Celebrity Nooz: Joel Higgins

Joel Higgins (Actor) - Silver Spoons

Updated: 4/09/20

Name: Joel Higgins

Birth Name: Joel Franklin Higgins

Born: September 28, 1943 in Bloomington, Illinois, USA

Claim To Fame: Joel Higgins is an American actor and singer best known for the role of Edward W. Stratton III, the childlike son of one of the country's richest industrialists, and father to young Ricky Schroder, on the hit NBC series Silver Spoons, which ran from 1982 to 1987.

Family Life: In 1983, Higgins married Stacy Alberts. Together they have a son, Graham Franklin Higgins; born 1991.

Info: Attended Parkway Central High School in St. Louis, MO.

Higgins initially performed in coffeehouses to help pay his way through school.

Studied advertising at Michigan State University and graduated in 1966; He was a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.

After leaving with a degree in advertising and working for six months for General Motors, Higgins went to Europe to perform.

Served in the Army in Korea and Georgia from 1967-70. He was stationed at Camp Casey in Korea, serving as the Special Services Sergeant in charge of Entertainment.

Starred in many regional and stock musicals and plays around the country, including "Brigadoon", "Showboat", "Kiss Me Kate", " Guys & Dolls", "The Music Man" and "Side by Side With Sondheim".

Trivia: After serving in the Army, Co-created and lead singer of a musical revue The Green Apple Nasties.

As a songwriter he wrote jingles for such commercials as "Kool-Aid" and "M&M's" candy, and wrote the theme song for Lucille Ball's last, short-lived TV sitcom "Life with Lucy".

In 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 1975, Higgins won a Theatre World Award for his performance in the Broadway musical "Shenandoah".

In 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.

In 1979, He subsequently earned excellent reviews in the Broadway revival of "Oklahoma!".

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 1993, he wrote the book and lyrics and starred in "The Fields Of Ambrosia" which premiered at the George St. Playhouse. He reprised the role at the Aldwych Theatre on London's West End in 1996.

Worked as a folksinger. He wrote some of the songs for the 1999 Christine Andreas album, "Love Is Good".

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) and winning the Outer Critics Circle Award as Best Musical of 2004. The Musical has had over 30 subsequent productions around the country.

Where Are They Now: As of 2017, Higgins released an EP of original songs titled "A World Away" under his full name, Joel Franklin Higgins.

View other 'Where Are They Now' celebrities

Read the latest issue of Celebrity Nooz

Subscribe!