Audra McDonald is an American actress and singer who over her career has received six Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award in addition to two Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations. She has remained active in stage productions and musicals since the 1990s, and has garnered widespread acclaim and critical support for her performances, being honoured with numerous awards, including the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (2012) and induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame (2017). She is the most nominated performer in Tony Award history, with eleven nominations.
McDonald has performed in musicals, operas, and stage dramas such as A Moon for the Misbegotten, 110 in the Shade, Dreamgirls, Carousel, Ragtime, Master Class, Porgy and Bess, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, becoming the most awarded actress of the Tony Awards with six awards, becoming the only person to win all four acting categories. She was also recipient of the Sarah Siddons Distinguished Achievement in the Theatre Award, six Drama Desk Award and five Outer Critics Circle Award. She was nominated for four Grammy Awards, winning two times for Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording for Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Soundtrack.
McDonald starred in televisions series and motion pictures, including Wit (2001), which gave her her first Primetime Emmy Awards nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. She acted in A Raisin in the Sun, earning nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards and NAACP Image Awards, and as Dr. Naomi Bennett in television series Private Practice, being nominated three times for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series at the NAACP Image Awards. Since 2012, 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.
In 2016 McDonald starred as Billie Holiday in filmed stage production Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, receiving price from the critics, earning nominations at the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and an at the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series. Since 2017, McDonald joined the cast of The Good Fight, being nominated two times for at the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In 2021 she starred as Barbara Siggers Franklin in Aretha Franklin's biographical musical drama film Respect, earning a nomination at the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.
Major Association Emmy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Primetime Emmy Awards 2001 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Wit 2008 A Raisin in the Sun 2013 Outstanding Special Class Program Carousel (Live from Lincoln Center) 2015 Sweeney Todd (Live from Lincoln Center) 2016 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Grammy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2009 Best Classical Album Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Best Opera Recording 2013Best Musical Theater Album Porgy and Bess 2026 Gypsy
Screen Actors Guild Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2016 Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series or Television Movie Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill 2023 Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series The Gilded Age
Tony Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1994 Best Featured Actress in a Musical Carousel 1996 Best Featured Actress in a Play Master Class 1998 Best Featured Actress in a Musical Ragtime 2000 Best Actress in a Musical Marie Christine 2004 Best Featured Actress in a Play A Raisin in the Sun 2007 Best Actress in a Musical 110 in the Shade 2012 Porgy and Bess 2014 Best Actress in a Play Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill 2020 Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune 2023 Ohio State Murders 2025 Best Actress in a Musical Gypsy
Theater associations Award Year Category Nominated work Result Antonyo Awards 2020 Best Actor in a Play on Broadway Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune Broadway.com Audience Awards 2004 Favorite Featured Actress in a Play A Raisin in the Sun 2007 Favorite Actress in a Musical 110 in the Shade 2012 Favorite Actress in a Musical Porgy and Bess Favorite Onstage Pair 2014 Favorite Actress in a Play Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill Favorite Diva Performance 2016 Shuffle Along, or [...] 2024 Favorite Leading Actress in a Musical Gypsy Favorite Diva Performance Favorite Onstage Pair (with Danny Burstein) Performance of the Year (Musical) Drama Desk Awards 1994 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Carousel 2000 Outstanding Actress in a Musical Marie Christine 2004 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play A Raisin in the Sun 2007 Outstanding Actress in a Musical 110 in the Shade 2012 Porgy and Bess 2014 Outstanding Actress in a Play Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill 2023 Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play Ohio State Murders 2025 Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical Gypsy Drama League Award 1998 Distinguished Performance Ragtime 2005 A Raisin in the Sun 2007 110 in the Shade 2012 Porgy and Bess Laurence Olivier Award 2018 Best Actress Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill Outer Critics Circle Award 1994 Outstanding Actress in a Musical Carousel 1998 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Ragtime 2004 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play A Raisin in the Sun 2007 Outstanding Actress in a Musical 110 in the Shade 2012 Porgy and Bess 2014 Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill 2022Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway PlayOhio State Murders 2025Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical Gypsy Ovation Awards 1996 Best Featured Actress in a Play Master Class Sarah Siddons Award 2013 Distinguished Achievement in the Theatre Herself Theatre World Award 1994 Honoree Award Herself
Miscellaneous awards Award Year Category Nominated work Result Black Reel Awards 2013 Best Supporting Actress in a Movie The Sound of Music Live! 2017 Best Actress, TV Movie or Limited Series Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill Critics' Choice Television Awards 2020 Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series The Good Fight 2022 2023 NAACP Image Award 2001 Outstanding Variety – Series or Special Audra McDonald in Concert 2008 Best Actress in a Television Movie or Miniseries A Raisin in the Sun Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Private Practice 2009 2010 2018 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Beauty and the Beast 2022Respect Satellite Awards 2017 Best Actress – Miniseries or TV Film Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill Online Film and Television Association 2001 Best Supporting Actress in a TV film Wit 2008 A Raisin in the Sun
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