Kyle Jean-Baptiste | |
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![]() Jean-Baptiste in costume as Courfeyrac from Les Misérables in June 2015 | |
Born | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | December 3, 1993
Died | August 29, 2015 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | (aged 21)
Alma mater | Baldwin Wallace University[1] |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 2015 |
Known for | First Black actor to play Jean Valjean in Les Misérables on Broadway[2][3] |
Kyle Jean-Baptiste (December 3, 1993 – August 29, 2015) was an American actor. He was the youngest, as well as the first Black[4] actor, to play the role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables on Broadway.
He was also slated to be a cast member of the revival of the musical The Color Purple. On August 29, 2015, a day after departing Les Misérables and two days after his final performance as Valjean, he died, after accidentally falling from a fire escape in Brooklyn, New York. Scholarships in his name exist at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School[5] and at Baldwin Wallace University.[6]