55 Facts About Audra McDonald

1.

Audra Ann McDonald was born on July 3, 1970 and is an American actress and singer.

FactSnippet No. 503,896
2.

Audra McDonald's has a close working relationship with composer Michael John LaChiusa who has written several works for her, including the Broadway musical Marie Christine, the opera Send, and The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle.

FactSnippet No. 503,897
3.

In 2016, Audra McDonald was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama.

FactSnippet No. 503,898
4.

Audra McDonald's was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2017.

FactSnippet No. 503,899
5.

On television, Audra McDonald portrayed Dr Naomi Bennett as a main cast member of Shonda Rhimes's ABC television drama Private Practice from 2007 to 2011.

FactSnippet No. 503,900
6.

Audra McDonald's portrayed the character of Liz Lawrence in season 4 of The Good Wife, a role that she reprises as a main cast member in the spinoff series The Good Fight; she received two Critics Choice Award nominations for her performance.

FactSnippet No. 503,901
7.

Audra McDonald's has twice been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, for her portrayals of Susie Monahan in Wit opposite Emma Thompson in 2001 and for her performance of Ruth Younger in A Raisin in the Sun in 2008.

FactSnippet No. 503,902
8.

Audra McDonald's won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program in 2015 for her work hosting the program Live from Lincoln Center.

FactSnippet No. 503,903
9.

On film, Audra McDonald is best known for her portrayals of Maureen in Ricki and the Flash, Madame de Garderobe in Disney's Beauty and the Beast (2017), and Barbara Siggers Franklin in Respect (2021).

FactSnippet No. 503,904
10.

Audra McDonald's has been nominated seven times for the NAACP Image Awards for her work in television and film.

FactSnippet No. 503,905
11.

Audra McDonald was born in West Berlin, Germany, the daughter of American parents, Anna Kathryn, a university administrator, and Stanley James Audra McDonald Jr.

FactSnippet No. 503,906
12.

Audra McDonald was raised in her father's native Fresno, California, the elder of two daughters; her sister, Alison, writes and directs for television and film.

FactSnippet No. 503,907
13.

Audra McDonald graduated from the Roosevelt School of the Arts program within Theodore Roosevelt High School in Fresno.

FactSnippet No. 503,908
14.

Audra McDonald's got her start in acting with Dan Pessano and Roger Rocka's Good Company Players, beginning in their junior company.

FactSnippet No. 503,909
15.

Audra McDonald was a three-time Tony Award winner by age 28 for her performances in Carousel, Master Class, and Ragtime, placing her alongside Shirley Booth, Gwen Verdon and Zero Mostel by accomplishing this feat within five years.

FactSnippet No. 503,910
16.

Audra McDonald's was nominated for another Tony Award for her performance in Marie Christine before she won her fourth in 2004 for her role in A Raisin in the Sun, placing her in the company of then four-time winning actress Angela Lansbury.

FactSnippet No. 503,911
17.

Audra McDonald's reprised her Raisin role for a 2008 television adaptation, earning her a second Emmy Award nomination.

FactSnippet No. 503,912
18.

Audra McDonald appeared as Lizzie in the Roundabout Theatre Company's 2007 revival of 110 in the Shade, directed by Lonny Price at Studio 54, for which she shared the Drama Desk Award for Best Actress in a Musical with Donna Murphy.

FactSnippet No. 503,913
19.

Audra McDonald is known for defying racial typecasting in her various Tony Award-winning and -nominated roles.

FactSnippet No. 503,914
20.

Audra McDonald's had previously performed in the world premiere of John Adams' I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky which was given in concert, and can be heard on the 1997 recording of the opera.

FactSnippet No. 503,915
21.

Audra McDonald's appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in Eugene O'Neill's play A Moon for the Misbegotten in August 2015, co-starring with her husband Will Swenson.

FactSnippet No. 503,916
22.

In 2016, Audra McDonald starred on Broadway as the vaudeville performer Lottie Gee in a new musical titled Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed about the making of the 1921 musical Shuffle Along.

FactSnippet No. 503,917
23.

In 2019 Audra McDonald played as Frankie in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at the Broadhurst Theatre, earning her ninth Tony Award nomination for her performance for Best Actress in a Play.

FactSnippet No. 503,918
24.

Audra McDonald played Billie Holiday on Broadway in the play Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill in a limited engagement that ended on August 10, 2014.

FactSnippet No. 503,919
25.

Audra McDonald won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for this role, making her the first person to earn six Tony Award wins for acting and the first person to win a Tony Award in all four acting categories.

FactSnippet No. 503,920
26.

Audra McDonald received a 2016 Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role in the broadcast.

FactSnippet No. 503,921
27.

