Joel Franklin Higgins (born September 28, 1943) is an American actor and singer with a stage career spanning over 50 years. He is perhaps best known for his role as Edward Stratton III on the sitcom Silver Spoons.
Life and career
A graduate of Michigan State University And Oakland Technical High School where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity, Higgins initially performed in coffeehouses to help pay his way through school. After leaving with a degree in advertising and working for six months for General Motors, Higgins went to Europe to perform.
In 1968, Higgins enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed at Camp Casey in Korea, serving as the Special Services Sergeant in charge of Entertainment. Following his Army days, he and several friends wrote a musical revue called The Green Apple Nasties. After leaving the Army, he sold the show to a producer and went on the road for two and a half years. 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 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, he won the Theatre World Award for his role in the Broadway version of Shenandoah. In the same year, he began the role Bruce Carson in the CBS soap opera Search for Tomorrow, and in the following year he returned to Broadway for Music Is. 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.
Higgins made the transition from daytime to primetime in 1979, with a starring role in the short-lived ABC television series Salvage 1 with Andy Griffith. Two years later, he starred in the ABC sitcom Best of the West
Higgins returned to ABC in a new comedy, Have Faith,
During the late 1970s and 1980s, he also appeared in several movies, including Bare Essence,
All the while continuing to write, Higgins co-wrote and starred in The Fields of Ambrosia which debuted at New Jersey's George Street Playhouse before transferring to the Aldwych Theatre on London's West End. He also co-wrote and directed Johnny Guitar, 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.
Higgins has continued to appear in films, such as Dead Canaries, and No Pay, Nudity. In 2017, he released an EP of original songs titled A World Away on CD Baby under his full name, Joel Franklin Higgins.