Bob Bingham

Bob Bingham
Bingham as Caiaphas in Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Born
Robert Franklin Bingham

(1946-10-29) October 29, 1946 (age 78)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Washington
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
Years active1970–1974
Children2

Robert Franklin Bingham (born October 29, 1946) is a retired American actor and singer. Bingham is best known for playing the role of Caiaphas in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar in the first USA concert tour, original Broadway cast, original French cast, and in the 1973 film version.[1][2]

Life and career

Bingham was born in Seattle and raised in Edmonds, Washington. He attended the University of Washington for three years and studied singing with Ernest J. Anderson and acting with Larry and Pamela Liester's Home Adjunct, Inc.[3] His first professional appearance was in a touring production of the musical Hair in 1970, first at the Moore Theatre in Seattle that ran for more than three months, a local record, and then in Miami, Florida.[4][5] In the 1970s Bingham led a Buddhist group dedicated to world peace.[6]

Bingham played the role of Caiaphas in the original concert tour of Jesus Christ Superstar and went on to perform the role in the original Broadway production[7][8] which ran from 1971 to 1973, and in a Paris production.[9] He appeared in the film by Juan Orol, El fantástico mundo de los hippies in 1972.[3] Along with Barry Dennen (Pilate) and Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdalene) and Carl Anderson (Judas), Bingham reprised his Broadway role in the 1973 film Jesus Christ Superstar.[1] In 1974, he played God in the original production of Up from Paradise, by Arthur Miller, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[10] He retired from show business soon afterwards[11] and worked as COO managerial position in a Talon zipper factory.[citation needed]

In April 2015 he appeared on-stage at the Hollywood Boulevard Cinema in a question and answer session with Ted Neeley, Barry Dennen and Kurt Yaghjian following a showing of a remastered version of the 1973 film Jesus Christ Superstar. This was as part of a national screening tour.[12] His reminiscences of appearing in the 1973 film were recorded with those of the rest of the original cast in the DVD Superstar: the Making and Reunion of the Film (2015).[13]

Bingham lives in Brewster, New York with his wife Idilcia Aracena, and his two children Franklin A. Bingham and Yasamin R. Bingham.

References

  1. ^ a b Smith, Gary Allen. Epic Films: Casts, Credits and Commentary on More Than 350 Historical Spectacle Movies, McFarland & Company, Inc. (2006), p. 137
  2. ^ Dietz, Dan. The Complete Book of 1970s Broadway Musicals, Rowman & Littlefield (2015), p. 72
  3. ^ a b Bingham's resumé on the History For Sale website
  4. ^ Johnson, Jonathon. Good HAIR Days: A Personal Journey with the American Tribal Love-rock Musical HAIR, iUniverse (2004), pp. 63 and 93 ISBN 0595312977
  5. ^ Crowley, Walt. "First Seattle production of Hair debuts at the Moore Theater on April 18, 1970", HistoryLink.org Essay 3741, April 8, 2002, accessed January 23, 2016
  6. ^ Bigsby, Christopher. Arthur Miller: 1962–2005, p. 165, Orion (2011) ISBN 0297863169
  7. ^ Bob Bingham, Internet Broadway Database, accessed January 23, 2016
  8. ^ "Bingham on the JCS Recording Casts Lists website". Archived from the original on January 30, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  9. ^ Biographical notes in the Jesus Christ Superstar film souvenir booklet (1973)
  10. ^ "Bob Bingham Theatre Credits", BroadwayWorld.com, accessed January 23, 2016
  11. ^ The Bob Bingham Enigma Archived July 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ 'Jesus Christ Superstar Cast - Live In Person' - Hollywood Boulevard Cinema website
  13. ^ Bingham in Superstars DVD (2015) on Amazon.com