Age, Biography, and Wiki
Jonathan Groff, born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is 40 years old as of 2025. He is widely recognized for his versatility as an actor and singer. Groff's early life was marked by a Mennonite upbringing, which influenced his early involvement in neighborhood theater productions. His professional journey began with a role in the national tour of "The Sound of Music," leading him to pursue acting full-time in New York.
| Occupation | Soap Opera Actor |
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| Date of Birth | 26 March 1985 |
| Age | 40 Years |
| Birth Place | Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Aries |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
While specific measurements like height and weight are not widely detailed, Groff's physical presence is often noted for its stage charisma rather than specific metrics.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Groff is openly gay and has been in a relationship with actor and choreographer, Ben Platt, though recent updates on their relationship status are not publicly confirmed.
Groff made his film debut playing Michael Lang in Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock (2009). He has since played Louis J. Weichmann in The Conspirator (2010), Smith in The Matrix Resurrections (2021), and a father held hostage in Knock at the Cabin (2023). He also voiced both Kristoff and Sven in the Disney animated Frozen franchise, including Frozen (2013) and Frozen II (2019). In 2022, he executive produced the HBO documentary film Spring Awakening: Those You've Known, which saw the 15-year reunion of the original cast of the musical.
Groff's roots in theater and acting began at an early age. When he was three years old, Groff fell in love with Julie Andrews' performance as Mary Poppins, and growing up, he and his brother put on childhood home productions, such as a performance of The Wizard of Oz in his father's barn, where he played Dorothy. Groff credits Sutton Foster as one of his greatest influences and idols, and as a young aspiring actor, he would wait at the stage door after her performances to get her autograph. Groff joined his middle school and high school drama departments, and it was there that he became inspired to start a career in theater.
From August 21, 2010, to January 15, 2011, Groff made his West End debut in the London revival of Deathtrap, a play written by Ira Levin and directed by Matthew Warchus at the Noël Coward Theatre. Groff played Clifford Anderson, a young brilliant playwright, starring alongside Simon Russell Beale as Sidney Bruhl, his professor. The play received positive critical reception; The Spectator called Groff's performance "magnetic" and "deeply charismatic" but found the "relationship between student and professor [to be] unconvincing".
In July 2017, Groff starred as Jase in the first podcast musical, 36 Questions, written by Chris Littler and Ellen Winter based on The New York Times article "The 36 Questions That Lead to Love" and a 1997 psychological study on interpersonal closeness. The three-act podcast, released by Two-Up Productions, follows the story of an estranged husband and wife trying to salvage their marriage with the titular set of 36 questions. On July 23, 2017, Groff performed in a one-night only symphonic concert production of Sondheim on Sondheim at the Hollywood Bowl. From January 20 to 22, 2018, Groff starred as the titular character in the off-Broadway production of The Bobby Darin Story, a three-day concert and biographical retelling of the life of 1950s singing icon Bobby Darin, presented as part of the Lyrics & Lyricists series at 92nd Street Y and directed by Alex Timbers. The production was met with great critical reception, with Michael Ridel writing in the New York Post that Groff "moves with the ease and slyness of Darin".
In 2019, Groff purchased a home next to his father's horse farm in Christiana, Pennsylvania. He splits his time between Pennsylvania and New York City.
In 2009, Groff dated the late actor Gavin Creel. From 2010 to 2013, Groff was in a relationship with actor Zachary Quinto. Groff dated New Zealand choreographer Corey Baker from 2018 to 2020.
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Net Worth and Salary
Jonathan Groff's net worth is estimated to be around $10 million, as per some sources. However, other sources suggest a lower net worth of about $5 million. His income primarily comes from his successful Broadway performances, television roles, and voice acting projects.
Career, Business, and Investments
Groff's career highlights include his breakout role as Melchior Gabor in the musical "Spring Awakening" and his iconic portrayal of King George III in "Hamilton." He also gained popularity for playing Jesse St. James in "Glee" and voicing Kristoff in the "Frozen" films. Additionally, he has appeared in Netflix's "Mindhunter," further expanding his acting repertoire.
