If you love a good musical, chances are you know who Tituss Burgess is. If you don’t, you may actually have heard him sing and not even know it. He is an American actor and singer who is well known for his high tenor voice. If you don’t know much about Tituss Burgess, his life, and his career, read on.

Tituss’ Early Life

Tituss was born on February 21, 1979, and he was raised in Athen’s Georgia. According to Tituss, he knew at a very early age that he was meant to sing, act, and entertain. While he attended Cedar Shoals High School, he was very active in the school’s theater program. After graduation, he attended the University of Georgia, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in music.

Tituss is Openly Gay

Tituss is an openly gay man. He is not currently married, he does not have any children, however, he does often tease that he may or may not have a boyfriend. He stated in an interview that he has never had a girlfriend. He knew at a very young age that he was gay. Unlike many other gay men, he did not try dating girls when he was younger. He says that he remained true to himself regardless of the obstacles he encountered.

According to Titus, his first gay pride experience occurred when he was 23 years old. He didn’t know his way around the city he was in and he and his group stumbled upon Dance on the Pier. He ended up spending the whole day with a group of strangers who he still remains friends with to this day.

He Loves the Theater

Ever since he was young, Tituss has enjoyed performing on stage. He made his Broadway debut playing Eddie in 2005 in the musical Good Vibrations. He also appeared as Hal Miller in Jersey boys, Sebastian the Crab in the musical version of The Little Mermaid in 2007, and Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls in 2009. In June 2016, he reprised his role in Little Memeriad as Sebasthia the Crab during a Hollywood Bowl concert. It isn’t just the Broadway stage that he loves. He also performed in plenty of regional theater productions including Jesus Christ Superstar and The Wiz.

He Performs for Benefits

Tituss has always loved to use his musical talents to help benefit others. He performed in benefit shows including Broadway for Obama in 2008 and the Broadway After Dark benefit concert in 2008. He also performed a solo concert in New York City in 2009 at Birdland and he was one of the performers on the R Family Vacations Summer Cruise. In 2013, he performed a song from Dreamgirls, And I Am Telling You at a fundraiser concert for AIDS.

He Was the First Male in a Traditional Female Role

The Witch in Into the Woods had always been played by females until Tituss auditioned. In 2015, he became the first male to ever play The Witch in the 2015 production by the DreamCatcher Theatre. The production was held at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami’s Carvinal Studio Theater. He was incredibly proud of this accomplishment.

He Voiced a Video Game and a Cartoon

The video game, Grand Theft Auto has been one of the most successful games ever made. In 2013, Tituss loaned his voice to Grand Theft Auto V as the local population. When you hear people speaking and yelling at your character, it is actually Tituss’ voice. It wasn’t just a video game that Tituss lent his voice to, if you ever saw The Angry Birds Movie, and you heard the voice of Photog, that was Tituss as well.

Taking on Small Roles

When Tituss first broke out into television, he took on a few short roles. Some of these roles include Mr. Z in the series The Battery’s Down. In 2009, he appeared in two episodes. In 2012, he played a priest on one episode of Blue Bloods. In 2013, he played Kristoff in one episode of Royal Pains. Between 2011 and 2012, he took on a role in four episodes of television’s 30 Rock, playing the character D’Fwan.

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

In 2015, Tituss got his big break and landed the role of a main character on the Netflix original series, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. It is a show about a woman who was rescued from a doomsday cult and after breaking free, she starts her life over in New York City. He played the character Titus Andromendon. His character, like the real Tituss, is gay, but was unable to be openly gay growing up.

He grew up in a tiny town in Mississippi, and was raised by his five aunts. Because of this, he was forced to grow up acting straight. He was on the football team, he was chosen homcoming king, and he remained in the closet until the day he was going to marry his childhood friend. The thought of marrying a woman became too much, and he fled to New York City to start a new life, with a new name. When he gets there, he befriends Kimmy Schmidt.

Like the real life Tituss, he loves Broadway and his character tries out for the The Lion King 20 times but never lands the role because he couldn’t come off as straight. Many people, including Tituss, believe that he was made for this role.

He Has a Nickname

According to Tituss, his best friends call him Tighty. He says that when people hear that name, that their minds go directly to the gutter. He says that it is just an endearing way to say his name, the same way that friends of a guy named Michael might call him Mikey.

He is a Huge Fan of SWV (Sisters With Voices)

When asked what his favorite song of the 90’s was, Tituss proudly says that it is Weak, by SWV.

Tituss Burgess is an amazing singer, actor, and performer. He has done many things to benefit others and he is very open about supporting gay rights. Overall, he is a really great and funny person.