Early life

Borle was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Andre Bernard Borle (1930-2011), a Swiss a professor of physiology at the University of Pittsburgh. His love for Star Wars and drawing made him want to become a comic book artist when he grew up, but it was only when a friend convinced him to audition for a school play in his sophomore year that he began to develop an interest in acting.

He attended St. Edmund's Academy in Pittsburgh, where he played Scrooge in a 1987 production of Dickens's A Christmas Carol, but graduated from Shady Side Academy. He went on to attend Carnegie Mellon University before moving to New York in September 1995.

Career

Borle made his Broadway debut in 1998, understudying the role of Willard in the stage adaptation of the film Footloose. He was featured in the 2000 revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, and was the dance captain and understudy of several characters for the short-lived 2002 musical Amour.

Borle is perhaps best known for his performance in a 2003 advertisement for California-based online auction company, eBay. In the 30-second TV spot, Borle plays a store clerk who breaks into song and dance when asked about a product. The song, "That's on eBay" was a parody of the standard "That's Amore". Also in 2003, he replaced Gavin Creel in the role of Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie. He married his co-star, actress Sutton Foster, who had played Millie, in September 2006. On a radio interview in 2010 it was confirmed that Christian and Sutton had separated.

Borle performed Monty Python's Spamalot, in which he originated a number of roles, including Prince Herbert and the Historian. His performance earned him a 2005 Drama Desk Award nomination as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical and a Broadway.com Audience Award as Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical. He is best known on Broadway, however, for originating Emmett Forrest in Legally Blonde, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. The musical is based on MGM's 2001 film of the same name.

He was featured in the Encores! staged concert version of On the Town as Ozzie, running in November 2008. He appeared in a workshop production of a new play titled Peter and the Starcatcher in 2009. He played Bert in the Broadway production of Mary Poppins, replacing Adam Fiorentino in the role on October 12, 2009 and then left the cast July 15, 2010.

In 2010, he appeared in The Bounty Hunter, in which he played a golf caddy. In Fall 2010/Winter 2011, Borle played the role of Prior Walter in Signature Theatre Company's 20th anniversary production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America.

On February 25, 2011, it was announced that Borle had joined Steven Spielberg's new NBC pilot Smash with Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston, Katharine McPhee, Brian d'Arcy James, and Megan Hilty. The series follows a cross section of characters who come together to mount a Marilyn Monroe-themed musical (which is called Bombshell) on Broadway. In May 2011, it was reported that NBC had picked up the show as a series for the 2011-2012 season. In March 2012, NBC announced it would renew the series for a second season with 15 episodes.

Borle was a member of the original cast in the Regional and Off-Broadway productions of Peter and the Starcatcher that ran until April 24, 2011. He reprised the role of Black Stache on Broadway in April 2012, where his performance earned him his second Tony Award nomination and first win as Best Featured Actor in a Play. He ended his run in the Broadway production of Peter and the Starcatcher on June 30, 2012, to take a break before taping for Smash began in August 2012.

Borle played Max Dettweiler in The Sound of Music Live!, which aired on December 5, 2013. He also played Mr. Darling and Mr. Smee in Peter Pan Live!, which aired on December 4, 2014.

In 2015 he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for Something Rotten!, which opened in previews at the St. James Theatre on March 23, 2015, and an official opening in April, and won the title on June 7, 2015.

On March 31, 2016, it was announced that Borle will be playing Marvin in the upcoming Broadway revival of Falsettos directed by James Lapine. He is joined by Andrew Rannells and Stephanie J. Block who will be playing Whizzer and Trina, respectively.

On May 9, 2016 it was announced that Borle will play Willy Wonka in the Broadway production of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre from March 2017.

Personal life

Borle started dating actress Sutton Foster in college, and married her on September 18, 2006. During a radio interview in 2010, it was confirmed that they had gone their separate ways. Foster and Borle still remain good friends and continue to support each other's work.

