Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. ( born September 11, 1967 ) is an American singer, big-band leader / conductor, pianist, actor, and composer.

Connick, Jr., was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Connick, Jr .' s father is a Catholic of Irish ancestry.

Connick, Jr .' s mother, who died from ovarian cancer, was Jewish ( her parents had immigrated from Minsk, Russia the capital of Belarus and Vienna, Austria ).

Connick, Jr. has a sister, Suzanna ; the siblings were raised in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans.

When Connick, Jr., was nine years old, he performed the Piano Concerto No. 3 Opus 37 of Beethoven with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra ( now the Louisiana Philharmonic ), and later played a duet with Eubie Blake at the Royal Orleans Esplanade Lounge in New Orleans.

The clip was also shown in a Bravo special, called Worlds of Harry Connick, Jr. in 1999.

His first record for the label, Harry Connick Jr., was a mainly instrumental album of standards.

A music DVD Harry Connick Jr. — " Only You " in Concert was released in March 2004, after it had first aired as a Great Performances special on PBS.

Another album from Marsalis Music was recorded in 2005, Occasion: Connick on Piano, Volume 2, a duo album with Harry Connick, Jr. on piano together with Branford Marsalis on saxophone.

Harry Connick, Jr. in concert, Savannah, Georgia, Feb 27, 2007

Harry Connick, Jr. and Renée Zellweger at the Rachael Ray show, January 30, 2009.

On January 6, 2012, NBC president Robert Greenblatt announced at the Television Critics Association winter press tour that Harry Connick, Jr. had been cast in a four-episode arc of NBC's long-running legal drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as new Executive ADA, David Haden, a dedicated, straight-shooting prosecutor who is assigned a case with Detective Benson ( Mariska Hargitay ).

" What I do like about him is he seems to be a guy who's interested in the truth ," Connick Jr. says of Haden.

Reviews for Connick and his first SVU episode were fairly positive, TV Guide " cheered " Harry Connick Jr. for " getting in tune " with Law & Order: SVU.

Connick Jr. brought a light, quirky tone to the often-dark drama as his character, David Haden, helped Det.

Mariska Hargitay ( Olivia Benson | Detective Olivia Benson ) and Harry Connick, Jr. ( David Haden | Executive Assistant District Attorney David Haden ) in the Law & Order: SVU episode, " Law & Order: Special Victims Unit ( season 13 )# ep12 | Official Story ".

Connick, Jr. was also thrilled to learn he'd be playing an executive assistant district attorney on Law & Order: SVU, because the role gives him the chance to act like his father, who was district attorney of New Orleans, LA for 30 years.

" Connick, Jr. admitted fans of sitcom Will & Grace gave him a hard time when his character on that show cheated on Debra Messing's character, Grace Adler.

SVU show runner / executive producer Warren Leight has said to TV Guide ; it's possible Connick, Jr. will be with the show after his initial four-episode arc.

He even mentions his father was excited that he get the role of EADA Haden and Connick, Jr. mentions his father was the district attorney in New Orleans, and as he played Haden, he has something else to share with his father ; he also mentions his mother was a judge and his father wanted him in more courtroom scenes on the show.

It has not been confirmed if Connick, Jr. will return to the series in the 14th season.

Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 16 million in certified sales.

Connick began his acting career as a tail gunner in the World War II film, Memphis Belle, in 1990.

His father, Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Sr., was the district attorney of Orleans Parish from 1973 – 2003.

Connick is the first cousin of Jefferson Parish District Attorney, Paul Connick, and State Representative, Patrick Connick, of Harvey, also of Jefferson Parish.

Connick attended Jesuit High School, Isidore Newman School, Lakeview School, and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, all in New Orleans.

Following an unsuccessful attempt to study jazz academically, and having given recitals in the classical and jazz piano programs at Loyola University, Connick moved to the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City to study at Hunter College and the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where a Columbia Records executive Sr. V. P.

Connick made his screen debut in Memphis Belle ( 1990 ), about a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber crew in World War II.

In November 1992 Connick released 25, a solo piano collection of standards that again went platinum.

Connick contributed " A Wink and a Smile " to the Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack, released in 1993.

In 1994, Connick decided to branch out.

Connick also took his funk music to the People's Republic of China in 1995, playing at the Shanghai Center Theatre.

Connick also toured North America in support of this album.

There is also a rose window in the transept designed by Charles Connick.

Many international stars have also been part of Telethon over the years, including Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion and Harry Connick Jnr.

The novel was also made into a Broadway musical entitled Thou Shalt Not, with music composition by Harry Connick, Jr ..

The MSO has also performed with Harry Connick, Jr. ( 2004 ), Ben Folds ( 2006 ) and Burt Bacharach ( 2008 ).

In the middle of the thirteenth season, Benson enters into a relationship with a new prosecutor to the district attorney's office, Executive ADA David Haden, portrayed by Harry Connick, Jr., who is also a friend of Hargitay's.

