Paul Kreppel

Paul Kreppel is an American actor and director born on June 20, 1947, in Kingston, New York, to Adele and Irv Kreppel. He later relocated to Boston to attend Emerson College, graduating with honors as a member of the Class of 1969. His Broadway career spanned from 1977 to 2022, encompassing productions including Agamemnon, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Wicked, and Into the Woods.

Kreppel launched his acting career with the improvisational theater group The Proposition, whose members included Jane Curtin, Josh Mostel, Judith Kahan, and Munson Hicks. When the group relocated to New York, he transitioned to off-Broadway work, appearing in productions such as Godspell and Tuscaloosa's Calling Me. At the New York Shakespeare Festival, he performed in Agamemnon as part of the chorus and in The Comedy of Errors during the late 1970s, and he starred alongside Meryl Streep in Alice in Concert, a musical by Elizabeth Swados.

In 1979, Kreppel moved to Los Angeles to take on the role of Sonny Mann, a pianist on the television series It's a Living. He appeared in all 120 episodes and directed some of them as well. Along with cast members Gail Edwards, Marian Mercer, and Barrie Youngfellow, he was one of four performers who remained with the show through both its network and syndicated runs. During the 1980s, he made recurring celebrity appearances on the game show Pyramid and also appeared on Hollywood Squares, Win Lose or Draw, Body Language, Blackout, and The New Liar's Club. He provided the voice of Apollo Blue in Jetsons: The Movie and later appeared as Jackie's father in That '70s Show, an episode he also directed.

Returning to theater in the 1990s, Kreppel starred in a musical revue built around Allan Sherman's song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!" and performed in the national tour of Jerome Robbins' Broadway. He subsequently appeared off-Broadway for more than a year in the one-man show My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish and I'm in Therapy.

Working with partner Murphy Cross through their company WetRock Entertainment, Kreppel directed and produced Jay Johnson: The Two and Only, earning the 2007 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event. From March 7, 2012, to March 10, 2013, he played the Wizard of Oz on the second national tour of Wicked. In June 2022, he joined the Broadway revival of Into the Woods, understudying the roles of the Narrator/Mysterious Man and the Steward, and reprised those roles on the 2023 national tour. He also appeared in the 2021 television movie The Bitch Who Stole Christmas.

Beyond performing, Kreppel has served on the Council of Actors' Equity Association and as a board member of the Screen Actors Guild. He is a member of the board of directors of Enrichment Works, a not-for-profit organization that provides curriculum-based theater for schools in Southern California. In 1992, Emerson College presented him with an Alumni Achievement Award for outstanding achievements in his field. Kreppel has two children, Will and Molly, both of whom are artists.