---
name: "Audra McDonald"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/audra-mcdonald"
fi1m_id: "audra-mcdonald"
imdb_id: "nm0567653"
tmdb_id: 187565
wikidata_id: "Q267676"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "3 July 1970"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 66
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-10-03T03:16:36.125581+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Audra McDonald

## Identity

Audra McDonald

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/audra-mcdonald
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** audra-mcdonald
- **IMDb ID:** nm0567653
- **TMDB ID:** 187565
- **Wikidata ID:** Q267676
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audra_McDonald, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q267676, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0567653/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/187565

Actor. Born 3 July 1970 in Berlin, Germany.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 3 July 1970, Berlin, Germany
- **Active:** 2017–present
- **Also known as:** Audra Ann McDonald
- **Average Fi1m score:** 66, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 65 (1), 2020s 68 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audra_McDonald, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q267676, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0567653/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/187565

## Coming up

- *The Auction* (2027-08-01), as Rita White

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*Rustin*](https://film.one/film/rustin.md) (68)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She was born on 3 July 1970 in Berlin, Germany, and grew up in Fresno, California. She trained in classical voice at the Juilliard School, graduating in 1993.

McDonald is best known for her work on the Broadway stage, where she has won six Tony Awards for performances in *Carousel* (1994), *Master Class* (1996), *Ragtime* (1998), *A Raisin in the Sun* (2004), *Porgy and Bess* (2012) and *Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill* (2014). She is the only actor to have won in all four acting categories. Her screen credits include the role of Ella Baker in *Rustin* (2023), Madame Garderobe in *Beauty and the Beast* (2017), and Barbara Franklin in *Respect* (2021), as well as recurring television roles in *The Good Fight* and *The Gilded Age*.

She has also received two Grammy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2016 she was awarded the National Medal of Arts, and in 2017 she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, britannica.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Rustin* (2023), Fi1m 68, as Ella Baker — [page](https://film.one/film/rustin.md)
- *Beauty and the Beast* (2017), Fi1m 65, as Madame Garderobe — [page](https://film.one/film/beauty-and-the-beast-2017.md)

## Complete filmography (64)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Auction* (2027), as Rita White
- *Audra McDonald: I Am What I Am* (2026), as Performer
- *Satisfied* (2025), Executive Producer
- *Audra McDonald at the London Palladium* (2024), as Executive Producer
- *Ragtime, The Musical: All-Star Reunion Concert* (2024), as Sarah
- *Origin* (2023), as Miss Hale
- *Whitney Houston in Focus* (2023), Actor
- *Rustin* (2023), as Ella Baker — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/rustin.md)
- *Down Low* (2023), as Patty
- *The Gilded Age* (2022), series, as Dorothy Scott
- *Respect* (2021), as Barbara Franklin
- *Ohio State Murders* (2021), as Suzanne
- *The Bite* (2021), series, as Rachel
- *An Evening With Audra McDonald* (2020), Actor
- *Song of Rapa Nui* (2020), as Narrator
- *In Concert at The Hollywood Bowl: Musicals and the Movies* (2020), as Soloist
- *Live with Carnegie Hall: Audra McDonald* (2020), Actor
- *The Vote* (2020), series, Actor
- *Central Park* (2020), series, as Ashley (voice)
- *Live from Lincoln Center: Sutton Foster in Concert* (2018), as Host
- *New York Philharmonic New Year's Eve: Bernstein on Broadway* (2018), as Host
- *Hello Again* (2017), as Sally
- *Beauty and the Beast* (2017), as Madame Garderobe — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/beauty-and-the-beast-2017.md)
- *The Good Fight* (2017), series, as Liz Reddick, Liz Reddick-Lawrence
- *Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas* (2016), as Caroler
- *Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill* (2016), as Lady Day
- *Ricki and the Flash* (2015), as Maureen Brummel
- *BoJack Horseman* (2014), series, as Mother Superior (voice) — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/tv/bojack-horseman.md)
- *The Sound of Music Live!* (2013), as Mother Abbess
- *The Ordained* (2013), as Anthea
- *Audra McDonald: Go Back Home* (2013), Actor
- *Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel: Live from Lincoln Center* (2013), as Host
- *One Singular Sensation! Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch* (2012), Actor
- *Doc McStuffins* (2012), series, as Itty Bitty Bess (voice)
- *Rampart* (2011), as Sarah
- *The Good Wife* (2009), series, as Liz Lawrence — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-good-wife.md)
- *The Music Instinct: Science & Song* (2009), Actor
- *A Raisin in the Sun* (2008), as Ruth Younger
- *Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny* (2007), as Jenny Smith
- *Private Practice* (2007), series, as Naomi Bennett
- *Audra McDonald Sings the Movies for New Year's Eve* (2006), Actor
- *Audra McDonald and Friends: Build a Bridge* (2006), Actor
- *Kidnapped* (2006), series, Actor
- *The Bedford Diaries* (2006), series, as Carla Bonatelle
- *Broadway's Lost Treasures III: The Best of The Tony Awards* (2005), as Sarah (segment "Ragtime") (archive footage)
- *Passion* (2005), as Clara
- *Grey's Anatomy* (2005), series, as Dr. Naomi Bennett — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/greys-anatomy.md)
- *The Best Thief in the World* (2004), as Ruth
- *It Runs in the Family* (2003), as Sarah Langley
- *Mister Sterling* (2003), series, as Jackie Brock
- *Wonderful Town* (2002), as Eileen
- *Wit* (2001), as Susie Monahan
- *The Last Debate* (2000), as Barbara Manning
- *Audra McDonald at the Donmar, London* (2000), Actor
- *Cradle Will Rock* (1999), as Blitzstein - 'Joe Worker' Singer
- *Annie* (1999), as Miss Grace Farrell
- *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (1999), series, as Audrey Jackson
- *Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years* (1999), as Bessie in her 20s
- *The Object of My Affection* (1998), as Wedding Singer
- *Creating Ragtime* (1998), as Sarah
- *Seven Servants* (1996), Actor
- *Homicide: Life on the Street* (1993), series, as Teresa Giardello — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/tv/homicide-life-on-the-street.md)
- *Live from Lincoln Center* (1976), series, as Clara
- *Love Love*, Actor

