Frankie Grande is an American dancer, actor, singer, producer, television host and YouTube personality who is the older half-brother of singer and actress Ariana Grande. He performed on Broadway in Mamma Mia! and Rock of Ages. He also produced Broadway shows like Hamlet, La Bête, and Born Yesterday. He further produced and appeared in cabaret acts. He participated in Big Brother 16 and Celebrity Big Brother 18.
Early Life
Frankie Grande attended Pine Crest School in Boca Raton and began performing in musicals in the fifth grade. He graduated from Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania in 2005, with triple majors in biology, theatre and dance.
Career
Frankie Grande appeared as Boots the Monkey in a national tour of Dora the Explorer Live! (Dora's Pirate Adventure) in 2007. He also performed in regional theatre productions, playing the title role in George M!, Mike Costa in A Chorus Line and Lewis in Pippin. Later that year, he joined the Broadway cast of the musical Mamma Mia! where he performed for three years. He produced several on and off Broadway shows including Hamlet (2009) starring Jude Law, revivals of La Bête (2010–2011) starring David Hyde Pierce and Born Yesterday (2011) starring Jim Belushi. He produced Brooke Shields' one-woman cabaret show in 2011 and performed in cabaret acts at Birdland Jazz Club and 54 Below. He starred as Bobby in a summer theatre production of the musical Crazy for You (2013) and played Consuela in an Off-Broadway revival of the musical Pageant (2014).
Frankie appeared on the reality television series Big Brother 16 in mid-2014, finishing 5th among 16 contestants. He returned to Broadway later that year in the musical Rock of Ages. He performed Hit Me With Your Best Shot during an appearance on Good Day New York and was named among favorite YouTube stars by TV Guide in 2014. Next year, Billboard included him in their list of 32 of the top social media stars. He appeared in a music video for Lance Bass in February 2015. He modeled for Malan Breton at New York Fashion Week and appeared in the short documentary, Malan Breton: A Journey to Taiwan. In 2015, he was a judge on America's Best Dance Crew and hosted Worst.Post.Ever: With Frankie Grande. He finished sixth during his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother 18 in 2016. In 2017, he guest-starred on Nickelodeon's sitcom Henry Danger and played a fictional version of himself in the Netflix series Haters Back Off. He made his film debut in the 2020 movie Spree.
Family Life
Frankie Grande was born to Victor Marchione, a physician, and Joan Grande, chief executive officer of telephone and alarm system company Hose-McCann Communications. Although he was born in New York City, he grew up in Englewood, New Jersey and later in Boca Raton, Florida. He is the half-brother of Ariana Grande and James Marchione. He is openly gay and married Hale Leon on May 4, 2022 after dating him since 2019. He obtained Italian citizenship in 2023.
