Donna Murphy

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Donna Murphy (born March 7, 1959 in Corona, Queens, New York) is an American stage, film and television actress. She was raised in Hauppauge, Long Island and Topsfield, Massachusetts.

She won the first of two Tony Awards for Best Actress, along with a Drama League Award for her portrayal of Fosca in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's "Passion" (televised on PBS' American Playhouse). 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 acclaimed revival of "The King and I". Her feature film work includes Center Stage (2000), directed by Nicholas Hytner, co-starring with Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), The Astronaut's Wife (1999) with Johnny Depp, Jade (1995), directed by William Friedkin, Spider-Man 2 (2004) with Alfred Molina and directed by Sam Raimi, and The Fountain (2006) directed by Darren Aronofsky.

For her performance in HBO's Someone Had To Be Benny, Donna received a Cable Ace Award as Best Actress in a Drama Special or Series, as well as a Daytime Emmy. She recently co-starred with Joan Cusack on the ABC comedy series What About Joan, and played David Morse's wife on the CBS series Hack. Other television credits included Showtime's The Last Debate with James Garner, Mary Todd Lincoln in The Day Lincolm Was Shot (TNT), Stephen Bocho's Murder One, Liberty (PBS), and guest appearances on Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Ally McBeal, The Education of Max Bickford, Remember WENN, Nothing Sacred, and The Practice.

After studying with the legendary Stella Adler and attending New York University's (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts, Donna made her professional debut in the 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. These credits include Edwin Drood in "The Mystery of Edwin Drool" (New York Shakespeare Featival and Broadway), "Twelve Dreams" and "Hello Again" at Lincoln Center (Drama Desk nominations), "Song of Singapore" (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations), "Little Shop of Horrors", "Privates on Parade" (Roundabout Theater Company), "Miss Julie", and "Wonderful Town" (City Center Encores!). She most recently starred as the title character in "Helen", directed by Tony Kushner, for the New York Shakespeare Festival (Drama League Award).

A versatile singer, Donna 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). She has been married to actor and singer Shawn Elliott since 1990 and resides in New York City.

Donna recently made a brief cameo appearance as a Picture Framing Store Proprietess in the film The Door in the Floor, starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger. Her brief scene is instrumental in verifying the sub theme of "a need for details" that the young writer in the story must learn on his journey to adulthood.

Murphy recently appeared in the pilot episode of the 2006 television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip but did not return to the role when the show premiered.

Preceded by Chita Rivera for Kiss of the Spider Woman--The Musical	Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical 1994 for Passion	Succeeded by Glenn Close for Sunset Boulevard

Preceded by Glenn Close for Sunset Boulevard	Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical 1996 for The King and I	Succeeded by Bebe Neuwirth for Chicago