Donna Murphy won the first of two Tony Awards for Best Actress, along with the Drama Desk and Drama League Awards for her portrayal of Fosca in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion, and dazzled television viewers and critics alike when Passion was 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, Star Trek: Insurrection, The Astronaut's Wife, and Jade. For her performance in Someone Had to Be Benny, she received a CableACE® Award as Best Actress in a Drama Special or Series, as well as a Daytime Emmy. Other television credits include The Last Debate, a role as Mary Todd Lincoln in The Day Lincoln Was Shot, Steven Bochco's Murder One, Liberty!, and guest appearances on Law & Order, Ally McBeal, Remember WENN, Nothing Sacred and The Practice. After studying with the legendary Stella Adler and attending New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Murphy 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 her portrayal of "Edwin Drood" in "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", "Twelve Dreams", "Hello Again", "Song of Singapore", "Little Shop of Horrors", "Privates on Parade", "Miss Julie" and "Wonderful Town". A versatile singer, she can be heard on a number of recordings, including "Leonard Bernstein's New York", "Hello Again", "The King and I", and the Grammy Award-winning "Passion". Ms. Murphy was born in Corona, New York, and raised in Hauppauge, Long Island, and Topsfield, Massachusetts. She is married to actor Shawn Elliott and resides in New York City.
Has won two Tony Awards as Best Actress (Musical) in 1994 for "Passion," a performance she recreated in the television version of the same title, Passion; and in 1996 for playing one of the title characters (the "I," or Anna Lenowens) in a revival of "The King and I." She was also nominated in the same category in 2004 for a revival of "Wonderful Town." BFA in Drama - New York University, Tisch School of the Arts (1980) Donna was appearing on Broadway in "Wonderful Town" (Tony nominated, Best Actress) at the time Spider-Man 2 was in post-production. She had been having some severe vocal difficulties during the run of the show and she missed a few performances early on. Spidey 2 Production brought her into a recording studio to do some looping for the big out-of-control explosive scene where her character is killed. One of the things they needed Donna to do was a 10-15 second scream. You can imagine her horror over having to do this with her voice already in poor condition. So she called her stepdaughter (also an actress) and said, "Come down here and do my screaming for me." So when you watch the film and see her screaming her head off, it isn't her.