Frankie Grande

Grande celebrating LGBT Pride Day in 2016

Frank James Michael Grande Marchione (born January 24, 1983),[1][2] usually credited as Frankie Grande[1][3] or Frankie J. Grande,[4] is an American dancer, actor, singer, producer, television host, and YouTube personality. He is the older half-brother of singer and actress Ariana Grande.

He performed on Broadway as Franz in the musical Rock of Ages (2014–2015) and in Mamma Mia! (2007–2010) and has played roles Off-Broadway, in regional theatre productions and on tour. Grande has produced Broadway shows and both produced and appeared in cabaret acts, including his own one-man show. In 2012, Grande established a YouTube channel and has also been building a following on Twitter and Instagram. In 2014, he was a contestant on the US reality television series Big Brother 16.

Grande was a judge on the 2015 season of America's Best Dance Crew and hosted a TV special, Worst.Post.Ever: With Frankie Grande, about using social media. In 2016, he co-hosts Style Code Live, a live Amazon fashion and shopping show that streams on weeknights, from which he took off several weeks to compete on the UK reality show Celebrity Big Brother 18 in mid-2016. His philanthropic work includes co-founding the non-profit arts organization "Broadway in South Africa" and work for buildOn.

Early life and career

Frankie Grande was born in New York City, the son of Victor Marchione, a physician,[5] and Joan Grande, chief executive officer of telephone and alarm system company Hose-McCann Communications.[6][7] He grew up in Englewood, New Jersey and moved with his mother to Boca Raton, Florida, at age 10, where he later attended Pine Crest School.[8][9][10] He began performing in musicals in the fifth grade.[11] His half-sister is singer and actress Ariana Grande,[12] and he has a half-brother, James Marchione.[13] Grande is openly gay.[7][14] He graduated from Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania in 2005, having triple-majored in biology, theatre and dance.[9] He considered medical school but decided to take a year off to pursue theatre.[11]

He began his professional performing career by 2007, when he appeared as Boots the Monkey in a national tour of Dora the Explorer Live! (Dora's Pirate Adventure) and in regional theatre productions, including the title role in George M!, Mike Costa in A Chorus Line and Lewis in Pippin, among others.[15][16] Later in 2007, he joined the Broadway cast of the musical Mamma Mia!, in the ensemble and as understudy for Eddie,[17] in which he performed for three years.[8][18]

Grande has produced shows on and off Broadway, including Broadway productions of Hamlet (2009) starring Jude Law, La Bête (2010–2011) starring David Hyde Pierce, and Born Yesterday (2011) starring Jim Belushi.[1][17][19] He also produced Brooke Shields' one-woman cabaret show in 2011.[18][20] Grande has performed in cabaret acts in New York City, including at Birdland Jazz Club[21] and 54 Below.[22] Grande was named "Mr. Broadway" in the "Mr. Broadway 2007" charity benefit.[15] In 2013, he starred as Bobby in a regional theatre production of the musical Crazy for You.[18][23] He also presented his own show in New York, Livin' la Vida Grande, at the Laurie Beechman Theatre.[1][24][25]

2014–present

In February 2014, Grande played Consuela Off-Broadway in a revival of the musical Pageant.[26] In June of that year, he performed at DigiFest NYC.[27][28] In mid-2014, Grande appeared on the US reality television series Big Brother 16.[29] MTV called his 12 weeks on the show "controversial ... peppered with some powerful, outrageous, and downright impressive moments".[30][31]

Grande returned to Broadway in November 2014 as Franz in the musical Rock of Ages for a two-month engagement.[32] He appeared on Good Day New York and performed "Hit Me With Your Best Shot".[33] The same month, he co-hosted the red carpet pre-show of the American Music Awards.[34] In 2014, TV Guide called Grande one of "Our Favorite YouTube Stars".[35][36] He was featured in a 2014 ABC Nightline segment about entertainers who use social media to boost their success.[37] In 2015, Billboard included Grande in its list of "32 of the top social media stars on the Internet today."[38] Writing in The New York Times in 2014, Michael Musto termed Grande "friskily ambitious".[9] Another reporter called him "unabashedly enthusiastic about life."[39] As of March 2016, Grande's social media presence had increased to more than 400,000 YouTube subscribers and 20 million views on YouTube,[40] more than 1.5 million followers on Instagram[41] and 1.1 million followers on Twitter.[42]

