Patti LuPone (born April 21, 1949 in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York) is an American singer and actress of Italian descent. She is a graduate of Northport High School. She was part of the first graduating class of Juilliard's Drama Division along with classmate Kevin Kline. In 1972 John Houseman took his beloved class and formed them into The Acting Company making them America's foremost nationally touring repertory theater company. Ms. LuPone is an important player in contemporary American musical theater, she has performed on Broadway in works by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim and others. She won a Tony Award for Evita in 1980.
She also played Libby Thatcher on the television drama Life Goes On, which ran on the American Broadcasting Company network from 1989 to 1993.
She also originated the role of Fantine in the musical Les Misérables, Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, and had a recurring role in the last season of HBO's Oz.
Ms. LuPone is currently starring on Broadway as Mrs. Lovett in John Doyle's new staging of Sweeney Todd , the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Ms. LuPone was nominated for a Tony for this role.
