Renée Elise Goldsberry

Renée Elise Goldsberry
Goldsberry (right) with costar Javier Muñoz in costume for Hamilton
Born	(1971-01-02) January 2, 1971 San Jose, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer, songwriter
Spouse(s)	Alexis Johnson (m. 2002); 2 children

Renée Elise Goldsberry (born January 2, 1971) is an American actress, singer and songwriter.

Personal life

Goldsberry was born in San Jose, California and raised in both Houston, Texas and Detroit, Michigan.^[1] After graduating from Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills she went to Carnegie Mellon University, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in theater.^[2] She went on to attend graduate school at the University of Southern California, where she received her masters degree in vocal jazz performance.^[3] In 2002, she married New York attorney Alexis Johnson.^[1] Goldsberry gave birth to the couple's first child, a son named Benjamin Johnson, in May 2009. She and her husband then adopted daughter, Brielle, in 2014.^[4]

Career

In 2001 Goldsberry starred in the movie All About You as Nicole, and co-wrote more than half of the soundtrack, including the title song.^[3] She is also a grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.^[3] She appeared on Ally McBeal as one of the back-up singers who frequently accompanied Vonda Shepard's performances. She played "Nala" in the Broadway production of The Lion King.^[5]

Goldsberry portrayed attorney Evangeline Williamson on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live from 2003 until 2007. She was nominated for an NAACP Image Award^[3][5] in 2004 for "Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series" and won a Soap Opera Digest Award in 2005 for Favorite Triangle, with co-stars Michael Easton and Melissa Archer. Goldsberry was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actress" in both 2006 and 2007 for the role.^[3][5]

Goldsberry was nominated for a Drama League Award for "Distinguished Performance" and won a New York magazine Best of 2005 Award for her performance as Silvia in the 2005 New York City Shakespeare in the Park revival of Two Gentlemen of Verona.^[3][5] She later originated the role of Nettie in The Color Purple, the Broadway musical adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name,^[3][5] from November 2005 to mid-January 2006.

On June 16, 2008, Goldsberry was the last actress to play the role of Mimi Marquez in the Broadway musical Rent.^[5] Rent's last performance was filmed and made into a DVD, Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway. In 2011, she was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for her portrayal of Kate in David Lindsay-Abaire's play, Good People.^[6] Most recently, she was seen as Olivia Warren on The Following on Fox. She currently has a recurring role on The Good Wife as ASA Geneva Pine.^[4]

Goldsberry originated the role of Angelica Schuyler Church in Hamilton^[7] and is currently performing the role at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.

In October 2015 she appeared on the BET Hip-Hop Awards.^[8] She was one of two women to rap in the Cypher.

Filmography

Film and television

• One Life to Live as Evangeline Williamson (2003–2007)
• Pistol Whipped as Drea (2008)
• The Good Wife as Geneva Pine (2009–present)
• The Following as Olivia Warren (2013)
• Every Single Thing as Cynthia Barnes (2014)
• Sisters as Kim (2015)
• Queens of Drama as Herself (2016–present)

Theatre

• Rent as Mimi Marquez (1996–2008)
• The Lion King as Nala (1997–present)
• The Color Purple as Nettie (2005–2008)
• Good People as Kate (2011)
• Hamilton as Angelica Schuyler (2015–present)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Renée Elise Goldsberry at the Internet Movie Database
• Renée Elise Goldsberry at the Internet Broadway Database