- Born
- Birth nameLea Michele Sarfati
- Nicknames
- Lee
- Lele
- Height5′ 2½″ (1.59 m)
- Lea Michele Sarfati was born in the Bronx, New York to Edith Thomasina (Porcelli), a nurse, and Mark David Sarfati, a delicatessen owner-turned-real estate agent. Her mother is of Italian descent (from Rome and Naples), and her father is of Sephardi Jewish ancestry (from Turkey and Greece). Lea was raised Catholic in Tenafly, New Jersey and graduated from Tenafly High School.
At age eight, Lea went with a friend to an open casting call for an up-and-coming musical. After spontaneously deciding to audition, she was offered the role and, two weeks later, she was starring on Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in 1995 as a replacement for the role of Young Cosette in "Les Misérables". She was then cast in the role of Tateh's daughter, the Little Girl, in the 1998 original Broadway cast of "Ragtime", and in 2004 she portrayed Shprintze and understudied the role of Chava in the Broadway revival of the musical "Fiddler on the Roof".
When she was 14, Lea was given the role of Wendla Bergmann in Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's musical version of "Spring Awakening". She starred in early workshops, off-Broadway, and finally originated the role in the Broadway production at age 20. Around the same time that the show was set to go to Broadway, Lea was offered the role of Éponine Thénardier in the Broadway revival of "Les Misérables". She chose to remain with "Spring Awakening", which debuted on Broadway in December 2006. She was later nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. After two years of starring in "Spring Awakening", Lea left the show with co-star Jonathan Groff, to pursue other opportunities.
In late 2008, Lea won the role of Rachel Berry on the comedy-drama series Glee (2009), and since the show's premiere on May 19, 2009, has received worldwide critical acclaim for her performance. She received the 2009 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Series - Comedy or Musical, and later won three People's Choice Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Along with her award wins, Lea also received Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- SpouseZandy Reich(March 9, 2019 - present) (2 children)
- ChildrenEver Leo ReichEmery Sol Reich
- ParentsEdith SarfatiMarc Sarfati
- Long dark hair
- Rented a car to get to her audition for Glee (2009), and ended up in a crash minutes before. She ditched the car on the side of the road and ran to her audition with shards of glass in her hair.
- Was in a relationship with co-star Cory Monteith from November 2011 until his death on July 13, 2013.
- Worked with Glee (2009) co-stars Jenna Ushkowitz and Jonathan Groff in the musical "Spring Awakening". Michele and Groff were the leads, while Ushkowitz joined the cast in 2008 as an understudy. Skylar Astin and Phoebe Strole, who were also members of the original cast, made guest appearances in the fifth season of Glee (2009).
- Best friends with actor Jonathan Groff.
- Cory Monteith set up her Twitter account and gave her the handle "@msleamichele". He also set "Rachel Berry" as her password, but she later changed it.
- One of my favorite things about Spring Awakening is that it is enjoyable and important for both kids and adults to see.
- I consider myself lucky to be an only child because if I had other siblings, my mother would not have been able to take me to every audition and be so supportive of my career.
- I think it's important in this industry to not just conform to what people want you to do, and instead stand by what you believe in - that's something I'm very passionate about.
- I had so many people telling me 'NO' and giving me these limits in my life. It's so funny what can happen once you just decide to not listen to them.
- I think people should just be proud of who they are. Negative stuff will always be said, but it is the girl that can always wake up in the morning and put a smile on their face and continue to do what they do that has the best time.
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