Audra Mc Donald

Audra McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her work as acting and singing. In 2015, she won an all-time record of seven Tony Awards as well as two Grammy Awards and the Emmy Award. She was also selected as a result of Time magazine among the 100 most influential people and was awarded an award called the National Medal of Arts - the highest award that is given in America in recognition of artistic excellence and achievement - by the president Barack Obama. She has a home on screen, in television and Broadway. The enthralling soprano of her voice can make her appear effortless on the stage. In addition to her work in the theatre, she has a thriving career as a concert and recording artist regularly appearing at the major venues across the globe. McDonald was born to a family with a strong musical background in Fresno, CA. She was a classical singer who received training from The Juilliard School of New York. Following her graduation, she took home the first Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Performer in the Musical Carousel at the Lincoln Center Theater (1994). Over the course of the next four-year period, she was awarded two more Tony Awards as a featured actress for her roles as a lead actress in Terrence Mcnally's Broadway debuts Master Class (1996) and Ragtime (1998) that gave her a total of 3 Tony Awards at the age at just thirty. In 2004 she was in the running for her fourth Tony Award. She was in the role of A Raisin in the Sun with Sean Diddy Combs. And the year 2012 was when her five-year-old daughter was awarded her first Tony award in the category of Leading Actress. In that performance, she played the title role of The Gershwins Porgy and Bess. The year 2014 saw her make Broadway historical records and was named the Tony Awards most decorated performer in her sixth nomination in the role of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill the role which also served as the vehicle for her Olivier Award nominated 2017 debut on London's West End. Additionally, she set the record for most awards won by actors in competition, she also became the first person to receive honors in all four acting categories. McDonald's other theater credits include The Secret Garden (1993) Marie Christine (1999) Henry IV (2004) 110 in the Shade (2007) Twelfth Night (2009) the film that was the release of her Public Theater Shakespeare in the Park debut 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). It was the Peabody Award-winning CBS show Having Our Say The Delany Sisters The First 100 Years that was the first to introduce McDonald to television audiences in her role as a dramatic performer. She went on to co-star alongside Kathy Bates and Victor Garber in the critically acclaimed 1999 television adaptation of Annie and, in 2000, was a frequent guest on NBC's popular series Law & Order Special Victims Unit. McDonald was awarded her first Emmy for her performance in The HBO versions of the Pulitzer Prize winning play Wit directed by Mike Nichols, starring Emma Thompson. In 2003 she was back on television, this time in Mister Sterling produced by Emmy award-winner Lawrence O'Donnell Jr., starring Josh Brolin. In early 2006 she joined the crew of series on TV by WB, The Bedford Diaries and over the course of the season, she was an recurring role in NBC's TV show Kidnapped. McDonald was awarded a fourth Emmy nomination in her performance in HBO's special film of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, in 2016. In 2021, she appeared along with Taylor Schilling and Steven Pasquale in the film The Bite, a pandemic drama that was co-produced between Spectrum Originals and CBS Studios. In 2009, she played U.S. Attorney Liz Lawrence on CBS's drama about lawyers The Good Wife. In the year 2018, McDonald returned to her role as Liz Reddick as a regular on Paramount's The Good Fight. She was awarded three Critics Choice Award nods for this performance. She is a guest star on Julian Fellowes' historical thriller The Gilded Age.