Douglas Sills | |
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Born |
Douglas Howard Sills July 5, 1960 Detroit, Michigan |
Alma mater | University of Michigan |
Douglas Howard Sills (born July 5, 1960) is an American actor.
Sills was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Rhoda (Nemeth) and Archie Sills, and grew up in the suburb of Franklin, in a Jewish household. He was friends (and did amateur theatrics and films) with both Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell.Sills attended Cranbrook School, from which he graduated in 1978, and the University of Michigan where he majored in music. He then continued his education at the American Conservatory Theater in California.
During the 1990s, Sills built a solid reputation as a stage character actor, especially in the professional theaters of southern California. He also performed in several national tours, including Into the Woods and The Secret Garden, which would also feature future Broadway stars as James Stacy Barbour and Audra McDonald. He met his partner, Todd, in 1994 while touring with The Secret Garden. His first Broadway role, however, came when composer Frank Wildhorn and lyricist Nan Knighton approached him in hopes of finding a male lead for their new musical, The Scarlet Pimpernel. Before this audition, Sills told his agent not to send him to any more auditions because he planned to attend law school. With a score in the 99th percentile on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), Sills hoped to attend Stanford Law School. However, being a fan of the movie as a child, Sills decided to give acting one more chance and was offered the lead as Sir Percy Blakeney.