Lin-Manuel Miranda

Biography

Lin-Manuel Miranda ( man-WELL; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, filmmaker, librettist, and producer. He created the Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton, and the soundtracks for the animated films Moana, Vivo, and Encanto. He has received numerous accolades including a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, three Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards, along with nominations for two Academy Awards. He received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2018.

Miranda made his Broadway debut in 2008, writing the music and lyrics for and starring in the musical In the Heights, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Original Score and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. It was later adapted as a 2021 film of the same name. Miranda returned to Broadway in 2015, writing the script, music, and lyrics, as well as starring in the musical Hamilton, which was praised by critics and became a popular culture phenomenon. Hamilton won the Pulitzer Prize and was nominated for a record 16 Tonys and won 11, including Miranda's first win for the Best Book of a Musical. The Hamilton cast recording spent 10 weeks atop Billboard's Top Rap Albums chart and became the eleventh-biggest album of the 2010s.

A frequent collaborator of the Walt Disney Company, Miranda has written original songs for the studio. He gained two Oscar nominations for "How Far I'll Go" and "Dos Oruguitas" from Moana and Encanto, respectively. The song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Encanto broke various records and marked Miranda's first number-one song on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles charts. He starred as Jack in the musical fantasy Mary Poppins Returns (2018), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe. For his performance in the Disney+ live stage recording of Hamilton released in 2020, he received a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nomination. Miranda debuted as a film director with Tick, Tick... Boom!.

His television work includes recurring roles on The Electric Company (2009–2010) and His Dark Materials (2019–2022). Miranda received Primetime Emmy Award-nominations for hosting Saturday Night Live in 2016, and guest starring in Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2018. He has been politically active on behalf of Puerto Rico. Miranda met with politicians in 2016 to speak out in favor of debt relief for Puerto Rico and raised funds for rescue efforts and disaster relief after Hurricane Maria in 2017.

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