In January 2015, Grande again performed his one-man cabaret show at 54 Below.[43] In February, he appeared in a music video for Lance Bass[44] and modeled for Malan Breton at New York Fashion Week.[45] In March, Grande was an Entertainment Tonight interviewer at the 2015 Kids' Choice Awards.[46] He also appeared in the documentary short film, "Malan Breton: A Journey to Taiwan", which won the 2015 New York City International Film Festival award for "Best Short Documentary".[47] In June he appeared at DigiFest NYC,[48] and the following month he served as a judge for the #JoeyShine Video Contest.[49] Grande was a judge on the 2015 reality TV series America's Best Dance Crew All-Stars: Road to the VMAs, on MTV in 2015.[50][51] He hosted a TV special on the Oxygen channel in August 2015 called Worst.Post.Ever: With Frankie Grande about social media faux pas.[52][53] The following month, he made a guest appearance on Big Brother 17.[54] He co-hosted the red carpet pre-show of the American Music Awards again in 2015.[55] Throughout the year, he also regularly performed a number in his sister's The Honeymoon Tour.[11] Grande was nominated for a 2016 People's Choice Award.[56]

Grande revived his autobiographical one-man show, Livin' La Vida Grande, in Los Angeles in January 2016.[11][57] The same month, he and his sister launched a unisex fragrance named "Frankie by Ariana Grande".[58] Since March 2016, Grande has co-hosted Amazon.com's first live show, Style Code Live (SCL), which covers celebrity trends as well as fashion and beauty news and tips. The show also allows viewers to shop for the items discussed and to ask questions interactively. It streams live each weeknight.[59][60] A review in The Washington Post called the show "something of a mash-up between QVC and E! News".[61] Grande performed his cabaret act, Livin' la Vida Grande, at The Box in New York City over a weekend in June 2016.[62] He was also a guest panelist on Logo TV's Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul in a 2016 episode.[63] In July and August, Grande appeared on the UK reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother 18, finishing in 6th place.[64] In August, he recorded a segment on fashions in the Celebrity Big Brother house for SCL,[65] and returned to co-hosting SCL full-time in September.[66][67]

Philanthropy

In 2007, Grande co-founded the non-profit arts organization "Broadway in South Africa", travelling to South Africa to teach performance arts to disadvantaged youth for seven years, before the charity merged with buildOn.[68] In 2013, Grande helped buildOn to build a school in a rural village in Malawi, in southeastern Africa, and in 2014 buildOn honored him for his efforts with its Global Impact Award.[69][70] Grande is an anti-smoking advocate.[71] Grande donated the money that he won on Big Brother 16 (from the "Team America" twist he was apart of) to buildOn, to build another school in Africa.[72][73] In January 2015, he returned to Malawi to help begin construction of the school, named in memory of his grandfather.[70] Grande raised additional money for buildOn, to fund the school,[74] eventually surpassing his goal of $70,000.[75] Grande participated in a 2016 fire prevention public service announcement called 2steps2minutes[76] and the annual Broadway Bares show to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.[77]

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role Notes
2015 Malan Breton a Journey to Taiwan Himself Documentary[47]

