Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American songwriter, actor, filmmaker, librettist, and producer. He is best known for creating the Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton, as well as contributing to the soundtracks of animated films including Moana, Vivo, and Encanto. Over his career, he has received a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, three Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards, alongside two Academy Award nominations and a 2018 Kennedy Center Honor.

Miranda was born on January 16, 1980, in New York City to clinical psychologist Luz Towns-Miranda and political consultant Luis Miranda Jr. Raised Catholic in Manhattan's Inwood neighborhood, he spent time with his grandparents in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, during his youth. He attended Hunter College Elementary School and Hunter College High School, where he began writing musicals. Miranda later attended Wesleyan University, where he wrote the earliest draft of In the Heights in 1999 before graduating in 2002.

After college, Miranda revised In the Heights alongside collaborators John Buffalo Mailer, Thomas Kail, and Quiara Alegría Hudes. The musical made its Broadway debut in March 2008, winning four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score, and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. During this period, Miranda also co-founded the hip hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme, worked as a high school English teacher and columnist, and contributed songs to the musical Working.

In 2008, Miranda began developing Hamilton after reading Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton. The show premiered off-Broadway in early 2015 before opening on Broadway later that year, with Miranda writing the book, music, and lyrics, and starring in the title role. Hamilton earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and 11 Tony Awards, while its cast recording reached the top of Billboard's Top Rap Albums chart. Miranda later reprised his lead role for a 2019 engagement in Puerto Rico.

Miranda has collaborated frequently with the Walt Disney Company, writing songs for Moana, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Encanto. For Encanto, his song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles charts. His film acting roles include starring as Jack in Mary Poppins Returns (2018), and he made his feature directorial debut with Tick, Tick... Boom!. His television credits include roles in His Dark Materials, The Electric Company, and voice work on DuckTales.

Beyond entertainment, Miranda has engaged in political activism supporting Puerto Rico, advocating for debt relief in 2016 and raising funds following Hurricane Maria in 2017. His recent projects include writing additional lyrics for the Broadway musical New York, New York and co-creating the concept album Warriors, based on the novel and film of the same name.