Idina Kim Menzel is an American actress, voice actress, singer, and songwriter, who is best known for her role as Maureen Johnson in the Broadway musical Rent (a role that she reprised for the 2005 feature film adaptation), Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) in the Broadway musical Wicked (for which she won a Tony Award), and Elizabeth Vaughan in the Broadway musical If/Then. She also appeared as Shelby Corcoran in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. She is the wife of actor and singer Aaron Lohr.
For Disney, she provided the voice of Elsa in the 2013 Disney animated feature film Frozen, and has since reprised the role in most of the character's subsequent appearances, including the Disney Infinity series, the short Frozen Fever, Olaf's Frozen Adventure, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Kingdom Hearts III, the 2019 sequel Frozen II, and the 2023 short film Once Upon a Studio, among others. She also played Nancy Tremaine in the 2007 fantasy hybrid film Enchanted and reprised her role in its 2022 sequel Disenchanted. She also voiced Circe in the Hercules: The Animated Series episode "Hercules and the Song of Circe". In addition, she appeared as a replacement actor in the role of Amneris in Broadway's production of Aida.
Menzel also performed "Let It Go" at the 2014 Academy Awards and "Into the Unknown" at the 2020 Academy Awards.
During 2022's Disney D23 expo, Idina Menzel was titled a Disney Legend.
A documentary about her 2018 arena tour culminating in her concert at Madison Square Garden titled Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage? was released on Disney+ on December 9, 2022.
Roles[]
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Awards[]
| Year | Film | Character | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Frozen | Elsa | Academy Award | Best Song | Won |
| 2015 | Frozen | Elsa | Grammy Award | Best Song Written for Visual Media | Won |
| 2015 | Frozen | Elsa | Grammy Award | Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media | Won |
Trivia[]
- She was considered for the role of the Witch in Into the Woods.
- Three of the characters she portrays (Elsa, The Queen of Hearts, and The Wicked Witch of the West) have appeared on Once Upon a Time played by different actresses.
- She and Kristen Bell both auditioned to voice Rapunzel in the 2010 film Tangled. While the role went to Mandy Moore, Menzel and Bell's auditions helped them land the main roles in Frozen a three years later.
- She covered the Pinocchio song "When You Wish Upon a Star" for the "I'm going to Disney World!" spots from 2014-2016 and on her Christmas album Holiday Wishes.
- Her last name was originally spelled "Mentzel", but she decided to take the "T" out because everyone pronounced it incorrectly.
- Menzel portrayed Cinderella's stepmother Vivian in Sony's adaptation of Cinderella that was released in 2021.
- She has a degree from NYU in Fine Arts.
Gallery[]