He began his career on Broadway making his debut in the musical In My Life (2005). He later received Tony nominations for playing Melchior Gabor in the original production of the rock musical Spring Awakening (2006), King George III in the original production of the historical musical Hamilton (2015), and Bobby Darin in the original production of the jukebox musical Just in Time (2025). In 2024, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for playing Franklin Shepard in the musical revival of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along. He also starred as Seymour Krelborn in the Off-Broadway musical revival of Little Shop of Horrors in 2019.
On television, he started his career with a recurring guest star as Jesse St. James in the Fox musical-comedy series Glee (2009–15). He starred as Patrick Murray in the HBO comedy-drama series Looking (2014–15), the network's first series centering on the lives of gay men, as well as its subsequent television film, Looking: The Movie (2016). He portrayed FBI Special Agent Holden Ford in the Netflix period crime drama Mindhunter (2017–19). He was Primetime Emmy Award-nominated for his role in the Disney+ live stage recording of Hamilton (2020).
Groff graduated from Conestoga Valley High School in 2003 and intended to attend Carnegie Mellon University, but he deferred his admission for a year when he was cast as Rolf in a Non-Equity national tour of The Sound of Music. After the tour, Groff decided to move to New York City instead of attending college and begin his career.
In 2007, Groff played the recurring role of Henry Mackler for eleven episodes on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. His character's storyline about a school shooting was cut due to the Virginia Tech shooting in April 2007. In November 2007, Groff was cast in the FX series Pretty/Handsome, directed and written by Ryan Murphy, and filmed a pilot, but the series was not picked up. In 2007, Groff also lent his vocal talents to record the roles of Rolf Gruber & Friedrich von Trapp in the Salzburg Marionette Theatre’s production of The Sound of Music, which premiered on November 7 in Dallas, Texas. This recording is still used by the company for their performances in Salzburg, Austria.
Groff returned to the London stage on May 19, 2015, to star as J. Pierrepont Finch in a one-night-only concert of the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, at the Royal Festival Hall alongside Cynthia Erivo. One critic from BritishTheatre.com wrote that while the concert lacked "consistent careful handling", Groff was "truly terrific" and "exudes a warmth and comic intelligence which makes him impossible not to watch."
Groff publicly came out as gay when asked by a Broadway.com reporter during the National Equality March in October 2009. He later shared his experience with coming out, discussing the pain of being closeted and the knowledge that disclosing his sexuality could have negative ramifications on his career. He has also expressed how much he values being a role model for young people as an out actor, and has advocated the importance of sharing coming out stories.
While Groff was beginning his professional career in theater, he volunteered for the nonprofit Broadway Cares, and he has continued to perform in and support fundraisers for the organization throughout his career. Groff is a longtime supporter of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, serving as an Event Chair for the charity's 14th Annual New York Benefit Gala in 2015. Other charities he has supported include the Point Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Actors Fund of America, Theatre Development Fund, Hispanic Federation Emergency Assistance Fund, and Color of Change, through which he participates in benefit performances and fundraisers, often recording personal voicemails as his Frozen characters Kristoff and Sven for auction winners. In August 2020, Groff joined the Hamilton cast in organizing the virtual fundraiser event Ham4Change for organizations working to end systemic racism, raising over $1 million for the Equal Justice Initiative, African American Policy Forum, Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective, Black AIDS Institute, Color of Change, Dance4Hope, Know Your Rights Camp, Law Enforcement Accountability Project, Until Freedom, and When We All Vote.
Social Network
Groff is active on social media platforms like Instagram, where he engages with his fans and shares updates about his projects. However, specific details about his follower count or engagement are not readily available.