Theatre credits

Year	Production	Location/Category	Role
2017	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	Broadway	Willy Wonka (Original Broadway Cast)
2016	Falsettos	Broadway	Marvin (2016 Revival Cast)
2015	Something Rotten!	Broadway	The Bard (William Shakespeare) (Original Broadway Cast)
2014	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Lincoln Center	Adolfo Pirelli
2012	Peter and the Starcatcher	Broadway	Black Stache (Original Broadway Cast)
2011		Off-Broadway	Black Stache
2010	Angels in America	Off-Broadway	Prior Walter
2009	Peter and the Starcatcher	Regional	Black Stache
	Mary Poppins	Broadway	Bert (Replacement)
2008	On the Town	Concert	Ozzie
2007	Legally Blonde	Broadway	Emmett Forrest (Original Broadway Cast)
2005	The Flamingo Kid	Workshop	Performer
	Spamalot	Broadway	Historian / Not Dead Fred / French Guard / Minstrel / Prince Herbert (Original Broadway Cast)
2004	Snoopy! The Musical	Concert	Snoopy
	Time After Time	Reading	H.G. Wells
2003	Elegies: A Song Cycle	Off-Broadway	Original Performer
2002	Amour	Broadway	Dance Captain, Advocate (Understudy) / Bertrand (Understudy) / Dusoleil (Understudy) / Newsvendor (Understudy) / Painter (Understudy)
	Thoroughly Modern Millie	Broadway	Jimmy Smith (Replacement)
	Prodigal	Off-Broadway	Kane Flannery / Zach Marshall (Original Cast)
2001	The Baby and Johnny Project	Off-Broadway	Billy Kostecki
	Just So	Regional	Kangaroo / Cooking Stove / Bushbuck
	The 3 Musketeers, One Musical For All	Regional	Planchet (Original American Cast)
2000	Jesus Christ Superstar	Broadway	Apostle
1998	Footloose	Broadway	Willard Hewitt (Replacement)
1997/98	West Side Story	National Tour	Riff
1995	The Who's Tommy	Offenbach, Germany	Pinball Lad 1

Filmography

Film

Year	Show	Role	Notes
1995	Stonewall	Bar Patron
2001	The Accident	Delivery Guy	short
2010	The Bounty Hunter	Caddy
2014	Shutterflies	Lieutenant Burns	short
	Dinner	Father	short
2015	Blackhat	Jeff Robichaud

TV

Year	Show	Role	Notes
1998	Ghost Stories	Trevor Mooney	1 episode
2001	Law & Order	Tanto	1 episode
2007	Legally Blonde: The Musical	Emmett Forrest	Filmed stage production
2012-13	Smash	Tom Levitt	32 episodes
2013	The Sound of Music Live!	Max Detweiler	TV movie
2013-15	The Good Wife	Carter Schmidt	5 episodes
2014	Lifesaver	Dr. Graham Permenter	TV movie
	Lucky Duck	Lucky	TV movie; voice role
	Masters of Sex	Frank Masters	3 episodes
	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Live from Lincoln Center	Adolfo Pirelli	Filmed stage production
	Sofia the First	Slickwell	1 episode
	Peter Pan Live!	Smee/George Darling	TV movie

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated Work	Result
2016	Grammy Award	Best Musical Theater Album	Something Rotten!	Nominated
2015	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical		Won
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical		Won
	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance		Nominated
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Best Actor in a Musical		Nominated
	Broadway.com Audience Award	Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical		Won
2011/12	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play	Peter and the Starcatcher	Won
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play		Nominated
	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance		Nominated
	Lucille Lortel Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor		Won
	Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards	Favorite Funny Performance		Won
		Best Featured Actor in a Play		Won
2011	Tina Award	Best Actor (Play)	Peter and the Starcatcher Angels in America	Nominated
	Tina Award	Best Ensemble (Play)	Angels in America	Won
	Tina Award	Best Stage Duo		Won
	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance		Nominated
2010	Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards	Best Replacement	Mary Poppins	Nominated
2007	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical	Legally Blonde	Nominated
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical		Nominated
	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance		Nominated
2005	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical	Spamalot	Nominated
	Clarence Derwent Award	Most Promising Male		Won
	Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards	Favorite Featured Actor in a Broadway Musical		Won
	Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards	Favorite Onstage Pair		Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]