Jim Walton (actor)

Jim Walton
Born	Tachikawa, Japan

Jim Walton is an American actor, most notable for his leading performance in the original production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along as Franklin Shephard.

Walton was born in Tachikawa, Japan and grew up in Marion, Indiana.

He graduated with a musical theatre degree from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and moved to New York City in 1979, the year in which he was in Big Bad Burlesque and "Scrambled Feet." In November 1980, he made his Broadway debut in Perfectly Frank, a revue of Frank Loesser's songs.

In December 1980, at auditions for Merrily, director Harold Prince asked him how old he was. At that time, he was 25, and he decided to tell the truth about his age. He was sure he would be cut because they were looking for people closer to 18. He was relieved when they announced to the room that this was the cast of Merrily, but would have to wait nine months because Sondheim had not finished the score at this time. Jim Weissenbach was originally cast as Franklin Shepard, but left and Walton was chosen as his replacement.Merrily only lasted for 16 performances.

In the fall of 1982, he went on tour with "42nd Street," in which he later appeared on Broadway.

He was next in the 1987 musical revue Stardust, a musical of Mitchell Parish's songs. He next starred as Anthony Hope in the 1989 revival of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, with Bob Gunton as the title character. In 1990, he was in the musical revue Closer Than Ever.

He was in the 1991 original Off-Broadway cast of And the World Goes 'Round.

He starred in the 1998 American premiere of The Fix at the Signature Theatre as Reed Chandler.

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