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Big Brother 16 Himself – Houseguest Finished 5th out of 16.
2014 American Music Award Himself [34]
2015 2015 Kids' Choice Awards Himself – Interviewer for ET [46]
2015 Good Morning America Himself – Guest Episode: August 17, 2015[78]
2015 Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew Himself – Judge [51]
2015 Worst.Post.Ever: With Frankie Grande (Oxygen) Host [52]
2015 American Music Awards of 2015 Himself [55]
2016 Style Code Live (Amazon) Himself – Co-host Daily episodes
2016 Celebrity Big Brother 18 Himself – Housemate Finished 6th out of 15.[64]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Murphy, T. Michelle. "10 Facts you won’t learn about Frankie Grande on Big Brother 16", Metro.us, September 22, 2014, accessed December 3, 2014
  2. ↑ Grande, Frankie. Frankie J. Grande biography, Blacksheepus.com, accessed April 4, 2015
  3. ↑ "Big Brother Cast: Frankie Grande", CBS, August 11, 2014
  4. ↑ Broadway Cast, RockofAgesMusical.com, accessed January 21, 2015
  5. ↑ Grande, Frankie. "Frankie Grande: Smoking 'Ain't Cute,' Guys", The Advocate, April 1, 2015; and "Blow on This! IntelliQuit, World's First Stop Smoking Biosensor and Platform Launches a Crowdfunding Campaign with Kickstarter", IntelliQuit press release, October 14, 2014
  6. ↑ McLean, Craig. "Ariana Grande: 'If you want to call me a diva I'll say: cool'", The Telegraph, October 17, 2014; and "About Hose-McCann Communications", Hose-McCann Communications, accessed October 1, 2014
  7. 1 2 Schultz, Brandon. "Frankie Grande on Big Brother and the Hetero-Homo 'Zankie' Showmance That Had Everyone Talking", Out magazine, October 2, 2014
  8. 1 2 Erstein, Hap. "Boca-to-Broadway buddies producing Tony-nominated show", Florida Weekly, May 19, 2011, accessed July 26, 2014
  9. 1 2 3 Musto, Michael. "Frankie Grande, Ariana Grande’s Half Brother, Stars in Rock of Ages", The New York Times, November 12, 2014
  10. ↑ Cox-Henry, Joanie. "Frankie Grande shares social media advice in upcoming TV special", Sun-Sentinel, August 11, 2015; Marr, Madeleine. "Frankie Grande is thinking big", Miami Herald, September 11, 2015
  11. 1 2 3 4 Weiner, Natalie. "Frankie Grande Talks Broadway, Twitter & (of Course!) His Sister Ariana", Billboard.com, November 5, 2015
  12. ↑ Lindner, Emilee. "Ariana Grande Lashes Out in Defense of Her Brother", MTV, August 12, 2014, accessed October 21, 2014; and Lovece, Frank. "Ariana Grande, raised Catholic, turns to Kabbalah over brother Frankie Grande's homosexuality", Newsday, October 21, 2014
  13. ↑ Gilkas, Bruce. "Victor Marchione, son Frankie J. Grande and brother James Marchione pose at his new show Livin' La Vida Grande at 54 Below on January 20, 2015 in New York City", Getty Images, January 20, 2015; and Grande, Frankie. "Watching the @Giants game with my little bro @Marchione1998", Twitter, November 8, 2015
  14. ↑ Turano, Sammi. "Big Brother 16: Ariana Grande's Brother Cast", tvgrapevine.com, July 20, 2014
  15. 1 2 Gans, Andrew. "Mamma Mia!'s Grande Named Mr. Broadway 2007", Playbill, May 2, 2007, accessed July 26, 2014
  16. ↑ Sobel, Jon. "Big Brother's Frankie J. Grande, Half-Brother of Ariana Grande, Returning to Broadway in Rock of Ages", Classicalite, October 22, 2014
