Max von Essen is an American musical theatre and television actor, and vocalist. A son of Rita and Thomas Von Essen, who was the New York City Fire Commissioner during the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, he is the youngest of four children. He is openly gay. Raised in Long Island, Max von Essen is a 1992 graduate of South Side High School, in Rockville Centre, New York. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and after graduation, began touring with Liza Minnelli. He toured Europe in West Side Story and was a cast member of the U.S. national tour of Chicago. He made his Broadway debut in Jesus Christ Superstar, and also starred in Dance of the Vampires alongside Michael Crawford. He also played the role of student revolutionary leader "Enjolras" in Les Mis�rables at the Broadhurst Theater on Broadway. In 2006, he was a soloist at the biggest Andrew Lloyd Webber musical gala to date, held in Tallinn, Estonia. He last worked on the national tour of Xanadu as "Sonny", and in the Roundabout Off-Broadway production of Maury Yeston's Death Takes a Holiday at the Laura Pels Theatre in New York. 

January 11th, 1974 in New York City (Age 50)