Personal details
Official sites :
Born:
- Birthday: 1970-07-03
- Born Place: Berlin, Germany
Also Known As:
Audra Ann McDonald
Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is a record-breaking American actress and singer renowned for her unparalleled success on the Broadway stage and her versatile career across film and television. Born in West Berlin to American parents and raised in Fresno, California, she grew up in a musical family where her parents were pianists and her aunts toured as a gospel group. To channel her childhood energy, she began performing at age nine with the Good Company Players and later attended the Juilliard School, graduating with a degree in classical vocal performance in 1993. Her Broadway career began almost immediately after graduation; within just five years, she had won three Tony Awards for her roles in Carousel (1994), Master Class (1996), and Ragtime (1998), making her the youngest person to achieve such a feat. In 2014, McDonald made history by winning her sixth competitive Tony Award for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, becoming the most decorated performer in Tony history and the only person to win in all four acting categories (Lead and Featured in both Play and Musical). Beyond the stage, she is a two-time Grammy Award winner for her work with the Los Angeles Opera and an Emmy Award winner for hosting Live From Lincoln Center. Her television credits include a long-running role as Dr. Naomi Bennett on Private Practice, Liz Lawrence in The Good Fight and The Good Wife, and Dorothy Scott in The Gilded Age. In film, she is widely recognized for playing Madame de Garderobe (the wardrobe) in the 2017 live-action Beauty and the Beast and for her role in the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect. A classically trained lyric soprano, McDonald has performed with major orchestras globally, including the New York Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic, and has released five solo albums. She is also a prominent advocate for social causes, serving as a founding member of Black Theatre United and a board member for Covenant House International. In 2015, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama and named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people. She is married to fellow Broadway actor Will Swenson, and she is the mother of two daughters, Zoe and Sally, as well as two stepsons.
