Sam Harris' diversified career has run the gamut from actor on Broadway , film and television to writer, to singer and songwriter to director and producer. Known as "the original American Idol" Sam pulled a weekly audience of more than 25 million viewers, going on to win "Star Search" in its premier season, Harris and his powerhouse pop, gospel and theater influenced vocals have never looked back. His debut album "Sam Harris" and the follow-up "Sam-I-Am" both sold over a million copies. "Standard Time" and "Different Stages" (produced and conducted by the legendary Peter Matz), have been listed on numerous "Top 100 Records of All Time" lists. Other CDs include "The Best of the Motown Sessions", "Revial", "On This Night", "Always", and "Sam Harris Live! - The Best of Christmas." His most recent CD is "Free" and features original songs, including "Change Is On The Way," which was written for and utilized by the Barack Obama Campaign. He can also be heard on numerous concert, guest artist and cast recordings. Sam has toured extensively in concert and has played to sold-out audiences at major venues including New York's Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheatre, London's West End and with The Boston Pops. On Broadway , Sam received a Drama Desk nomination for his role in Tommy Tune's "Grease" and a Drama-League Award as well as Tony, Outer Critic's Circle and Drama Desk nominations for his work in Cy Coleman's "The Life." He also appeared on Broadway in the Mel Brooks musical, "The Producers" and in an extensive National Tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway production of "Joseph and the Amazing Techincolor Dreamcoat." Sam has also starred in such musicals as "The Jazz Singer," "The First Wives Club," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Cabaret", "Hair", "Pippin", "The Jazz Singer", and the self penned shows "Hard Copy", "Different Hats", "Revival", and the smash hit one man show "Sam". in Los Angeles, which was the most critically acclaimed and celebrated show of its season. Sam has appeared at The White House, on numerous television specials and live productions, and has guested on virtually every talk show, his favorite in an historic time, when he performed a stirring "You'll Never Walk Alone" on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in the week following September 11th. Behind the scenes, Sam wrote the TBS sit-com, "Down to Earth," which ran for 4 years, and the Los Angeles produced musical "Hurry! Hurry! HOllywood!" (both with Bruce H. Newberg.) He also co-produced the television special "Love Letter to New York" and supervised/directed several segments of the CBS Special "Michael Jackson's 30th Year Anniversary" at Madison Square Garden. Sam co-starred on the CBS half hour comedy - "The Class." Liz Smith called him "The comic breakout character of the season!" He continues to tour in concert and makes regular appearances on talks shows and as a guest star on episodic television. He can be found on his popular vlog channel Samtube.com and also continues to publish his comic and political essays and donates his time to a number of charities. Sam is the proud father of Cooper Harris-Jacobsen.

Was the winner of the first season's $100,000 Grand Prize on television's "Star Search" hosted by Ed McMahon in the early 1980s.Was nominated for Broadway's 1997 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role - Musical) for "The Life."Columnist Liz Smith called his portrayal as Perry Pearl on "The Class": "the breakout hit comedy character of the season.".In addition to being an award winning actor, Sam is a multi-million selling recording artist.Liza Minnelli was quoted as saying "Some things are difficult to explain. A few rare things are easy. Sam Harris is the best damn singer I've ever heard in my whole life. It's that simple.".His Carnegie Hall debut sold out in 5 hours.First person to sing "Over the Rainbow" on the television show Star Search (before the song became popularly sung on the show throughout the years), and won with this song.He and Danny Jacobsen, who is a director and presentation coach for numerous Blue Chip companies and also film producer, have been together since 1994. They adopted a son, Cooper Atticus Harris-Jacobsen, in April 2008.