  17. 1 2 "Frankie James Grande", Playbill Vault, accessed July 26, 2014; "Who's Who – Frankie James Grande", Broadway theatre program for Born Yesterday, April 24, 2011, reprinted at Playbill Vault, accessed July 26, 2014; and "Who's Who – Frankie James Grande", Broadway theatre program for Hamlet, October 5, 2009, reprinted at Playbill Vault, accessed July 26, 2014
  18. 1 2 3 Outwater, Myra Yellin. "Muhlenberg opens summer musical season with Crazy for You", The Morning Call, June 5, 2013, accessed July 26, 2014
  19. ↑ McPhee, Ryan. "Broadway in the House! Frankie James Grande, Brother of Ariana Grande, to Compete on New Season of Big Brother", Broadway.com, June 19, 2014, accessed December 3, 2014; and "Frankie Grande, Mallory Hagan, and Antoine L. Smith Set to Judge Rising Star Competition on 5/8", BroadwayWorld.com, May 7, 2016
  20. ↑ "Photo Coverage: Brooke Shields Plays Feinstein's", BroadwayWorld.com, February 2, 2011, accessed July 30, 2014; and "Frankie Grande, Mallory Hagan, and Antoine L. Smith Set to Judge Rising Star Competition on 5/8", BroadwayWorld.com, May 7, 2016
  21. ↑ Blank, Matthew. "'Miranda Sings Christmas Spectacular', With Lauren Kennedy and Frankie Grande", Playbill, December 20, 2011, accessed July 26, 2014
  22. ↑ Gioia, Michael. "Katie Thompson Celebrates Christmas With a 'K' Dec. 3 at 54 Below With Frankie James Grande, Julia Mattison and More", Playbill, December 3, 2013, accessed July 26, 2014
  23. ↑ "Ariana Grande Attends Her Brother Frankie Grande's Performance of Crazy For You", Disney Dreaming, June 29, 2013, accessed July 26, 2014
  24. ↑ "Frankie Grande's One-Man Show Living La Vida Grade (sic) Comes to New York, Now thru 9/15", BroadwayWorld.com, September 13, 2013, accessed July 26, 2014
  25. ↑ Voss, Brandon. "Frankie J. Grande in Rock of Ages", The Advocate, November 24, 2014
  26. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "New York Return of Pageant Sells Out; Additional Performance Added", Playbill, February 6, 2014.
  27. ↑ Smith, Michael Kirby. "Stars of YouTube Take to the Stage", The New York Times, June 7, 2014. See also Photo of Grande singing at DigiFest NYC, The New York Times, accessed July 28, 2014
  28. ↑ "These Photos from DigiFest NYC Will Give You a Serious Case of FOMO", MTV.com, June 9, 2014
  29. ↑ Larkin, Mike. "Ariana Grande's brother Frankie is devastated after learning of grandfather's death on Big Brother", Daily Mail, July 24, 2014
  30. ↑ Murphy, Shaunna. "Frankie Grande's 7 Most Outrageous Big Brother Moments", MTV.com, September 17, 2014
  31. ↑ "Frankie Grande Defends Sister Ariana From Diva Rumors at Big Brother Finale", ETOnline, September 25, 2014
  32. ↑ Gomez, Patrick. "Big Brother's Frankie Grande Is Headed to Broadway", People, October 21, 2014; "BWW Flashback: The Final Countdown – Rock of Ages Closes on Broadway Tonight!", BroadwayWorld, January 18, 2015
  33. ↑ "Frankie J. Grande gushes about sister Ariana", MyFoxNY.com, November 18, 2014
  34. 1 2 Walano, Rose. "Ariana Grande's Brother, Frankie J., Hits AMAs Red Carpet Without a Real Shirt: See His Painted-On Outfit!", Us Weekly magazine, November 23, 2014; "Yahoo to Live-Stream the 2014 American Music Awards Red Carpet Preshow", Yahoo Music, November 7, 2014; and Heigl, Alex. "Frankie Grande Wears a Painted-On Shirt to the AMAs", People magazine, November 23, 2014
  35. ↑ "Frankie J. Grande", TV Guide, accessed September 17, 2014
