Carl Anderson

Gifted with a pliant and powerful voice, he became famous – beginning in the 1970s – for his extraordinary performance as Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar, first on Broadway and then in the film adaptation of the same name directed by Norman Jewison.

In Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, the figure of Judas had an almost precipitous role, portrayed more as a victim of his fate than as a traitor, and this probably contributed to the actor’s fame.

For that performance Carl Anderson was nominated (along with Ted Neeley, who played Jesus) for a Golden Globe in 1974.

Anderson would remain forever attached to that performance, often returning to the role of Judas in various performances of the musical, both in America and Europe, over the following decades.

His last theater tour was in 2003, when he was then diagnosed with leukemia, which led to his death in 2004.

Following his film debut as Judas, Anderson returned as an actor to the big screen for Saul Swimmer’s The Black Pearl (1978) and Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple (1985).

More numerous are his television appearances, having acted in supporting roles in numerous series and soap operas such as, for example, Starsky Hutch, Magnum P.I., The Incredible Hulk, The Time of Our Lives, and Hill Street Day and Night[3].

Carl Anderson also embarked on a solo career as a singer, boasting, in addition to various artistic collaborations (most notably with Weather Report) the release of nine albums, musically close to the typical sounds of jazz and soul. Suffering from leukemia, he died on February 23, 2004.