Lin-Manuel Miranda (/lɪn mænˈwɛl mɪˈrændə/; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, director and producer. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals In the Heights (2005), and Hamilton (2015), and the soundtracks for the animated films Moana (2016), Encanto, and Vivo (both 2021). His numerous accolades include three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, five Grammy Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, an Annie Award, a MacArthur Fellowship Award, a Kennedy Center Honor, and a Pulitzer Prize.
Miranda made his Broadway debut writing the music and lyrics and starring in the musical In the Heights (2008), where it won the Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Original Score, as well as the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. The stage musical was adapted into the 2021 film of the same name. Miranda returned to Broadway writing the script, music, and lyrics as well as starring in the musical Hamilton (2015), which won acclaim from critics and audiences, becoming a popular culture phenomenon. It earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for a record 16 Tony Awards and won 11, including Miranda's first win for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. The Hamilton cast recording spent 10 weeks atop Billboard's Top Rap Albums chart and became the eleventh-biggest album of the 2010s.
A frequent collaborator of the Walt Disney Company, Miranda has written original songs for the studio. He gained two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ("How Far I'll Go" and "Dos Oruguitas") for Moana (2016) and Encanto (2021), respectively. The song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" broke various records, marked Miranda's first number-one song on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles charts, and cemented his mainstream fame. He starred as Jack in the musical fantasy Mary Poppins Returns (2018), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. For his performance in the Disney live stage recording of Hamilton released in 2020, he received Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Miranda debuted as a film director with Tick, Tick...Boom! (2021).
His television work includes recurring roles on The Electric Company (2009–2010) and His Dark Materials (2019). Miranda hosted Saturday Night Live in 2016 and had a guest role on Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2018; he was nominated twice for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He has been politically active on behalf of Puerto Rico. Miranda met with politicians in 2016 to speak out in favor of debt relief for Puerto Rico and raised funds for rescue efforts and disaster relief after Hurricane Maria in 2017.
