Leonard Joseph Cariou born September 30, 1939, is a Canadian actor and stage director best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and for his role as patriarch Henry Reagan, NYPD Police Commissioner (retired), in the CBS multi-generational series Blue Bloods.
Cariou’s father was a Breton, while his mother was Irish. Cariou attended Miles Macdonell Collegiate in years 10 and 11, where he directed and starred in school plays, before going on to St Paul’s College.
Len Cariou siblings: Who are Len Cariou siblings?
Since he has kept his siblings’ identities hidden from the public, no accurate information has been provided.
Cariou made his Rainbow Stage debut in Damn Yankees in 1959, and he was a founding member of the Manitoba Theatre Centre.
He was awarded a scholarship at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal, but because he was married with a young kid and financial obligations, he had to renounce the honor.
Instead, he spent two years at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, honing his technique before returning in 1981 to lead the company as Prospero, Coriolanus, Brutus, and Petruchio.
