Actors - Kerry Butler

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	Actors - Kerry Butler

Kerry Butler (born June 18, 1971 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actress.

In 2006, Butler rejoined the cast of the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live, originating the role of Claudia Reston.

Biography

:Kerry Butler is primarily known as a theatre and stage actress. Born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, she began acting at age three by doing commercials. When she was a child she saw a production of Annie and knew acting was what she wanted to pursue. After a four-year hiatus imposed by her mother Kerry started acting again at the age of nine and has been at it since.

:Kerry graduated from Ithaca College in 1992, where she majored in musical theatre. She appeared on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, where she played Heather. She toured with the musical Oklahoma! in Europe where she performed the role of Ado Annie. Other New York roles include Vicki in the workshop of Bright Lights, Big City, Barrow in The "I" Word, and Claudia in The Folsom Head. She can also be heard in various commercials.

:Kerry made her Broadway debut in 1993 in the role of Ms. Jones in the musical Blood Brothers, where she also understudied the role of Linda. In 1995, she created the role of Belle for the Toronto production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, eventually transferring to Broadway. After playing Belle for over two years, she moved over to Les Miserables to play the popular role of Eponine.

:In 2001, Kerry played the love interest Shelley in the acclaimed Off-Broadway original musical Bat Boy. The show was a cult favorite and seemed poised for a long run, but unfortuntately after the events of September 11, attendance throughout New York plummeted and the show could not regain its footing. Bat Boy closed in late 2001. But this is hardly the last audiences would see of the rising star.

:In February 2002 Kerry was cast as Penny Pingleton in the musical version of the John Waters film Hairspray. While that show went into pre-production Kerry played the free-spirited performance artist Maddie in the limited run of the intimate Australian musical Prodigal, at the York Theatre.

:In March 2002 Kerry also appeared on the TV show Sesame Street as Ms. Camp, a letter carrier.

:After an out of town tryout in Seattle, Hairspray opened on Broadway on August 2002 to nearly unanimous rave reviews and blockbuster attendance. The hottest ticket in town for months, Hairspray was an undisputed smash hit. Even in a star-studded ensemble cast, reviewers singled Kerry out for her sparkling performance as the spastic sidekick. The show would go on to win eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, but it was widely considered a snub in the industry when Kerry was not nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role. She was, however, nominated for the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and received the Clarence Derwent award for her performance.

:During her run in Hairspray Kerry filmed a TV pilot for Fox entitled "Twins" but it was not picked up for the season.

:Following the end of her Hairspray contract in July 2003, Kerry was cast in the role of Audrey in the first-ever Broadway production of the musical, Little Shop of Horrors. The show enjoyed a long run Off-Broadway in the 1980's and achieved immortality via the film version starring Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, and Ellen Greene, who also created the role of Audrey Off-Broadway. Kerry put her own stamp on the role, revisiting her long-lost childhood Brooklyn accent to play Audrey, the love interest with a sadistic dentist boyfriend and a heart of gold. As a big fan of composer Alan Menken, who also wrote the music for Beauty and the Beast, she was thrilled to appear in her second Menken show on Broadway.

:After leaving the show in the summer of 2004, Kerry traveled to San Francisco where she created the role of Dedee Truitt in the new musical The Opposite of Sex, which had its world premiere at the Magic Theatre that fall. The musical is based on the 1998 Don Roos film starring Christina Ricci and Lisa Kudrow. It was a big departure from Kerry's perky, squeaky-clean image to play a conniving, scheming, foul-mouthed teenager, which she did with aplomb.

:In September of 2005, Kerry appeared in the original Off-Broadway musical Miracle Brothers at the Vineyard Theatre. She played the role of Isabel, a mother made miserable by the rebelliousness of her son as well as her unhappy marriage.

:In January 2006 Kerry appeared again on One Life to Life, but this time as the new character Claudia Reston. She was subsequently signed to a contract, ensuring viewers will be seeing more of her on the small screen.

:When she is not working on TV or on the stage, Kerry continues to perform in various workshops, readings, and benefit concerts. She is a vegetarian and activist whose concerns include human rights violations, genocide, and environmental issues. She is married to a childhood friend.

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