Audra McDonald

Audra McDonald, an American actress and singer, is known mainly for Broadway, where she has won six Tony Awards, more than any other performer, and is the only performer to have won in all four acting categories. Born in Berlin and raised in Fresno, California, she trained in classical voice at Juilliard and made her Broadway debut in The Secret Garden in the early 1990s. She won Tony Awards for Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, Porgy and Bess, and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, and her eleven nominations are a record. On television she played Dr. Naomi Bennett in Private Practice and Liz Lawrence in The Good Wife and The Good Fight, and she won an Emmy for hosting Live from Lincoln Center. Her films include Annie (1999), Wit (2001), It Runs in the Family (2003), A Raisin in the Sun (2008), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Respect (2021), and Rustin (2023).