Lin-Manuel Miranda facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lin-Manuel Miranda
Miranda in 2019
Born	(1980-01-16) January 16, 1980 (age 45) New York City, U.S.
Education	Wesleyan University (BA)
Occupation	Songwriter actor singer filmmaker rapper librettist
Years active	2002–present
Spouse(s)	Vanessa Nadal ​ (m. 2010)​
Children	2
Parents	Luis A. Miranda Jr. (father) Luz Towns-Miranda (mother)
Relatives	José Miranda (cousin)
Awards	Full list
Signature

Lin-Manuel Miranda (born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper, and writer for musicals. He is famous for creating the Broadway musicals In the Heights (2005) and Hamilton (2015). He also wrote songs for popular animated films like Moana (2016), Vivo, and Encanto (both 2021).

Miranda has won many awards for his work. These include a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards. He was also nominated for two Academy Awards. In 2018, he received the Kennedy Center Honors for his contributions to American culture.

He first appeared on Broadway in 2008 with In the Heights. He wrote the music and lyrics and also starred in it. The musical won a Tony Award for Best Musical and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Later, it was made into a movie in 2021. In 2015, Miranda returned to Broadway with Hamilton. He wrote the story, music, and lyrics, and played the main character. Hamilton was a huge hit and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It also won 11 Tony Awards, including one for Miranda's writing.

Lin-Manuel Miranda often works with the Walt Disney Company. He wrote original songs for their movies. He got two Academy Award for Best Original Song nominations for "How Far I'll Go" from Moana and "Dos Oruguitas" from Encanto. The song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Encanto became a number-one hit in the US and UK. Miranda also acted in the movie Mary Poppins Returns (2018). In 2021, he directed his first movie, Tick, Tick...Boom!.

His TV work includes roles on The Electric Company and His Dark Materials. He hosted Saturday Night Live in 2016. Miranda is also active in supporting Puerto Rico. He has worked to help with debt relief and disaster aid after Hurricane Maria.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Early Life and Education

Lin-Manuel Miranda was born in New York City on January 16, 1980. His mother, Luz Towns-Miranda, is a psychologist. His father, Luis Miranda Jr., is a political consultant. His parents named him "Lin-Manuel" after a poem about the Vietnam War. He grew up in the Inwood neighborhood and was raised Catholic. His family has roots in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Africa. Every year, he spent at least a month with his grandparents in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico.

Miranda went to Hunter College Elementary School and Hunter College High School. He started writing musicals when he was in school. One of his first plays was a 20-minute musical about a fetal pig.

He wrote the first version of In the Heights in 1999. This was during his second year at Wesleyan University. The show was performed by Wesleyan's student theater group. Miranda added freestyle rap and salsa music to it. He wrote and directed other musicals at Wesleyan too. He graduated from Wesleyan in 2002.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Career in Theatre

Starting with In the Heights (2002–2010)

In 2002, Miranda worked with director Thomas Kail to improve In the Heights. Playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes joined them in 2004. The musical first opened in Connecticut in 2005. Then it moved off-Broadway in 2007. Finally, it opened on Broadway in March 2008.

In the Heights was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and won four. These included Best Musical and Best Original Score. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Miranda was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Usnavi. He left the Broadway cast in February 2009.

Miranda returned to play Usnavi for a national tour in Los Angeles in 2010. He also joined the tour in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He came back to the Broadway cast from December 2010 until the show closed in January 2011.

During this time, Miranda also worked on other stage projects. He wrote Spanish parts for the 2009 Broadway show West Side Story. He also wrote two new songs for a musical called Working in 2008. Besides theatre, he taught English at his old high school. He also wrote for a newspaper and composed music for commercials.

In 2003, Miranda helped start Freestyle Love Supreme. This is a hip hop improv group that performs without a script. The group later had a TV series and performed on Broadway.

Bring It On and Other Shows (2011–2014)

Miranda helped write the music and lyrics for Bring It On: The Musical. This musical started in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2011. It then went on a US tour and played on Broadway in 2012. It was nominated for Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Choreography.

In 2012, Miranda acted in a concert version of Merrily We Roll Along. In 2014, he won an Emmy Award for a song he co-wrote called "Bigger!". This song was for the opening of the 67th Tony Awards.

Miranda wrote a short musical called 21 Chump Street. He was the narrator for its only performance in 2014. He also starred in a revival of Jonathan Larson's musical Tick, Tick... Boom! in 2014.

