Sutton Foster

Sutton Lenore Foster (born March 18, 1975) is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice, in 2002 for her role as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and in 2011 for her performance as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, a role which she reprised in 2021 for a production in London and for which she received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Her other Broadway credits include Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein, Shrek the Musical, Violet, and The Music Man. On television, Foster played the lead role in the short-lived ABC Family comedy-drama Bunheads from 2012 to 2013. From 2015 to 2021, she starred in the TV Land comedy-drama Younger. Early life and education Foster was born on March 18, 1975 in Statesboro, Georgia, and raised in Troy, Michigan. At the age of 15, she was a contestant on the reality competition show Star Search and also auditioned for the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club. She left Troy High School before graduating (she received her diploma via correspondence courses) to join the national tour of The Will Rogers Follies directed by Tommy Tune. She then attended Carnegie Mellon University for one year, but left to pursue a theatrical career full-time. In May 2012, she received an honorary doctorate from Ball State University, "in recognition of her outstanding career in theater, television and music and for her contributions to the educational experience and professional growth of Ball State students." Her older brother, Hunter Foster, is also an actor. Career 1995–2001: Early career After touring in the role of Sandy Dumbrowski in the musical Grease throughout 1995, Foster transferred to the Broadway production in 1996. She left to appear in the ensemble of the Broadway musical The Scarlet Pimpernel in 1997, and after that closed she returned as the Star to Be in the revival of Annie. In 1998, Foster appeared in What the World Needs Now at the Old Globe Theatre, before she began touring with Les Misérables as Eponine Thenardier. She then understudied the same role on Broadway in 2000.