Audra Mc Donald

Audra Mcdonald is a standout in the breadth of her talent and versatility in her roles as a performer and singer. As the winner of an incredible 6 Tony Awards (two Grammy Awards) as well as an Emmy Award, McDonald was named to the Time Magazine's list of 100 influential people in 2015. She also received President Obama's National Medal of Arts for her achievements. With a stunning soprano, and an unrivalled talent of telling the truth in a dramatic manner She is equally as at ease in Broadway as well as on the on stage as she is in film and television roles. Aside from her theater work, McDonald also has a thriving career as an international musician and recording artist. McDonald was born in Fresno California to a music family, began her training in classical singing at the New York's Juilliard School. Following her graduation, she was awarded her very first Tony Award as Best Performance of a Featured Artist an Musical in the Lincoln Center Theater for Carousel (1994). The next four years she won two more Tony Awards in the featured actress category, for her roles of performances in the Broadway premier of Terrence McNally's show Master Class (1996) and the show Ragtime (1998) giving her an unheard of number of Tony Awards before the age of thirty. In 2004, she won her fourth Tony for her performance in the role that she portrayed alongside Sean Diddy Combs in A Raisin in the Sun. When she was in 2012, she was the lead actress for the role of Porgy and Bess in The Gershwins Porgy and Bess she won her fifth Tony and won the first Tony Award in the best actor category. In 2014 she made Broadway history by becoming one of the Tony Awards most decorated performer after she received her sixth award for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill the role which also served as a basis for her Olivier Award nominated debut performance on London's West End. She also set the record for most awards won by one actor. Her theater credits include The Secret Garden (1993) Marie Christine (99) Henry IV (2007) 110 in the Shade (2008) Twelfth (2009), which was her Public Theater Shakespeare in the Park premiere, which was the first time she performed in Shuffle Along or The Making of the Musical sensation of 1921 & All That Followed (2017) Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (2018) as well as Ohio State Murders 2023. McDonald was first introduced to the television audience for her dramatic performance in Peabody Award winning CBS's Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters first 100 years. The year 1999 saw her co-starred alongside Kathy Bates in ABC's acclaimed remake of Annie. Also, she had an occasional role in NBC's Law & Order Special Victims Unit in 2000. McDonald won her debut Emmy for her performance on The HBO version of the Pulitzer Prize winning play Wit directed by Mike Nichols, starring Emma Thompson. In 2003, she was back on the screen, this time with Mister Sterling produced by Emmy Award-winner Lawrence O'Donnell Jr., starring Josh Brolin. Early in 2006, she joined WB's The Bedford Diaries. The next year, she appeared as an actor who appeared on NBC's Kidnapped. McDonald received an fourth Emmy award for her role in HBO's film special of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill in the year 2016. The Bite was a six episode drama about pandemics produced through Spectrum Originals in collaboration with CBS Studios. Having first appeared in the role of U.S. attorney Liz Lawrence in 2009 on CBS's legal drama The Good Wife in 2018 McDonald returned to her part (now named Liz Reddick) as a season regular of The Good Fight on Paramount+ with 3 Critics Choice Award nominations for her performance. She appears as a special appearance in HBO's The Gilded Age by Julian Fellowes.