Leslie Odom Jr.

Leslie Odom Jr. (/oʊdəm/, born August 6, 1981) is an American actor and singer. He has performed on Broadway and in television and film, as well as in other theatrical productions. He is known for his work in the role of Aaron Burr in the musical Hamilton, a performance for which he won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album as a principal vocalist, and Sam Strickland in the 2013 musical television series Smash. 2Early life Odom was born in Queens, New York. Later, his family moved to the East Oak Lane section Philadelphia where he grew up. He attended Julia R. Masterman School for middle school and Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts for high school.After graduating, he attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, graduating with honors. After he graduated, he moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2003. 2Career 3Theatre Odom sang as a teenager, and studied musical theatre in college. At the age of 17 he made his Broadway debut as Paul in Ren