Audra Mc Donald

Audra McDonald's artistry is unmatched in its breadth and diversity as a singer, and performer. Audra McDonald, winner of the prestigious six Tony Awards in a row and two Grammy Awards in 2015 was recognized as one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People. President Barack Obama also awarded her the National Medal of Arts -the nation's most prestigious award for her achievements in this field. Blessed with a luminous soprano voice and an unparalleled talent to tell the truth, she is as much at ease on Broadway as well as on the scene as she is in her film and TV performances. Apart from her theatre work, she has a thriving career as a recording artist regularly appearing at the world's foremost venues. McDonald was born in Fresno California, where she was raised by a large family of musicians. While at the Juilliard School in New York City, McDonald received training as an opera singer. The year 1994 was the year following her graduation from Juilliard, McDonald took home the Tony Award for "Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a musical" for Carousel. The subsequent four years she won two additional Tony Awards as a featured actor for her performances on Terrence Mcnally's Broadway debuts Master Class (1996) and Ragtime (1998) that gave her a total of 3 Tony Awards at the age of just 30. She was awarded her fourth Tony in 2004 starring with Sean Diddy Combs in A Raisin in the Sun and In 2012. In 2012, she won five Tony Awards, and she was the first time in the category of lead actress for her performance as Porgy and Bess in The Gershwins Porgy and Bess in the lead role. She made Broadway history in 2014 when she became the top-recognized Tony Award performer. She played Billie Holiday at Emerson's Bar & Grill as well as the role that was also the catalyst for the career of her Olivier Award nominated debut on London's West End in 2017, was her sixth Tony Award. In addition, she set the record for the most award wins by an actor. Her other credits for theater includes The Secret Garden (1993) Marie Christine (1999) Henry IV (2004) 110 in the Shade (2007) Twelfth Night (2009) that marked her Public Theater Shakespeare in the Park debut film, Shuffle Along or The Making of the Musical Sensation from 1921 along with All That Followed (2016) Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (2019) as well as Ohio State Murders (2023). The Peabody Award-winning CBS program Having Our Say The Delany Sisters First 100 Years that began to introduce McDonald to TV viewers in her role as a dramatic performer. In the following years, she co-starred alongside Kathy Bates and Victor Garber in the lauded 1999 TV remake from Disney/ABC of Annie as well as in 2000, she had a recurring role in NBC's hit show Law & Order Special Victims Unit. McDonald, who won an Emmy Award nomination back in 1999 for her work as a character in an HBO adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning film Wit starring Emma Thompson, was seen on television in 2003 on the drama about politics Mister Sterling. The film was produced by Emmy Award-winning Lawrence O'Donnell Jr. Early in 2006, she joined WB's The Bedford Diaries. The following year, she appeared as in a regular role on NBC's Kidnapped. McDonald received a fourth Emmy for her performance as Lady Day in Emerson's Bar & Grill on HBO in 2016. The Bite is a drama which has six episodes, based on the spread of a disease, and produced with Spectrum Originals & CBS Studios. The show featured her alongside Taylor Schilling & Steven Pasquale. In 2009, she portrayed U.S. Attorney Liz Lawrence in CBS's legal drama The Good Wife. In 2018 McDonald played her character Liz Reddick as a regular on Paramount+'s The Good Fight. She earned three Critics Choice Award nods for her performance. She is currently a guest star in Julian Fellowes' historical drama The Gilded Age, which airs on HBO.