Roger Bart Biography

Roger Bart was born on September 29, 1962, in Norwalk, Connecticut, and he spent most of his childhood in Bernardsville, New Jersey. Bart’s mother was a teacher, and his father was a chemical engineer. His uncle, Peter Bart, is a well-known journalist.

In 1985, Bart graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the ‘Mason Gross School of the Arts’ of ‘Rutgers University’ in New Jersey.

Roger Bart started his career as a theater actor in 1987, with a ‘Broadway’ production of ‘Tom Sawyer.’ As a ‘Broadway’ actor, he did commendably well, winning multiple awards and accolades. The musical comedy ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’ saw him performing in the role of ‘Snoopy.’ He won a ‘Tony Award’ and a ‘Drama Desk Award’ for his performance in the comedy.

One of Bart’s significant ‘Broadway’ performances was for the musical ‘King David,’ which featured him in the role of ‘Jonathan.’ In ‘Triumph of Love,’ he played ‘Harlequin.’ Two separate productions of ‘The Producers’ saw him playing the roles of ‘Carmen Ghia’ and ‘Leo Bloom.’

Between 1994 and 2005, Bart became a popular face on TV. In ‘The George Carlin Show’ (1994), Bart played the role of George Carlin’s son. He made an appearance in the 1997 movie ‘The Insider,’ and in 2002, he played the role of ‘Bram’s assistant, ‘Paul,’ in ‘Bram and Alice.’

In 2004, he was cast in a movie remake of the TV series ‘The Stepford Wives,’ in which he shared screen space with Nicole Kidman. His recurring appearance in ‘Desperate Housewives’ (2005 onwards) as murderous ‘George Williams’ particularly contributed to his popularity as a TV personality.

In 1997, Bart worked as a voiceover artist/singer in the ‘Disney’ movie ‘Hercules.’ In ‘Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventures,’ Bart sang the songs that were sung by ‘Scamp’ in the movie. His brief experiment with his singing skills was a success.

Between 2007 and 2008, Bart acted in a number of horror films and comedies simultaneously. He starred in the 2007 horror movie ‘Hostel: Part II.’ The same year, he was also seen in the biographical crime film ‘American Gangster.’ The following year, he was cast in another horror flick, ‘The Midnight Meat Train.’ He was cast in the two comedies ‘Spy School’ and ‘Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.’

Bart was the first actor to play the role of ‘Dr. Frederick Frankenstein’ in a 2007 ‘Broadway’ musical adaptation of Mel Brook’s ‘Young Frankenstein.’ He completed his run in 2010 and returned to ‘Broadway’ with the musical ‘Disaster!’ in 2016.

Soon, Bart was seen in recurring roles in two drama series, namely, the ‘ABC’ drama ‘Revenge’ and the ‘Showtime’ sitcom ‘Episodes.’ Much earlier, in 2006, Bart had starred in the ‘Sci-Fi Channel’ miniseries ‘The Lost Room.’

In 2018, Bart was cast as ‘Vice Principal Nero’ in the second season of the popular ‘Netflix’ show ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events.’ One of his most recent works has been for the ‘Freeform’ drama series ‘Good Trouble’ (2018), a spin-off of the American drama ‘The Fosters.’

‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’ was the most successful project of Bart’s career as a ‘Broadway’ artist. He won two prestigious awards for his impeccable performance in the musical.

Roger Bart’s portrayal of a homicidal maniac in ‘Desperate Housewives’ not only earned him recognition but also helped him win a ‘SAG Award.’ His character, a pathologically unstable pharmacist, was shown to be in love with Marcia Cross’s character, ‘Bree van de Kamp.’ Bart appeared in 16 episodes, spanning multiple seasons of the show.

In 1999, Bart won the ‘Drama Desk Award’ in the ‘Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical’ category for his performance in ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.’ That year, he also won the ‘Tony Award’ in the ‘Best Featured Actor in a Musical’ category for the same role. In 2001, he was nominated once more for the same two awards in the same two categories for his performance in ‘The Producers.’

He also earned nominations for his contribution as a singer. In 1998, he was nominated for the ‘Online Film & Television Association Award’ in the ‘Best Music, Original Song’ category for “Go the Distance” from ‘Disney’s ‘Hercules.’

In 2001, he earned a ‘DVD Exclusive Award’ nomination for the ‘Best Original Song’ for “A World Without Fences” from ‘Lady and the Tramp 2: Scamp’s Adventure.’

In 2006, he won the ‘Screen Actors Guild Award’ for ‘Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series’ for ‘Desperate Housewives,’ along with the entire cast of the series.

Not much is known of Bart’s personal life. Sources generally claim he is single, though the only verified fact about his family life is that he has fathered two daughters. His elder daughter, Ali Kendall, was born in 1986, and his younger daughter, Elle, was born in 2001. Ali is an actor who rose to fame with the movie ‘Before the Sun Goes Down.’

Whether his daughters were born out of wedlock or not remains a mystery. Bart, however, apparently had an affair with “YouTuber” Trisha Paytas, who later took to social media to accuse Bart of infidelity. Following this, Bart called off the relationship.

The scarcity of information about Bart’s personal life fanned hoaxes about his sexuality, especially after his portrayal of a gay homemaker in the ‘The Stepford Wives.’ He has neither accepted nor denied the rumors.