Audra Mc Donald

Audra McDonald is unmatched in the breadth and versatility of her talents as an actor and singer. She was the recipient of record-breaking seven Tony Awards two Grammy Awards and the Emmy Award in 2015 she was ranked among Time magazine's 100 most influential people and received the National Medal of Arts--America's most prestigious honor for achievements within the field--from President Barack Obama. She is equally at home on television, film as well as Broadway. Her stunning soprano makes her a natural on the stage. In addition to her work in the theatre, she is also a prominent performer as a recording artist regularly appearing at the top venues around the globe. McDonald grew in Fresno California, where she was raised by a family of musicians. While at the Juilliard School in New York City, McDonald received training as an opera singer. A year after graduating she won her first Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in the Musical Carousel at Lincoln Center Theater (1994). The time following, she was awarded two additional Tony Awards as a featured actor on Terrence Mcnally's Broadway debuts Master Class (1996) and Ragtime (1998), making the total 3 Tony Awards at the age of just 30. She won her fourth Tony starring alongside Sean Diddy Combs in A Raisin in the Sun and in 2012 she won her fifth--and her first in the leading actress category in the role of her lead for her role in The Gershwins Porgy and Bess. She made Broadway history and became the Tony Awards most decorated performer after she received the sixth Tony Award for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill the role that was also used as the platform for her Olivier Award nomination 2017 premiere in London's West End. Not only did she set records in terms of the number of Tony Awards an actor has won, she was also the first person ever to be awarded in each of the four categories. Her theater credits comprise The Secret Garden (1993) Marie Christine (99) Henry IV (2005) 110 in the Shade (2006) Twelfth Nacht (2009) The Twelfth Night was her Public Theater Shakespeare in the Park premiere Shuffle Along or The Making of the Musical sensation of 1921 & All That Followed (2017) Frankie and Johnny in Clair de Lune (2018) as well as Ohio State Murders 2023. McDonald was first introduced to a television audience as a dramatic actor in Peabody Award winning CBS's Having Our Say: the Delany Sisters first 100 years. In the following years, she co-starred alongside Kathy Bates and Victor Garber in the lauded 1999 remake by ABC and Disney of Annie and then in 2000 she had a recurring role in NBC's hit show Law & Order Special Victims Unit. McDonald, who received an Emmy Award nomination for 1999 for her performance as a character in an HBO adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning film Wit starring Emma Thompson, was seen again on TV networks in 2003 for the political drama Mister Sterling. The film is produced by Emmy Award-winning Lawrence O'Donnell Jr. McDonald joined The Bedford Diaries on the WB series The Bedford Diaries in early the year 2006. Following the season, she was an NBC program Kidnapped. McDonald received a fourth Emmy nomination for her part in the HBO film special Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, in 2016. The Bite is a drama which has six episodes, based on the pandemic that was co-produced by Spectrum Originals & CBS Studios. She appeared alongside Taylor Schilling & Steven Pasquale. She starred in 2009 as U.S. Attorney Liz Lawrence on CBS's drama about lawyers The Good Wife. In 2018, McDonald took on the role of Liz Reddick as a regular on Paramount's The Good Fight. She got three Critics Choice Award nods for the role. She is a guest star on Julian Fellowes's historical drama The Gilded Age.