Biography
Liesl Tommy is a South African-American director. Born in Cape Town, she moved with her family to the United States as a teenager and trained in theatre, including at a conservatory in London and a joint MFA programme at Brown University and Trinity Repertory Company.
She is primarily known for her stage work. Tommy directed the Broadway production of Danai Gurira's Eclipsed (2016), becoming the first woman of colour nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play. Her other theatre credits include productions at the Public Theater, Signature Theatre and regional venues such as the Dallas Theater Center.
Tommy has directed episodes of television series including Insecure (2016), Queen Sugar (2016), The Walking Dead (2010), Marvel's Jessica Jones (2015) and Mrs. Fletcher (2019). Her feature film directorial debut was the biopic Respect (2021), about Aretha Franklin.