King, Billy Joel, David Copperfield, Lewis Grizzard, Harry Connick, Jr., Gerald Levert, Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld, Phish, A Prairie Home Companion, and many others.

Major acts who have recorded there include Walter Becker, The Kinks, Arctic Monkeys, Aerosmith, Counting Crows, The Clash, Kings of Leon, Marc Anthony, The B-52's, Tony Bennett, Michael Brecker, Devo, Bon Jovi, Dire Straits, Duran Duran, Dream Theater, Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon, Throwing Muses, Serge Gainsbourg, The Strokes, Bryan Adams, Bernadette Peters, Pat Metheny, Keith Jarrett Trio, Neil Young, Harry Connick, Jr., Iggy Pop, Madonna, Journey, Muse, George Michael, Betty Carter, Sum 41, John Mayer, Moby, Vanessa Williams, Blondie, Porcupine Tree, Chic, Joan Jett, David Bowie, The Last Shadow Puppets, The Rumble Strips, Trey Anastasio, Helix, Kathem Al Saher, Gang Starr, Honor Society, Stevie Ray Vaughan and the band Power Station, which was named after the studio itself.

The patient is now a gay florist David ( Turner ) who was a female jazz singer Melinda ( Mueller ) in a former life, and who falls in love with his psychiatrist, widower Dr. Mark Bruckner ( Connick ).

* 2008: Kristin Chenoweth, Darius Rucker, James Taylor, Charice Pempengco, Miranda Cosgrove, Miley Cyrus, David Archuleta, Shontelle, Idina Menzel, Rick Astley ( as part of a Rickroll during the parade ), Ashanti, Tony Bennett, Harry Connick Jr., Faith Hill, Beyoncé, Push Play, and The Clique Girlz

He interviewed over a thousand guests including Bob Hope, Tim Robbins, Mel Gibson, Chevy Chase, Duran Duran, Cilla Black, Steve Allen, Barry Humphries, Lou Rawls, Tom Jones, Brit Ekland, Cleo Laine, Tiny Tim, Kylie Minogue, Brigette Neilson, Audrey Hepburn, Elle Macpherson, Shirley MacLaine, Alice Cooper, BB King, Rob Lowe, Dionne Warwick, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Hall, Kirk Douglas, Olivia Newton-John, Phil Collins, Sir Bob Geldof, Peter Allen, Sir Peter Ustinov, David Bellamy, Kim Wilde, Michael Aspel, Sally Field, Charles Dance, Whoopi Goldberg, John Thaw, Quincy Jones, Priscilla Presley, Robert Downey Jnr, Mickey Rooney, Martin Sheen, M C Hammer, Lyn Redgrave, ZZ Top, Leo McKern, Kathy Bates, Jane Seymour, Darryl Hannah, Jeremy Irons, Jeffrey Archer, Edward de Bono, Robert Ludlum, James Wood, Diana Ross, Jackie Collins, Harry Connick Jnr, Sir Harry Secombe, Gloria Estafan, Gerard Depardieu, George Benson, Fred Schepsi, Colleen McCullough, Burt Reynolds, Billy Joel, Bette Midler, Ben Elton, Phyllis Diller, Alexei Sayle, Elliott Gould, Oliver Reed, Oliver Stone, Macauley Culkin, Spinal Tap, Robin Williams and Cindy Crawford and various Prime Ministers and politicians.

Some of the best known guests to appear on Tonight Live With Steve Vizard included Bob Hope, Tim Robbins, Mel Gibson, Chevy Chase, Duran Duran, Cilla Black, Steve Allen, Barry Humphries, Lou Rawls, Tom Jones, Brit Ekland, Cleo Lane, Tiny Tim, Kylie Minogue, Brigette Neilson, Audrey Hepburn, Elle Macpherson, Shirely MacLaine, Alice Cooper, BB King, Rob Lowe, Dionne Warwick, Patrick Swayzee, Jerry Hall, Kirk Douglas, Olivia Newton-John, Phil Collins, Bob Geldof, Peter Allen, Sir Peter Ustinov, David Bellamy, Kim Wilde, Michael Aspel, Sally Field, Charles Dance, Whoopi Goldberg, John Thaw, Quincy Jones, Priscilla Presley, Robert Downey Jnr, Mickey Rooney, Martin Sheen, M C Hammer, Lyn Redgrave, ZZ Top, Leo McKern, Kathy Bates, Jane Seymour, Darryl Hannah, Jeremy Irons, Jeffrey Archer, Edward de Bono, Robert Ludlum, James Wood, Diana Ross, Jackie Collins, Harry Connick Jnr, Sir Harry Secombe, Gloria Estafan, Gerard Depardieu, George Benson, Fred Schepsi, Colleen McCullough, Burt Reynolds, Billy Joel, Bette Midler, Ben Elton, Phyllis Diller, Alexei Sayle, Elliott Gould, Oliver Reed, Oliver Stone, Macauley Culkin, Spinal Tap, Robin Williams and Cindy Crawford and various Prime Ministers and politicians.