Donna Murphy Best Actress

Donna Murphy is an award wining actress and singer who has navigated her career to include stage, film, and television roles that have consistently moved and impressed both critics and audiences with their range and depth. She won the first two Tony Awards for Best Actress in a musical, along with the Drama Desk and Drama League Awards, for her portrayal of Fosca in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Passion, which was televised to great acclaim on PBS’ “American Playhouse,” and recently released on DVD. She was awarded her second Tony and Drama League Awards, as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for her performance as Anna Leonowans in the highly praised revival of The King and I with Lou Diamond Phillips.

This summer she completed work on two feature films – the highly anticipated Spiderman II and The Door in the Floor, starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger. Her other feature film performances include ballet mistress Juliette Simon in Center Stage, playing opposite Patrick Stewart as Anji in Star Trek: Insurrection, The Astronaut’s Wife with Johnny Depp, and Jade, directed by William Friedkin.

Ms. Murphy’s first television film, HBO’s Someone Had to Be Benny, for their Lifestories series, earned her a Cable Ace Award as Best Actress in a Drama Special or Series, as well as a Daytime Emmy. In addition to her role as Heather Olshanksy on the CBS series Hack, her other television credits include co-starring with Joan Cusack on ABC’s What About Joan, Showtime’s political drama The Last Debate with James Garner, Mary Todd Lincoln in The Day Lincoln Was Shot (TNT), Stephen Bochco’s Murder One (ABC), Leonard Bernstein’s New York and Abigail Adams in Liberty! for PBS, the 2000 and 2001 Kennedy Center Honors (CBS), and guest appearances on Law & Order, The Practice, Ally McBeal, The Education of Max Bickford, Nothing Sacred, and AMC’s Remember WENN.

After studying with the legendary Stella Adler and attending New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, she made her professional debut in Neil Simon’s Broadway hit They’re Playing Our Stage, and went on to create memorable characters in comedies, drama and musicals on and off Broadway, and in theaters across the country. These credits include Edwin Drood in Rupert Holmes’ Tony Award winning The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Twelve Dreams, and Hello Again at Lincoln Center Theater (Drama Desk nominations), Song of Singapore (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations), Pirates on Parade at the Roundabout Theater Co, Miss Julie (McCarter Theater), Richard Greenberg’s adaptation of Pal Joey (Huntington Theater), and the title character in Helen, for the New York Shakespeare Festival (Drama League Award). In 2000, she received spectacular acclaim for her comic tour de force as Ruth Sherwood in Leonard Bernstein and Comden and Green’s Wonderful Town at City Center. This season, she will star in that much heralded production’s move to Broadway.

A versatile singer, she can be heard on a number of recordings including Leonard Bernstein’s New York (Nonesuch), Hello Again (RCA Victor), The King and I (Varese Sarabande), and the Grammy Award winning Passion (Angel).

Donna, the eldest of seven children, was born in Queens, New York and raised in Hauppaugue, New York, and Topsfield, Massachuessetts. She donates her time and services to a number of organizations, most notably Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights Aids, and The Actors Fund. She is married to actor Shawn Elliott, has two beautiful stepdaughters, and resides in New York City.