Joe Tippett

Joe Tippett is an American actor born on March 1, 1982, who grew up in Damascus, Maryland. He attended Damascus High School, where he played football and participated in the theater department, performing in his first musical, Bye Bye Birdie. Following graduation, he enrolled at West Virginia University on a full scholarship before eventually leaving the program. His professional career began with an apprenticeship and early work at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Tippett made his Broadway debut in 2015 as Bait Boy in Airline Highway. That same year, he originated the role of Earl Hunterson in the American Repertory Theater's out-of-town production of Waitress in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before the show transferred to Broadway. In 2017, he appeared in the Off-Broadway production of All the Fine Boys in a leading role. He returned to Broadway in September 2021, reprising the role of Earl Hunterson in the return engagement of Waitress.

On television, Tippett is recognized for his role as Coach Strickland on the NBC drama series Rise, which aired in 2018. The following year, he played Doolittle Lynn, the husband of country music legend Loretta Lynn, in the Lifetime television film Patsy & Loretta, which broadcast on October 19, 2019. Also in 2019, he was cast as Lucius King in the NBC pilot Prism, a project inspired by Akira Kurosawa's 1950 Japanese drama Rashomon. He later appeared as John Ross in the HBO crime drama miniseries Mare of Easttown.

Tippett met singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles in August 2015 during the out-of-town tryout for Waitress at the American Repertory Theater. The two began a relationship in 2016 and made their first public appearance together at the 2017 Tony Awards. On New Year's Day 2023, they announced their engagement, and they were married on October 4, 2025.