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 ).

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. also hopes David Haden doesn't cheat on Olivia Benson, he told TV Guide magazine, " I don't want to get caught cheating.

" 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.

She has three daughters with Connick: Georgia Tatom ( born April 17, 1996 ), Sarah Kate ( September 12, 1997 ), and Charlotte ( born June 26, 2002 ).

Einstürzende Neubauten can be recognized by their Prince-esque logo, which has been subliminally fused into several mainstream American movies ( such as a tattoo in the movie Bug, directed by William Friedkin, starring Harry Connick Jr .) Their sound resembles primitive banging of pots and pans and screaming rants in German about the Russian " famine.

Dolphin Tale, directed by Charles Martin Smith, starring Nathan Gamble, Ashley Judd, Harry Connick, Jr., Morgan Freeman, and Kris Kristofferson, is based on the real-life story of the dolphin Winter, who was rescued from a crab trap in December 2005 and lost her tail, but has learned to swim with a prosthetic one.

“ This Christmas ” has been covered by numerous artists across diverse musical genres, including The Whispers, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Chicago, Harry Connick, Jr., Dru Hill, * NSYNC, Gloria Estefan, Boney James, The Cheetah Girls, Chris Brown, and Patti LaBelle.

As one of the city's cultural venues, the Meyerhoff has hosted international classical stars such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Joshua Bell, and pianist Emanuel Ax and popular performers including singer-songwriter Harry Connick, Jr., bluegrass singer Alison Krauss and comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

* It has been covered by other artists including Louis Jordan, Harry Connick, Jr., Mandy Patinkin, The Four Freshmen, Henry Mancini and John Denver.

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

Since its initial release, the song has been covered by many musicians including Mina, Barry White, Diana Krall, Ahmad Jamal, Shirley Bassey, Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, Jay R, Jose Feliciano, Isaac Hayes, Harry Connick, Jr., Engelbert Humperdinck, and Johnny Mathis.

Connick wrote the score for Susan Stroman's Broadway musical Thou Shalt Not, based on Émile Zola's novel Thérèse Raquin, in 2000 ; it premiered in 2001.

A few examples of Steinway Artists are Daniel Barenboim, Harry Connick, Jr., Billy Joel, Evgeny Kissin, Diana Krall, Lang Lang ; and a few examples of " immortals " are Benjamin Britten, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Vladimir Horowitz, Cole Porter and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

King, Barenaked Ladies, James Taylor, Tori Amos and Harry Connick, Jr .; comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby and Ron White ; and family shows including Dora The Explorer Live, Bear in The Big Blue House Live, Blue ’ s Clues Live and Thomas & Friends Live.