one US jazz albums, earning more number-one albums than any other artist in US jazz chart history.

Connick's best-selling album in the United States is his Christmas album When My Heart Finds Christmas (1993). His highest-charting album is his release Only You (2004), which reached No. 5 in the US and No. 6 in Britain. He has won three Grammy Awards and two Emmy Awards. He played Leo Markus, the husband of Grace Adler (played by Debra Messing) on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace from 2002 to 2006.

Connick began his acting career as a tail gunner in the World War II film Memphis Belle (1990). He played a serial killer in Copycat (1995) before being cast as a fighter pilot in the blockbuster Independence Day (1996). Connick's first role as a leading man was in Hope Floats (1998) with Sandra Bullock. His first thriller film since Copycat was Basic (2003) with John Travolta. Additionally, he played a violent ex-husband in Bug, before two romantic comedies, P.S. I Love You (2007), and the leading man in New in Town (2009) with Renée Zellweger. In 2011, he appeared in the family film Dolphin Tale as Dr. Clay Haskett and in its 2014 sequel.

Early life

Harry Connick Jr. was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother, Anita Frances Livingston (née Levy),[ was a lawyer and judge in New Orleans. His father, Harry Connick, was the district attorney of Orleans Parish from 1973 to 2003. His parents also owned a record store. Connick's father is a Roman Catholic of Irish, English, Northern Irish, and German ancestry. Connick's mother, who died of ovarian cancer, was Jewish (her parents had emigrated from Minsk and Vienna, respectively). Connick and his sister, Suzanna, were raised in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans.

Connick started learning keyboards at age three, playing publicly at age five, and recording with a local jazz band at ten. When he was nine years old, Connick performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 Opus 37 with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra (now the Louisiana Philharmonic). Later he played a duet with Eubie Blake at the Royal Orleans Esplanade Lounge in New Orleans. The song was "I'm Just Wild About Harry". This was recorded for a Japanese documentary called Jazz Around the World. The clip was also shown in a Bravo special called Worlds of Harry Connick, Junior. in 1999. His musical talents were developed at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and under the tutelage of Ellis Marsalis Jr. and James Booker.

Connick attended Jesuit High School, Isidore Newman School, Lakeview School, and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, all in New Orleans. Following an unsuccessful attempt to study jazz academically, and having given recitals in the classical and jazz piano programs at Loyola University, Connick moved to the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City to study at Hunter College and the Manhattan School of Music. There he met Columbia Records executive, Dr. George Butler, who persuaded him to sign with Columbia. His first record, Harry Connick Jr., was a mainly instrumental album of standards. He soon acquired a reputation in jazz because of extended stays at high-profile New York venues. His next album, 20, featured his vocals and added to this reputation.