Joel Higgins Biography

Joel Higgins an American actor and a singer well known as a TV Silver Spoons, Best Of The West, as well as Broadway Shenandoah, Oklahoma, City Of Angels actor.

Joel Higgins Age

Higgins was born on 28 September 1943, in Bloomington, Illinois, United States.

Joel Higgins Career

Higgins enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed at Camp Casey in Korea, working as the Special Services Sergeant in charge of Entertainment in the year 1968. Following his Army days, he along with several friends wrote a musical revue called The Green Apple Nasties.

After leaving the Army, he sold the show to a producer and went on the road for two and a half years. During a performance in Louisville, Kentucky, Higgins was approached by a producer who asked him to play Sky Masterson in a Regional theater production of Guys and Dolls. He went on a seventeen-week tour of the Midwest in the role.

In the year 1973, Higgins landed the role of Vince in the first national tour of Grease, where he toured for a year before leaving to join the pre-Broadway tryout of a new musical called Shenandoah. In the year 1975, he won the Theatre World Award for his role in the Broadway version of Shenandoah.

In the same year, he started the role of Bruce Carson in the CBS soap opera Search for Tomorrow, and in the following year, he returned to Broadway for Music Is. In the yea 1978, Higgins was featured in the role of Ben Gant in the Broadway musical Angel. While the show only ran for five nights, Higgins received a Drama Desk Award nomination for his performance.

Higgins made the transition from daytime to primetime in the year 1979, with a starring role in the short-lived ABC television series Salvage 1 with Andy Griffith. Two years later, he appeared in the ABC sitcom Best of the West as the United States Marshal Sam Best who, after returning from fighting in the American Civil War, uproots his family and moves them out west. ABC delayed renewing the series, and it was canceled after one season.

Higgins signed to star in a new NBC series, Silver Spoons, playing Edward W. Stratton III, the childlike son of one of the country’s richest industrialists. In the show’s opening, he learned he has a twelve-year-old son, played by Ricky Schroder, the product of his first marriage. The series ran from 1982-87, the first four seasons airing on NBC and the fifth and final, in first-run syndication.

Higgins returned to ABC in a new comedy, Have Faith, in the spring of the year 1989, playing a church monsignor overseeing a madcap staff, co-stars of which included Ron Carey and Stephen Furst. The series did not fare well in the ratings and expired after its short tryout run. He continued to guest star on numerous television series since that time.

During the late 1970s and 1980s, he also appeared in several movies, including Bare Essence, Threesome, First Affair,as well as Killing at Hell’s Gate. Also, he continued to perform on stage, starring in the musicals She Loves Me at the Music Center in Los Angeles and Oklahoma! on Broadway, as well as writing over 200 jingles for products such as Kool-Aid, Kal Kan, M&M’s, Coors Light as well as several theme songs including one for Lucille Ball’s unsuccessful ABC comeback series, Life with Lucy.

Higgins continued to perform throughout the 1990s and 2000s in several theaters around the country such as The Muny in Forest Park, St. Louis (the largest and oldest outdoor theatre in America), The Starlight in Kansas City, The Fox in Atlanta, Cape Cod Playhouse, etc. He returned to Broadway in 1991-92 to star as “Stone/Stein” in City of Angels.

All the while continuing to write, Higgins co-wrote and starred in “The Fields of Ambrosia” which debuted at New Jersey’s George Street Playhouse prior to transferring to the Aldwych Theatre on London’s West End. Also, he co-wrote and directed the premiere production of “Johnny Guitar, The Musical”, at the Century Center Theater For The Performing Arts in New York, garnering numerous Drama Desk, Drama League, and Lucille Lortel Award nominations (including Best Lyrics, Music, and Musical) as well as winning the Outer Critics Circle Award as Best Musical of the year 2004. The Musical has had over 30 subsequent productions around the country.

Higgins has continued to appear in films, such as the Dead Canaries, and No Pay, Nudity. In the year 2017, he released an EP of original songs titled “A World Away” on CD Baby under his full name, Joel Franklin Higgins.

Joel Higgins Net Worth

Joel has an estimated net worth of $1 Million – $5 Million

Joel Higgins Silver Spoons

Higgins signed to star in a new NBC series called Silver Spoons, starring as Edward W. Stratton III, the childlike son of one of the country’s richest industrialists.

Joel Higgins Height and Weight

Higgins stands tall at a height of feet 11½ inches and has an average body weight

Joel Higgins Education

Higgins joined Parkway Central High School in St. Louis, he later linked to Michigan State University where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity. Beyond leaving with a degree in advertising as well as working in General Motors, he departed to Europe to perform Acting

Joel Higgins Family

Joel was born to Henry Herbert,1st Earl of Carnarvon(father), and Lady Elizabeth Alicia Maria Wyndham (mother) in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. He was raisedup along with his brother Dwayne Hickman.

Joel Higgins Wife

Joel married Stacy Higginsin 1983, and together they have a son named Graham.