De Shields began his professional career in the 1969 Chicago production of
Hair, which led to a role in
The Me Nobody Knows and participation in Chicago's
Organic Theater Company. He performed in a number of
Off-Off-Broadway productions at
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the
East Village of Manhattan during the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. These included Ken Rubenstein's
Sacred Guard (1973), Lamar Alford's
Thoughts (1974), and the
Cotton Club Gala with music by
Aaron Bell and directed by
Ellen Stewart (1985). He co-wrote (with Judith Cohen) and directed an evening of songs called
Judith and the Cohen Sisters in Midnight in Manhattan at La MaMa in September/October 1984. He directed a production of Chico Kasinoir's
The Adventures of Rhubarb: The Rock and Roll Rabbit in 1985 and a production of his own work,
Saint Tous, to celebrate
Black History Month at La MaMa in February 1991. He made his
Broadway debut as Xander in
Stuart Gordon's 1973
Warp! and next appeared in
Paul Jabara's 1973 ''
Rachael Lily Rosenbloom (And Don't You Ever Forget It), which closed during previews. He then appeared in the title role of The Wiz'',
Charlie Smalls and
William F. Brown's 1975 musical directed by
Geoffrey Holder. After choreographing two
Bette Midler musicals, De Shields returned to Broadway to perform in the musical revue ''
Ain't Misbehavin' in 1978. The original production ran for over 1,600 shows and De Shields earned a 1978 Drama Desk nomination for his performance. Three years later, he returned to Broadway to perform in Stardust: The Mitchell Parrish Musical'', a musical revue featuring the lyricist's work with
Hoagy Carmichael,
Benny Goodman,
Duke Ellington, and
Leroy Anderson. In 1984, De Shields wrote, choreographed, directed, and starred in ''André De Shields' Haarlem Nocturne'', a Broadway musical revue featuring standards from the
American songbook, pop hits from the early 1960s, and De Shields' own songs. The revue was produced at the
Latin Quarter and at La MaMa (with music by
Marc Shaiman). He appeared in a revival of ''
Ain't Misbehavin' in 1988, and next appeared on Broadway in 1997 as the Jester in Play On!'', a musical based on Ellington's songs. De Shields earned
Tony and Drama Desk nominations for his performance. In 2000, De Shields originated the role of Noah "Horse" T. Simmons in the
Terrence McNally /
David Yazbek musical adaptation of the
film The Full Monty. As with
Play On!, De Shields earned both Tony and Drama Desk nominations for this performance. In 2004, he appeared in the Broadway production of
Mark Medoff's
Prymate at the
Longacre Theatre. In 2008, he received a Drama Desk nomination for his performance in an
off-Broadway production of
Langston Hughes'
Black Nativity. In 2009, he appeared on Broadway opposite
Joan Allen and
Jeremy Irons in
Impressionism. The play ran through May 2009 at the
Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. De Shields'
regional theatre credits include
Play On!,
The Full Monty,
Waiting for Godot,
The Man Who Came to Dinner,
Death of a Salesman,
Dusyanta: A Tale of Kalidasa,
The Gospel According to James,
Camino Real and
King Lear. In 2013, he portrayed
Akela and
King Louie in the world premiere of
Mary Zimmerman's adaptation of
Rudyard Kipling's
The Jungle Book, a co-production of the
Goodman Theatre and
Huntington Theatre Company. De Shields received his 3rd
Jeff Award (Outstanding Achievement in the category of Actor in a Supporting Role – Musical) for his role as King Louie, and garnered an
Elliot Norton Awards nomination for Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actor as well as an
IRNE Awards nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Musical. De Shields has portrayed Barrett Rude Sr. in
The Fortress of Solitude, the musical based on
Jonathan Lethem's novel
The Fortress of Solitude, since its inception in 2012 at
Vassar College.
The Fortress of Solitude premiered at the
Dallas Theater Center in spring 2014, and the off-Broadway production of
The Fortress of Solitude, co-produced with
The Public Theater, ran through November 2014. De Shields,
Lillias White,
Stefanie Powers, and
Georgia Engel starred in the new musical
Gotta Dance, directed and choreographed by
Jerry Mitchell. The musical began performances on December 13, 2015, at Chicago's
Bank of America Theatre and ran through January 17, 2016. He played
Hermes in the Broadway musical
Hadestown, which began previews on March 22, 2019, at the
Walter Kerr Theatre. He received the
Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for
Hadestown on his third nomination. He played his final performance on May 29, 2022. On January 26, 2021, it was announced that De Shields would reprise his role as Hermes in
Live From Mount Olympus, a narrative podcast for tweens directed by
Rachel Chavkin and Zhailon Levingston. The series was produced by
The Onassis Foundation and TRAX from
PRX. De Shields' co-stars include fellow
Hadestown cast member
Amber Gray, Divine Garland,
Vinie Burrows, Kristen Sieh, and more. De Shields has appeared on television on
Another World,
Cosby,
Sex and the City,
Great Performances,
Lipstick Jungle,
Law & Order,
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and
Elsbeth. He won an
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for his performance in the 1982
NBC broadcast of ''
Ain't Misbehavin', and played Tweedledum in a 1983 televised production of Alice in Wonderland'' that also featured
Eve Arden,
Richard Burton,
Colleen Dewhurst,
James Coco,
Kaye Ballard, and
Nathan Lane. More recently, De Shields appeared in
John Mulaney's
John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch in which he sang "Algebra Song!" The comedy/musical/variety special was released on
Netflix on December 24, 2019. In 2020, he played the role of Chubby, a recurring character, in the television series
Katy Keene on
The CW. On December 28, 2020, it was announced that De Shields would star as Anton Ego in a benefit concert presentation of
Ratatouille the Musical, an
internet meme that originated on
TikTok, inspired by the 2007
Disney/
Pixar film. The concert streamed exclusively on
TodayTix on January 1, 2021. De Shields appeared in
Lin-Manuel Miranda's directorial debut film,
tick, tick... BOOM!, released on
Netflix on November 12, 2021, as a patron of the
Moondance Diner in the musical scene for "Sunday", as well as other Broadway actors such as
Chita Rivera,
Renée Elise Goldsberry,
Phillipa Soo, among others. He also plays the significant supporting role of Jack in the Netflix comedy
Uncoupled, released in July 2022. In September 2022, De Shields began performances as Uncle Ben in
Death of a Salesman on Broadway at the
Hudson Theatre. In March 2024, De Shields was announced to be portraying
Old Deuteronomy in
Cats at the
Perelman Performing Arts Center in the summer of that year. He reprised his role as Hermes in the
West End production of
Hadestown opposite original Broadway cast stars
Reeve Carney,
Eva Noblezada, Amber Gray, and
Patrick Page (who was later replaced by
Phillip Boykin for non-filming performances due to injury) for a limited engagement from February to March 2025, where during that time the show was professionally filmed starring De Shields and his original Broadway co-stars, including Page. ==Personal life==