Broadway actor Josh Grisetti dies at 44, friend says by suicide

Josh Grisetti, the Broadway actor who played Nigel in Something Rotten and later turned up as Ralph in the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, died July 10 at 44. Rob McClure, his Something Rotten co-star, said on Instagram that Grisetti took his own life.

Grisetti’s career tied together two corners of the performing life that rarely get the same public attention: a high-profile Broadway run and the steady, often less visible work that keeps musical theater running across the country. In Something Rotten, Grisetti played Nigel opposite McClure’s Nick, one of the Bottom Brothers in the production that earned 10 Tony Award nominations in 2015. Grisetti performed in the Broadway production from 2016 to 2017, then joined the U.S. national tour from 2017 to 2018.

That stage resume reached well beyond a single hit. Grisetti’s other credits included Beauty and the Beast, Matilda, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Ragtime, SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical and It Shoulda Been You, the show Deadline identified as one of the roles that made him best known. His television work included a recurring part in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, where he played Ralph, a staff writer at the Gordon Ford Show, in the fifth and final season.

McClure said Grisetti had played his brother onstage for years and had been the best man at his wedding. He also said Grisetti had inspired students while helping transform the musical theater program at California State University, Fullerton, where Grisetti taught. Rick Ferrari, Grisetti’s agent, confirmed the death and said he was devastated.

The response around Grisetti points to the kind of actor whose influence stretched through Broadway ensembles, touring productions and classrooms, even when his name was less familiar to general audiences than the shows he helped carry. Memorial information was expected later.