Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer known for her Broadway work. She has won six Tony Awards, the most performance wins of any actor, and is the only person to win in all four acting categories. Her stage roles include musicals, operas, and dramas such as A Moon for the Misbegotten, 110 in the Shade, Carousel, Ragtime, Master Class, and Porgy and Bess.
As a classical soprano, McDonald has performed with the Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic. Her 2008 recording of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny won Grammy Awards for Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording. Composer Michael John LaChiusa has written several works for her, including the musical Marie Christine and the opera Send (who are you? i love you). She received the National Medal of Arts in 2016 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2017.
On television, McDonald starred as Dr. Naomi Bennett in Private Practice (2007–2011) and played Liz Lawrence in The Good Wife and its spinoff The Good Fight. She portrayed Mother Superior in The Sound of Music Live! in 2013. She earned Primetime Emmy nominations for Wit (2001), A Raisin in the Sun (2008), and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (2016), winning an Emmy in 2015 for hosting Live from Lincoln Center. In film, she is known for roles in Ricki and the Flash (2015) and Disney's Beauty and the Beast (2017). She has been nominated five times for NAACP Image Awards for television and film work.
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