Tony Awards: What Is Audra McDonald’s Net Worth?
Star of stage and screen Audra McDonald is now adding awards-show host to her impressive list of credits. Teaming up with Leslie Odom, Jr. to present the 2021 Tony Awards, McDonald has acquired her own set of trophies for her highly esteemed work on The Great White Way. Some may wonder how all that recognition, in addition to her film and television roles, has impacted her bank account.
Audra McDonald has a record-breaking 6 Tony Awards
McDonald broke the record for most Tony Awards in 2014, garnering her sixth win in performance. Clinching her first Tony in 1994 for Carousel, she went on to repeatedly achieve the award for her roles in Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, and Porgy and Bess. McDonald’s portrayal of Billie Holiday in 2014 earned her the record-breaking total of six Tonys.
“I’m just overwhelmed,” McDonald said of the monumental accomplishment in 2014, according to Playbill. “I don’t know what else to say. I’m grateful and don’t believe it.”
A Juilliard graduate with a degree in Classical Voice, McDonald explored other venues of entertainment throughout her professional life. With multiple television and film roles, the Broadway star is renowned in all facets of show business. Additional recognitions on McDonald’s list include an Emmy, two Grammys, and being named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2015.
McDonald’s extensive singing and acting career has racked up an impressive net worth of $2 million.
Broadway star was a regular on ‘Private Practice’
Starring in the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Private Practice, McDonald played Dr. Naomi Bennett from 2007 to 2011. With the series filmed in L.A. and her husband, Will Swenson, and daughter, Zoe Donovan, in New York, she decided to leave the show to focus on her family. McDonald’s exit was clearly amicable, and she returned for the series finale in 2013.
“I have spent four amazing years working with the best cast and crew on television at Private Practice,” McDonald told TVLine in 2011. “Though I am stepping away from the series as a regular in order to spend more time in New York with my family, I am not closing the door on Private Practice or the character, Naomi. I am beyond grateful to [series creator] Shonda Rhimes, ABC, and the team behind the show.”
McDonald went on to play a myriad of other television roles, such as U.S. attorney Liz Lawrence in The Good Wife and the spinoff The Good Fight. Her film credits include Madame Garderobe in the 2017 Disney live action blockbuster, Beauty and the Beast, and the 2021 Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect.
Audra McDonald takes the Tony stage
With the recent reopening of Broadway after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdown, McDonald sees this year’s Tony Awards as a celebration of theater’s highly anticipated return. She will anchor the presentation with Odom and looks forward to this “new era”.
“I’m elated that the Tony Awards are back!” McDonald said, according to Variety. “I am so glad that we’ve found a way to gather safely to honor and recognize all the incredible work that was done in the 2019-20 season. While we look back, my greatest hope is that this event marks the beginning of a new era for Broadway – one with renewed commitment to inclusivity and belonging as well as appreciation for the sacred experience of live theater.”
The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back! and the American Theatre Wing’s 74th Annual Tony Awards both air on Sunday, Sept. 26 on Paramount+ and CBS.
