Kenton Duty

Kenton Duty was born on May 12, 1995 in Plano, Texas. He first began his acting career at the age of 9 after his parents suggested he attend a summer musical theatre workshop to help with presentations in school.

It was at the Dallas Theater Center that Kenton Duty discovered he had a love for musical theatre, and it was there that he would also meet the casting director who would ask him to audition for his first play, “A Christmas Carol.” The following summer, Kenton auditioned for a part in the musical “Ragtime.” It was during this production that he realized that acting was his true passion.

Kenton began taking acting classes at the Young Actors Studio in Dallas, TX. It was not long after that he was discovered at a workshop and asked if he wanted to pursue acting as a career. This opened the doors for Kenton to begin auditioning for parts in Los Angeles.

In 2006, Kenton started appearing in a number of sketches on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and in 2007 he scored a lead role as Michael Marino in the made for television movie “Christmas In Paradise.” Kenton Duty’s success on television continued with a guest-starring role on the CBS hit “Cold Case” and on the NBC series “CTRL” with Tony Hale. Kenton also appeared in a number of movies including “2:13,” “Forget Me Not,” “Crazy On The Outside” and “My Name is Khan.” Kenton gained notoriety in the pivotal role of young Jacob on the popular ABC TV series “LOST.” When cast on the show no one, including Kenton himself, knew who his character was until nearly the final episode of the series. He was billed simply as “Teenage Boy.” In 2010, Duty landed a starring role on the Disney Channel original series “Shake It Up!” as the flamboyant dancer/fashion designer antagonist Gunther Hessenheffer. On “Shake It Up” Kenton Duty plays one half of the glitzy Hessenheffer dance duo alongside co-star Caroline Sunshine. In 2012, Kenton Duty left his role as Gunther Hessenheffer on “Shake It Up” to pursue opportunities in film. Kenton immediately score roles in the movies “Contest,” “Silver Bells,” and “Little Savages.” In addition to expanding his acting resume, Kenton is quite the talented musician. Early on in his career Kenton played guitar in the band KGMC Gigmasters with his “LOST” co-star Dylan Minnette. More recently, Kenton was featured in collaborations with his “Shake It Up” co-stars on remakes of hits like “Monster Mash” and “Roam.” In the summer of 2013, Kenton released the lyric video for his first single, “Teenage Summer Nights” while also touring the United States.