Kurt Yaghjian

Kurt "Frenchy" Yaghjian (or Yahjian; born February 9,[1] 1951, Detroit[2]) is an Armenian-American actor and singer best known for his appearance as Annas in the 1973 film Jesus Christ Superstar.

[3] He appeared as a leper and reporter in the original Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which opened 12 October 1971, also understudying Ben Vereen as Judas Iscariot.

Following the opening, due to his vocal range and acting skills, he soon understudied the roles of Annas and Pontius Pilate as well, at one point going on as all three leads in a week.

[7] In addition to his stints in Superstar, Yaghjian also frequently played the Baker and one of Joseph's brothers in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, once at Playhouse in the Park in Philadelphia[8] and twice at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Opera House,[9][10] and appeared in the short-lived Off-Off-Broadway musical Duel in 1979,[11] also appearing on its studio cast album released in 2000 by Original Cast Records.

Yaghjian has sung and/or recorded backing vocals for such diverse artists as Patti Austin, Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Felix Cavaliere, Ray Charles, Dion, Jonathan Edwards, Harvey Fuqua, Cyndi Lauper, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Darlene Love, Vicki Sue Robinson, Carly Simon, Lonnie Liston Smith, Belouis Some, Ronnie Spector, and Talking Heads.