Taye Diggs

Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs ( ; born January 2, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the Broadway musicals Rent and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the TV series Private Practice (2007–2013), Murder in the First (2014–2016), and All American (2018–2023), and the films How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Brown Sugar, Chicago (both 2002), Malibu's Most Wanted (2003), and The Best Man (1999) and its sequel, The Best Man Holiday (2013). Early life Diggs was born in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in the South Wedge neighborhood of Rochester, New York. His mother, Marcia (née Berry), was a teacher and actress, and his father, Andre Young, is a visual artist. When he was a child, his mother married Jeffries Diggs, whose surname Taye took. His nickname, Taye, comes from the playful pronunciation of Scotty as "Scottay". He is the oldest of five children. He has two brothers, Gabriel and Michael, and two sisters, Christian and Shalom. He attended Allendale Columbia School in Rochester and later transferred to School of the Arts. He received a BFA in musical theater in 1993 from Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts. Diggs performed many times at the popular Lakes Region Summer Theatre in Meredith, New Hampshire. He also spent the summer of 1992 at the New London Barn Playhouse in New London, New Hampshire. His Broadway debut was in the ensemble cast of the 1994 Tony Award-winning revival of the musical Carousel. In 1995, he also performed as a dancer in Sebastian's Caribbean Carnival at Tokyo Disneyland. Career In 1996, Diggs originated the role of the landlord Benny in Jonathan Larson's Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent, which also starred his future wife, Idina Menzel. After Rent, he appeared as Mr. Black opposite Menzel's character of Kate in Andrew Lippa's off-Broadway production of The Wild Party at Manhattan Theatre Club. Diggs also played The Bandleader in the 2002 film version of the Broadway revival of Chicago and filled in as Billy Flynn on Broadway. He also temporarily filled in for Norbert Leo Butz (an original Rent standby) as the love interest Fiyero of Menzel's Elphaba character in Wicked.