Joel was born in Chicago, IL and raised in the suburb of LaGrange. Born to a hospital administrator and a registered nurse, he is the middle child between two girls. Trained in vocal performance, choral performance, theatre and on-camera acting, he has had many different opportunities to use his skills. Joel has been performing all his life.
From infancy Joel's family visited amusement parks regularly and spent a great deal of time as audience members in the live performances offered. He and his sisters would sing and dance in the aisle of the theater as the performers did so on stage. The cast and crew took special interest in Joel and his sisters; they even ended up as ring bearer and flower girl for Porky and Petunia Pig's wedding!
Using these early performance experiences, he and his sisters would put on shows for family and friends, (in Chicago and Tyler, TX) for residents at nursing homes, and for the employees at his father's place of work.
Joel began performing in school productions very early too. He was a member of school and church choirs from 5 years old. He attended St. Cletus Grade School where he had the lead role as the Christmas/Easter bunny in his first play while in the third grade. It was when he entered high school at Nazareth Academy that he truly realized performing
From infancy Joel's family visited amusement parks regularly and spent a great deal of time as audience members in the live performances offered. He and his sisters would sing and dance in the aisle of the theater as the performers did so on stage. The cast and crew took special interest in Joel and his sisters; they even ended up as ring bearer and flower girl for Porky and Petunia Pig's wedding!
Using these early performance experiences, he and his sisters would put on shows for family and friends, (in Chicago and Tyler, TX) for residents at nursing homes, and for the employees at his father's place of work.
Joel began performing in school productions very early too. He was a member of school and church choirs from 5 years old. He attended St. Cletus Grade School where he had the lead role as the Christmas/Easter bunny in his first play while in the third grade. It was when he entered high school at Nazareth Academy that he truly realized performing
Photo by: Maia Rosenfeld
was in his blood. He was involved in every production in high school even while playing both baseball and basketball. He had roles including, Lt. Cable in the musical South Pacific and Eddie McCuen in the comedy The Musical Comedy Murders of the 1940s.
While in high school Joel produced many short films, beginning his path to on-camera acting. With a father who was rarely without his video camera, Joel had lots of pratice in front of the camera. He began telling stories on film for school projects.
He continued his study of acting and voice at Benedictine University where he majored in Arts Administration with an emphasis in theatre. While in college he played roles such as Frederic in Pirates of Penzance and Danny Zuko in Grease. He studied voice with Victoria Ver Hoven, Mark Burnell, and Randy Buescher.
Upon graduation he continued performing while his work schedule allowed, doing roles like J. Pierpont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Jesus in Godspell. After this production of Godspell Joel knew that he needed to focus on pursuing his acting career full time. He moved to Los Angeles to begin his journey into television and film.
When he first arrived in LA he was cast in a production called Anyone But Me, becoming a member of Noah Wyle's Blank Theatre Company in Hollywood. He also began taking classes and auditioning. He has been seen on Aaron Spelling's Summerland (WB) with Lori Laughlin, Passions (NBC) with Jesse Metcalfe , CSI:Miami (CBS) with David Caruso and Nick and Jessica's Family Christmas Special (ABC) with Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. Also, watch for him in the Clint Eastwood's upcoming feature about the soldiers of Iwo Jima (WWII), Flags of our Fathers (Universal Pictures) with Ryan Phillippe, Barry Pepper and Paul Walker.
Joel has been in over 30 productions and has had several television/film experiences but is still early in his journey. There is much to come for this young artist so please continue to watch for him on stage or on the large and small screens!
While in high school Joel produced many short films, beginning his path to on-camera acting. With a father who was rarely without his video camera, Joel had lots of pratice in front of the camera. He began telling stories on film for school projects.
He continued his study of acting and voice at Benedictine University where he majored in Arts Administration with an emphasis in theatre. While in college he played roles such as Frederic in Pirates of Penzance and Danny Zuko in Grease. He studied voice with Victoria Ver Hoven, Mark Burnell, and Randy Buescher.
Upon graduation he continued performing while his work schedule allowed, doing roles like J. Pierpont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Jesus in Godspell. After this production of Godspell Joel knew that he needed to focus on pursuing his acting career full time. He moved to Los Angeles to begin his journey into television and film.
When he first arrived in LA he was cast in a production called Anyone But Me, becoming a member of Noah Wyle's Blank Theatre Company in Hollywood. He also began taking classes and auditioning. He has been seen on Aaron Spelling's Summerland (WB) with Lori Laughlin, Passions (NBC) with Jesse Metcalfe , CSI:Miami (CBS) with David Caruso and Nick and Jessica's Family Christmas Special (ABC) with Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. Also, watch for him in the Clint Eastwood's upcoming feature about the soldiers of Iwo Jima (WWII), Flags of our Fathers (Universal Pictures) with Ryan Phillippe, Barry Pepper and Paul Walker.
Joel has been in over 30 productions and has had several television/film experiences but is still early in his journey. There is much to come for this young artist so please continue to watch for him on stage or on the large and small screens!
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