J. Robert Spencer

J. Robert Spencer, born Robert John Spencer on February 12, 1969, is an American actor working in musical theatre, television, and film. He earned a cum laude degree from the Shenandoah University musical theatre program in 1991 and received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 2009.

Spencer's Broadway career spans 1987 to 2009. His first Broadway appearance came in 1997 as a swing in Sideshow, and he subsequently appeared in Cats before taking on starring roles. In 2005, he joined the original Broadway cast of Jersey Boys, playing Nick Massi. That same year he appeared at the York Theatre in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, having also performed at the York Theatre in Weird Romance in April 2004.

His most prominent Broadway credit is Next to Normal, in which he starred and for which he received a 2009 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. Spencer had also appeared in the Arena Stage production of the show in 2008, earning a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Non-Resident Production. He departed the Broadway production on May 16, 2010, succeeded by Brian d'Arcy James.

In 2014, Spencer played Abraham Lincoln in Bayonets of Angst, a bluegrass musical comedy about the Civil War, presented at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. He received a New York Musical Theatre Festival Award for Excellence for Outstanding Individual Performance in that production.

Beyond the stage, Spencer has worked as a voice actor, providing the voice of Seita in the Central Park Media English dub of the anime film Grave of the Fireflies, as well as voice roles in Amon Saga and The Vanilla Series. His television appearances include Law and Order, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, All My Children, and Girls Behaving Badly. His film credits include Farm Girl in New York, Heterosexuals, Lost on Purpose, Night of the Dog, The Ascension, and The Vanilla Series. He has also founded his own production company, 7 Spencer Productions, through which he produces, writes, directs, and acts in films. Spencer is married to actress Jenny-Lynn Suckling, and they have two children.