Audra McDonald had planned to make her West End debut as Holiday in Lady Day in June through September 2016, but after becoming pregnant she postponed these plans.

FactSnippet No. 503,922
28.

Audra McDonald's performed in Lady Day in June 2017 through September 9, 2017, at the Wyndham's Theatre in the West End.

FactSnippet No. 503,923
29.

Audra McDonald has maintained ties to her classical training and repertoire.

FactSnippet No. 503,924
30.

Audra McDonald's sang two solo one-act operas at the Houston Grand Opera in March 2006: Francis Poulenc's La voix humaine and the world premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's Send.

FactSnippet No. 503,925
31.

On February 10, 2007, Audra McDonald starred with Patti LuPone in the Los Angeles Opera production of Kurt Weill's opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny directed by John Doyle.

FactSnippet No. 503,926
32.

At the 2010 BCS National Championship Game on January 7, Audra McDonald sang America the Beautiful for the sold-out stadium fans to celebrate the final game of the college football season.

FactSnippet No. 503,927
33.

In May 2000, Audra McDonald appeared as "The Beggar Woman" in Lonny Price's concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, performed at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, New York, with the New York Philharmonic with George Hearn and Patti LuPone.

FactSnippet No. 503,928
34.

Audra McDonald's reprised the role in some performances of the March 2014 Lincoln Center concert production, again directed by Price, this time opposite Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson.

FactSnippet No. 503,929
35.

Audra McDonald's performed three concerts, titled "Audra McDonald Sings Broadway", in the Sydney Opera House in November 2015, which included "The Facebook Song" by Kate Miller-Heidke.

FactSnippet No. 503,930
36.

Audra McDonald has made many television and film appearances, both musical and dramatic.

FactSnippet No. 503,931
37.

In 2003, Audra McDonald starred as Sarah Langley in It Runs in the Family, and as Jackie Brock in nine episodes of short-lived Mister Sterling.

FactSnippet No. 503,932
38.

Audra McDonald's sang with the New York Philharmonic in the annual New Year's Eve gala concert on December 31, 2006, featuring music from the movies; it was televised on Live from Lincoln Center by PBS.

FactSnippet No. 503,933
39.

In 2008, Audra McDonald starred as Ruth Younger in the critically acclaimed television movie A Raisin in the Sun, and was nominated at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, and at the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie.

FactSnippet No. 503,934
40.

Since 2012, Audra McDonald has served as host for the PBS series Live from Lincoln Center, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program with the show's producers for Sweeney Todd, aired in 2015.

FactSnippet No. 503,935
41.

In 2016, Audra McDonald starred as Billie Holiday in the filmed stage production, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, for which she received critical acclaim.

FactSnippet No. 503,936
42.

Audra McDonald's earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series.

FactSnippet No. 503,937
43.

In 2017, Audra McDonald starred in Walt Disney Pictures motion picture Beauty and the Beast as Madame de Garderobe, earning a nomination at the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.

FactSnippet No. 503,938
44.

Audra McDonald joined the cast for the next seasons, and was nominated twice for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

FactSnippet No. 503,939
45.

In 2020, Audra McDonald portrayed Rachel Boutella in television series The Bite and hosted the television ceremony of the 74th Tony Awards.

FactSnippet No. 503,940
46.

Audra McDonald became close friends with Kahn after they filmed a TV pilot together, and she found out she was carrying a girl the same day she sang at Kahn's memorial.

FactSnippet No. 503,941
47.

Audra McDonald's is the stepmother to Swenson's two sons from his previous marriage.

FactSnippet No. 503,942
48.

Audra McDonald attended Joan Rivers' funeral in New York on September 7, 2014, where she sang "Smile".

FactSnippet No. 503,943
49.

In October 2020, Audra McDonald joined many other Broadway stars in a virtual voter education and letter-writing party sponsored by VoteRiders to raise awareness about voter ID requirements.

FactSnippet No. 503,944
50.

Audra McDonald joined other Broadway stars including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, Laura Benanti, and Kristin Chenoweth in 2018 to record Singing You Home, a bilingual children's album designed to benefit organizations that aid families separated at the border.

FactSnippet No. 503,945
51.

Audra McDonald's joined the Covenant House board of Directors in 2014.

FactSnippet No. 503,946
52.

Audra McDonald was the recipient of their 2018 Beacon of Hope Award.

FactSnippet No. 503,947
53.

The tour ended due to Audra McDonald's show, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill opening on Broadway, but she picked up again with a new tour once the show closed.

FactSnippet No. 503,948
54.

In 2012, Audra McDonald received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member General Colin Powell.

FactSnippet No. 503,949
55.

On September 22, 2016, Audra McDonald was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama for 2015.

FactSnippet No. 503,950