Marcus Lovett

Marcus Lovett is an American actor and singer born in 1965 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, who maintained an active Broadway presence from 1987 to 1997. He grew up in Wheaton, Illinois, and pursued performance from childhood alongside athletics. He earned a degree with honors from Carnegie Mellon University, where his classmates included actress Ming-Na Wen.

Upon graduating, Lovett joined the original Broadway production of Les Misérables as an understudy for the role of Marius Pontmercy, while simultaneously appearing on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. His Broadway career expanded to include leading roles in Aspects of Love, in which he played Alex, and King David, in which he played the title role of David. He also performed Off-Broadway, including in the Bruce Hornsby production SCKBSTD.

In 1994, Lovett made the front page of the New York Times when he performed the lead in two Broadway productions within two days. Following his final performance as The Phantom of the Opera — after which Jeff Keller assumed the role — Lovett was called upon as an emergency replacement for the ailing lead of Lincoln Center's Carousel, a production that had been temporarily closed. Forty-seven hours after completing his run as the Phantom, he appeared at the Vivian Beaumont Theater as Billy Bigelow. He remained with Carousel as standby for Michael Hayden upon Hayden's return. Lovett also participated in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th birthday concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

On the West End, Lovett originated the role of The Man in Whistle Down the Wind and appears on that production's original cast recording. From September 3, 2012 through August 31, 2013, he reprised the role of the Phantom at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. He, Michael Crawford, and Peter Jöback are the only performers to have played the Phantom both in London and on Broadway.

Beyond the stage, Lovett's voice serves as the trademark sound for Good Morning America, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, and The David Letterman Show, the last of which he has voiced for seventeen years, in addition to thousands of television and radio commercials. To accommodate the demands of this work, he maintains recording studios in Manhattan, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Carmel, New York, where he holds his primary residence. He is also the founder of the nonprofit organization JoinedHands. Lovett married Leslie Motiwalla on June 18, 2022.