## Gallery

- ![Audra McDonald at the 2018 McDermott Award Public Presentation](https://film.one/media/person/1467256/gallery-dd887af28668.png) Audra McDonald at the 2018 McDermott Award Public Presentation — Arts at MIT, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/AudraSexySmileMcDonald.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Audra McDonald speaking at the 2018 McDermott Award Public Presentation](https://film.one/media/person/1467256/gallery-72ffa59922b9.png) Audra McDonald speaking at the 2018 McDermott Award Public Presentation — Arts at MIT, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/AudraSmilingMcDonald2018.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![kristin.eonline.com - L.A. Confidential/Belvedere/Water Club/Sapporo Emmy Party (2008)](https://film.one/media/person/1467256/gallery-fd1bffd823d6.jpg) kristin.eonline.com - L.A. Confidential/Belvedere/Water Club/Sapporo Emmy Party (2008) — watchwithkristin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Audra_McDonald_%281%29.jpg/1280px-Audra_McDonald_%281%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Wyndham's Theatre (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/1467256/gallery-742462b2db1e.jpg) Wyndham's Theatre (2017) — Judor92, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Audra_McDonald_-_Lady_Day_at_Emerson%27s_Bar_and_Grill.jpg/1280px-Audra_McDonald_-_Lady_Day_at_Emerson%27s_Bar_and_Grill.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Audra McDonald](https://film.one/media/person/1467256/gallery-ebf0ac5ff0d0.jpg) Audra McDonald — Image via TMDB
- ![Audra McDonald performing at the Wright Center in in 2011](https://film.one/media/person/1467256/gallery-8b92cd38bec7.jpg) Audra McDonald performing at the Wright Center in in 2011 — Ralph Daily, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Audra_McDonald_2011.jpg/1280px-Audra_McDonald_2011.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Audra McDonald performs during a Juneteenth concert at the White House. (2023)](https://film.one/media/person/1467256/gallery-dbf7cff4374e.jpg) Audra McDonald performs during a Juneteenth concert at the White House. (2023) — Office of the President, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Audra_McDonald_6-14-2023.jpg/1280px-Audra_McDonald_6-14-2023.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Other awards — 11 won, 2 nominated

- Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT 2018: Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT (won)
- National Medal of Arts 2015: National Medal of Arts (won)
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play 2014: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (won)
- Drama League Award 2012: Drama League Award (won)
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical 2012: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (won)
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical 2007: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (nominated)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play 2004: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (won)
- Drama League Award 2000: Drama League Award (won)
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical 2000: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (nominated)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical 1998: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (won)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play 1996: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (won)
- Theatre World Award 1994: Theatre World Award (won)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical 1994: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/audra-mcdonald