His breakout performance occurred in 2006, when Groff originated the lead role of Melchior Gabor in the Broadway production of the rock musical Spring Awakening. The musical tells the story of repressed adolescents in late nineteenth century Germany discovering their sexuality, adapted from Frank Wedekind's original 1891 play by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater and directed by Michael Mayer. Groff was first cast in a workshop of Spring Awakening at Baruch College with Lea Michele, John Gallagher Jr., and the rest of the original cast, and the production then moved to the Atlantic Theater Company for its original off-Broadway run from May 19 through August 5, 2006, before transferring to Broadway. During the Broadway production at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Groff played the role from its debut on December 10, 2006, through May 18, 2008, when he departed the production with co-star and best friend Lea Michele. The musical achieved great critical acclaim, garnering eleven nominations and winning eight awards, including Best Musical, at the 61st Tony Awards. The musical was also awarded the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album, which the Grammys did not award to vocalists at that time. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called the show a "brave new musical, haunting and electrifying by turns" and praised Groff's "ardency and thoughtfulness". Variety wrote that the performances of "Michele, Groff and Gallagher dominate the young ensemble". Groff was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, a Drama League Award, and a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance. He received the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance.
From 2014 to 2015, Groff starred as Patrick Murray, a gay video game developer, in the HBO comedy-drama series Looking, created by Michael Lannan. The first HBO series to center around the lives of gay men, the show depicted a group of gay friends navigating relationships in San Francisco and was praised for its representation of LGBTQ+ characters and experiences. Due to low ratings, the series was canceled after two seasons on March 23, 2015, with the network green-lighting a television film to conclude the story. The film premiered on HBO on July 23, 2016. Groff's performance was well received by critics, with one critic from The New York Times calling Groff's performance "excellent ... Mr. Groff always made his tics, inconsistencies, and operatically scaled mistakes believable."
Groff also starred in an Encores! production of the musical A New Brain as Gordon Schwinn, a composer who suffers from arteriovenous malformation, based on the real-life composer William Finn. The production, which took place from June 24 to 27, 2015, was presented as part of the New York City Center's Encores! Off-Center staged concert series and was directed by James Lapine, with Groff performing alongside Aaron Lazar, Dan Fogler, and Ana Gasteyer. Groff was praised for his performance, as one critic from the New York Post says, "Though the musical is uneven, Groff effortlessly keeps the production together with his supple voice and low-key charm."
Groff starred in the role of Franklin Shepard in the 2022 New York Theatre Workshop off-Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez. In December 2022, it was announced that he would reprise his role in the first Broadway revival of the musical in fall of 2023, for which he received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. In March 2022, Deadline announced Groff had been cast in M. Night Shyamalan's horror film Knock at the Cabin. In 2023, Groff was announced as a guest star in the fourteenth series of Doctor Who. As of March 2025, Groff is starring on Broadway in Just in Time, a musical about Bobby Darin, for which he received his fourth Tony Award nomination. He worked on a concert version of the project with director Alex Timbers in 2018 when titled The Bobby Darin Story.
Groff was diagnosed with melanoma in his early 20s and underwent surgery for removal. He abstains from using social media and is a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation.
Education
Groff delayed his college education to pursue acting opportunities. He initially landed a role in "The Sound of Music's" national tour, which led him to focus on his acting career in New York.
In summary, Jonathan Groff is a talented actor and singer with a diverse career spanning Broadway, television, and film. His notable performances and versatile talent have contributed significantly to his financial success and enduring popularity in the entertainment industry.
In his adolescence, Groff took part in many community productions in his hometown of Lancaster. At seventeen years old, he directed and starred in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at a high school theatre festival at the Fulton Opera House, for which he won a community award. He also performed in The Sound of Music, Ragtime, Cyrano, Evita, My Fair Lady, Peter Pan, The Pirates of Penzance, and Rags at the Fulton Opera House, as well as starring as Edgar in Bat Boy: The Musical and Ugly in Honk! at The Ephrata Performing Arts Center.
Groff has performed in numerous charity benefits for theater institutions, including the 52nd Street Project, Tectonic Theater Project, Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, Playwrights Horizons, and more. He has expressed a passion in encouraging youth theater; Groff has taught master classes in acting and musical theatre for young actors with the New York Film Academy, Broadway Workshop, Temple University, Young Actors' Theatre Camp, and the National YoungArts Foundation, among others.