  36. ↑ Piwowarski, Allison. "Big Brother Frankie Grande's YouTube Videos Will Make You Love Him Even More", Bustle.com, July 2014
  37. ↑ Faris, Paula. "When Using Social Media for Do-It-Yourself Fame Leads to Big Breaks", Nightline, American Broadcasting Company, November 20, 2014
  38. ↑ "Getting to Know the Billboard 2015 Social Media Stars", Billboard, October 12, 2015
  39. ↑ Weiss, Sabrina Rojas. "Frankie Grande Shares the Secrets to Being a Social Media Magnet", Refinery29, August 17, 2015
  40. ↑ "FrankieJGrande: About", YouTube, accessed January 9, 2016
  41. ↑ "Frankiejgrande", Instagram.com, accessed March 25, 2016
  42. ↑ "Frankie James Grande", Twitter.com, all accessed March 25, 2016
  43. ↑ Brady, Louisa. "Broadway at the Cabaret – Top 5 Cabaret Picks for January 19–25, Featuring Frankie J. Grande, Christine Ebersole, and More!", BroadwayWorld, January 18, 2015; Champion, Lindsay. "The Big Brother Bromance Lives On! Frankie J. Grande Swoons Over Shirtless Stud Zach Rance at 54 Below", Broadway.com, January 21, 2015
  44. ↑ Roth, Madeline. "Frankie Grande & Miranda Sings Lip-Sync for Their Lives in Lance Bass’ New Video", MTV, February 3, 2015
  45. ↑ "Frankie Grande Makes His Runway Debut", Out magazine, February 18, 2015
  46. 1 2 "Cody Simpson Responds to Gigi Hadid Cocaine Scandal: 'She Would Never Do Anything Like That'", Entertainment Tonight, March 28, 2015; and "Fifth Harmony on Zayn Malik Leaving One Direction: 'It's the End of an Era'", ET, filmed March 28, 2015, posted March 30, 2015. See also "Kids' Choice Awards 2015: Frankie Grande", CBSNews, March 30, 2015
  47. 1 2 "Malan Breton – A Journey to Taiwan wins the NYCIFF award for Best Short Documentary", Daily News Detroit, May 12, 2015, accessed January 14, 2016
  48. ↑ McNamara, Kristin. "Demi Lovato, Jack and Jack Rock DigiFest NYC", Cambio.com, June 9, 2015
  49. ↑ "#JoeyShine Video Contest Winner Announced for NYMF's Joey Contreras in Concert", BroadwayWorld.com, July 15, 2015
  50. ↑ Mink, Casey. "America’s Best Dance Crew Returns: Frankie Grande & More to Judge", Hollywood Life, April 21, 2015
  51. 1 2 Phillips, Jevon. "America's Best Dance Crew: Road to the VMAs starts, and one crew hits bottom quick", Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2015
  52. 1 2 "Worst.Post.Ever: With Frankie Grande". Oxygen.com, August 18, 2015
  53. ↑ Falcone, Dana Rose. "Q&A: Frankie Grande talks Ariana's Instagram, Justin Bieber, and more ahead of Worst.Post.Ever premiere", Entertainment Weekly, August 18, 2015
  54. ↑ Dornbush, Jonathan. "Every Breath You Take, Every Move You Make, Vanessa's Watching You", Entertainment Weekly, September 13, 2015
  55. 1 2 Middleton, Ryan. "Skrillex, Diplo Reveal New EP Planned For Early 2016", MusicTimes.com, November 23, 2015
  56. ↑ "People's Choice Awards 2016: Full List of Nominees", People'sChoice.com, November 3, 2015
  57. ↑ "Frankie Grande: Livin' La Vida Grande", FOX 11 Los Angeles, January 5, 2016; and "Frankie Grande, Mallory Hagan, and Antoine L. Smith Set to Judge Rising Star Competition on 5/8", BroadwayWorld.com, May 7, 2016
  58. ↑ Wright, Rebecca. "Ariana and Frankie Grande launch unisex fragrance", Glamour magazine, January 20, 2016