Creating Hamilton (2011–2016)

Miranda in Hamilton, 2016

In 2008, Lin-Manuel Miranda read a book about Alexander Hamilton. This book inspired him to write a rap about Hamilton. He performed it at the White House in 2009. Miranda said he spent a year writing the Hamilton song "My Shot". He wanted every line to show Hamilton's intelligence. By 2012, Miranda was performing many songs based on Hamilton's life. He called it the Hamilton Mixtape.

Hamilton: An American Musical first opened off-Broadway in January 2015. Miranda wrote the story and music, and played the main character. The show got amazing reviews and sold out quickly. It then moved to Broadway in July 2015. On the first night of previews, over 700 people waited for tickets. Miranda and the cast often performed short shows outside for people waiting for tickets. These were called Ham4Ham.

Hamilton won the Tony Award for Best Musical. Miranda won Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical. He also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical. The Hamilton cast album won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

On March 15, 2016, the cast of Hamilton performed at the White House. Miranda even did a freestyle rap with President Obama. In April 2016, Miranda released a book about Hamilton called Hamilton: The Revolution.

Miranda gave his last performance in Hamilton on Broadway on July 9, 2016. He later returned to play Alexander Hamilton for three weeks in Puerto Rico in January 2019. Tickets for these shows sold out in just three hours. A movie version of the Broadway show was released on Disney+ in July 2020.

Returning to Theatre (2019–Present)

In January 2019, Miranda played Alexander Hamilton again in Puerto Rico. The shows were at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center. In March of the same year, he played King Arthur in a special concert of Camelot.

In 2023, he wrote more lyrics for the Broadway musical New York, New York. It was also announced that he is working on a musical based on the book The Warriors. A music album based on this project was released in October 2024.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Film Work

Early Film Roles (2012–2014)

Miranda first appeared in a movie in 2012. It was a Walt Disney Pictures film called The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

Disney Projects and Directing (2015–Present)

Miranda met with Disney in 2013. He sent them a demo of six songs. This started many projects with Disney:

• Moana: In 2014, Disney hired Miranda to write songs for Moana. He worked with Opetaia Foa'i and Mark Mancina. Moana was released in November 2016 and was a big success. Miranda's songwriting was highly praised. He also sang "We Know the Way" in the movie. For the song "How Far I'll Go", he received nominations for many awards, including an Oscar.
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015): While working on Hamilton, Miranda also wrote a song for a scene in this Star Wars movie.
• DuckTales (2018): Miranda voiced Fenton "Gizmoduck" Crackshell-Cabrera in the 2017 reboot of DuckTales. He appeared in many episodes.
• Mary Poppins Returns (2018): Miranda played Jack, a lamplighter. This was his first big movie role after leaving Hamilton on Broadway. He filmed his scenes in London in 2017.
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019): Miranda also wrote a song for this Star Wars movie. He even had a small role as a Resistance soldier.
• Hamilton (2020): A live recording of the original Broadway show was released on Disney+.
• Encanto (2021): Miranda worked with Disney Animation again for Encanto. The movie came out in November 2021. Its soundtrack was very popular. The song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" became number one in the US. Miranda was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Dos Oruguitas".
• The Little Mermaid (2023): In 2016, Miranda agreed to write new songs with Alan Menken for the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. He also helped produce the movie.
• Mufasa: The Lion King (2024): Miranda is a big fan of The Lion King. He started writing songs for this prequel/sequel movie in 2022. He and director Barry Jenkins presented the movie's trailer in August 2024.

A movie version of In the Heights was in the works for many years. It was finally released in theaters and on HBO Max in June 2021. Miranda played a small role as Piraguero, the "Piragua Guy". He said he was happy to let Anthony Ramos play Usnavi.

In 2018, Imagine Entertainment announced that Miranda would direct his first movie. It was an adaptation of Jonathan Larson's musical Tick, Tick... Boom!. The movie was released on Netflix in 2021. In the same year, Miranda voiced the main character and wrote songs for Vivo. This animated film from Sony Pictures Animation was released on Netflix in August 2021.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Television Work

Early TV Roles (2007–2013)

Miranda also worked in television. In 2007, he had a small part in The Sopranos. In 2009, he played a character named Juan "Alvie" Alvarez in House. For Sesame Street, he sometimes acted and sang the theme song for a segment. He was also a composer and actor on the 2009 revival of The Electric Company.

He appeared in other TV shows during this time. He was in Modern Family in 2011. In 2013, he had a recurring role in the NBC drama Do No Harm. He also appeared in an all-verse episode of How I Met Your Mother in November 2013.

