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Donna Murphy

Donna Murphy has been building a career of striking range and diversity on stage and on the large and small screen. She has been honored numerous times including two Tony Awards, Drama Desk and Drama League Awards, a Cable Ace Award and a Daytime Emmy. This summer she will also be seen in Door in the Floor starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger. Murphy is currently starring on Broadway as Ruth Sherwood in the smash hit revival of Wonderful Town at the Al Hirschfeld Theater, for which she has received spectacular acclaim. She won the first of her two Tony Awards for best Actress in a Musical, along with 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 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 Philips. 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 Olshansky on the CBS series Hack, for which she was nominated for a 2002 Christian Film and Television Excellence Award as Best Actress in a Television series, her other television credits include co-starring with Joan Cusack as Dr. Ruby Stern on ABC's What About Joan, Showtime's political drama The Last Debate with James Garner, playing Mary Todd Lincoln in The Day Lincoln Was Shot (TNT), Stephen Bochco's Murder One,(ABC), Leonard Bernstein's New York and playing Abigail Adams in Liberty! (both for PBS), the 2000 and 2002 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." Her feature film work includes Juliette Simone in Center Stage, Anij in Star Trek: Insurrection opposite Patrick Stewart, The Astronaut's Wife with Charlize Theron and Johnny Depp and Jade directed by William Friedkin. In 2002, she was named by New York Magazine as one of the Three Living Legends of the New York theater and awarded one of their prestigious New York Awards for her work in the theater, Murphy studied with the legendary Stella Adler and attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She made her professional debut in Neil Simon's Broadway hit They're Playing Our Song, and went on to create memorable characters in comedies, dramas and musicals on and off-Broadway and in theaters across the country. A versatile singer, Murphy can be heard on a number of recordings, including Leonard Bernstein's New York, Hello Again, The King and I, the Grammy Award-winning Passion and the new cast recording of Wonderful Town.Murphy was born in Corona, New York, and raised in Hauppauge, Long Island, and Topsfield, Massachusetts. She is married to actor Shawn Elliott, has two beautiful stepdaughters and makes her home in New York City.

Note: This profile was written in or before 2004.

Donna Murphy Facts

OccupationActress
BirthdayMarch 7, 1958 (65)
SignPisces
BirthplaceCorona, New York, USA

Selected Filmography

Tangled
Spider-Man 2
X-Men: The Last Stand
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
Coming to America
The Ultimate Gift
The Fountain
Star Trek: Insurrection
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