  59. ↑ French, Megan. "Frankie Grande Is Hosting Talk Show Style Code Live on Amazon", Us Weekly, March 8, 2016; and "FMN Exclusive: Frankie Grande of Style Code Live Names His Two Biggest Fashion Icons, Both Past and Present", Fox News Magazine, June 1, 2016
  60. ↑ "Why Frankie Grande and Rachel Smith Are Killing It on Amazon's Style Code Live", WhoSay, October 21, 2016
  61. ↑ Halzack, Sarah. "Amazon just launched a new live show that looks a lot like QVC", The Washington Post, March 9, 2016
  62. ↑ Lindsay, Benjamin. "Frankie Grande on His New York Theater Roots", Backstage, June 10, 2016
  63. ↑ "Logo to Premiere All-New Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul 4/11", BroadwayWorld.com, March 3, 2016; and Caulfield, Keith. "RuPaul's Cheeky New Game Show Gay for Play: Exclusive Clip", Billboard, April 11, 2016
  64. 1 2 "Celebrity Big Brother: Who's in the house?", BBC, July 29, 2016; Pearce, Tilly. "Frankie Grande comes in sixth place in the Celebrity Big Brother final", The Sun, August 26, 2016
  65. ↑ Welsh, Daniel. "Celebrity Big Brother Bosses Bend the Rules for Frankie Grande", Huffington Post, August 18, 2016
  66. ↑ Whistlecroft, Charlotte and Catriona Wightman. "Celebrity Big Brother's Frankie defends presenting Style Code Live from the house", Digital Spy, August 27, 2016
  67. ↑ Sadick, Sydney. "Getting to Know Frankie Grande!", Fashion Week Daily, September 16, 2016
  68. ↑ Kupin, Jacob and Timothy Carroll. "Frankie Grande – Interview", CreativeSpotlights.com, October 16, 2012, accessed July 26, 2014; Fullerton, Krissie. "Grande, Vivino, Umphress and More Help Broadway in South Africa Celebrate the Holidays", Playbill, December 14, 2010, accessed July 26, 2014; and Schreiber, Abby. "Frankie Grande: Bad Boy of Twitter, Broadway and Big Brother (and Ariana's Brother)", Paper magazine, November 19, 2014
  69. ↑ "buildOn Honors Frankie James Grande", buildon.org, May 2014; "Frankie Grande School", buildOn.org, accessed July 28, 2014; and "Frankie J. Grande Returns to Broadway in Rock of Ages Tonight", BroadwayWorld.com, November 10, 2014
  70. 1 2 A 2015 video of Grande in Malawi shows him viewing the school that he helped to build there in 2013 and beginning a new school. Grande, Frankie. "Frank Grande School Malawi", YouTube.com, January 6, 2015
  71. ↑ Grande, Frankie. "Frankie Grande: Smoking 'Ain't Cute,' Guys", The Advocate, April 1, 2015; and Grande, Frankie. 2015 cover of "Left Swipe Dat" anti-smoking PSA, YouTube, March 23, 2015
  72. ↑ Turner, Annaka. "Frankie Grande Donates Big Brother ... Winnings to Charity", Big Brother Access, January 5, 2014; Piwowarski, Allison. "What Is Frankie Grande's Charity? How the Big Brother Star Plans to Give Back After the Show", Bustle.com, August 14, 2014
  73. ↑ Gomez, Patrick. "Ariana Grande's Brother Frankie: I Fell in Love on Big Brother", People.com, September 25, 2014
  74. ↑ "Top 5 YouTubers Fundraisers", Fanciful Magazine, February 2015 issue
  75. ↑ "Frankie Grande School", buildOn.org, accessed February 11, 2015
  76. ↑ What's Trending. "GloZell, Frankie Grande, Brittany Furlan Band Together for Home Fire Awareness PSA", Tubefilter.com, February 10, 2016
  77. ↑ Caulfield, Keith. "Broadway's Brightest Strip Down to Raise $1.48 Million for Charity", Billboard.com, June 21, 2016
  78. ↑ "Frankie Grande Talks Upcoming TV Special Worst.Post.Ever", BroadwayWorld.com, August 17, 2015
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