Comedy and Other Projects (2016–2022)

In April 2016, Miranda performed a rap about Puerto Rico's debt crisis on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He hosted Saturday Night Live on October 8, 2016. He also played himself in two episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2017. He was nominated for Emmy Awards for both appearances.

In 2019, Miranda was a guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Disneyland. He also sang the theme song for the Netflix series The Magic School Bus Rides Again. He played Amy's brother in an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Miranda was an executive producer for the 2019 series Fosse/Verdon. This show was about the relationship between Broadway artists Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. Miranda also had a brief appearance in the series.

From 2019 to 2022, Miranda played Lee Scoresby in the BBC series His Dark Materials. Critics praised his performance.

In 2019, Miranda teamed up with TV producer Norman Lear. They made a documentary about Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno. It was called Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It. Miranda also wrote lyrics for a song called "Checks and Balances" for the 2021 Netflix animated series We the People.

Recent TV Appearances (2023–Present)

He appears as Hermes, the messenger of the gods, in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This show premiered on Disney+ in December 2023.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Personal Life

Family Life

Miranda (right) with his family at his Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in 2018. His wife, Vanessa Nadal, is in the center.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and his wife, Vanessa Nadal, went to high school together. They got married in 2010. Vanessa Nadal studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and became a lawyer. At their wedding reception, Miranda and the wedding party performed a song from Fiddler on the Roof.

Miranda and Nadal have two sons. Their first son, Sebastian, was born in 2014. Their second son, Francisco, was born in 2018. Sebastian was named after the crab from The Little Mermaid. This is one of Miranda's favorite movies.

Miranda found out he is related to artists Residente and iLe from the band Calle 13. This happened at a concert in Puerto Rico in 2009. They are related through Gilberto Concepción de Gracia, who started a political party in Puerto Rico.

Miranda is also a cousin of professional baseball player José Miranda.

Activism and Support for Puerto Rico

After meeting President Barack Obama in March 2016, Miranda spoke out for Puerto Rico. He joined politicians to ask for a bill that would help Puerto Rico with its $70 billion debt. Miranda was very active after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017. By December 2017, his song "Almost Like Praying" helped raise $22 million for relief efforts.

Miranda uses money from Hamilton to support Graham Windham. This is a non-profit adoption agency. It was founded by Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton's wife. Miranda performs at their fundraising events to help children in foster care.

He performed the song "Found/Tonight" with Ben Platt at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., in March 2018. This rally was for stricter gun laws.

To raise money for Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and María, Lin-Manuel decided to perform Hamilton there. He played the main role again in his father's home country. The Miranda family donated about $1 million to fix up the University of Puerto Rico theater for the show. The performances took place in January 2019 at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in Santurce.

In 2016, Miranda supported a law called Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). This law aimed to help Puerto Rico with its debt. However, it led to budget cuts, school closures, and protests. Miranda faced some criticism for his support of the bill. He later explained that he saw PROMESA as the only option at the time. He now believes that Puerto Rico should get full debt relief.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Awards and Honors

List of awards and nominations received by Lin-Manuel Miranda

In 2015, Smithsonian Magazine gave Miranda the American Ingenuity Award for History. In 2019, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery gave him the Portrait of a Nation prize. The Hamilton Mixtape, an album of songs inspired by Hamilton, reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart.

Honorary Degrees

Miranda has received several honorary degrees from universities. In 2009, he received one from Yeshiva University. He was the youngest person to get an honorary degree from that university.

In 2015, his old school, Wesleyan University, gave him an honorary degree. He also gave their graduation speech. In May 2016, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. He gave their commencement speech too. In July 2016, The University of Puerto Rico also gave him a doctorate. In July 2022, he received an honorary doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music in London, England.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Work

Theatre Performances and Creations

Film Work by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Television Work by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Web Series Work by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Music Albums

Cast Albums

Soundtrack Albums

Soundtrack Mixtapes

Concept Albums

Instrumental Albums

Singles

Audiobook Narration

• 2013: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
• 2016: Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter, & Mariska Hargitay
• 2016: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
• 2018: Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda
• 2021: Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Images for kids

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  Lin-Manuel Miranda's signature.

See also

In Spanish: Lin-Manuel Miranda para niños

• Nuyorican
• Nuyorican Movement
• Latino theatre in the United States
• Puerto Rican literature
• Latino literature
• List of Latin American Academy Award winners and nominees
• Puerto Ricans in New York City
• Puerto Ricans in the United States
• List of Puerto Ricans