Sharon D. Clarke facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sharon D. Clarke MBE
Clarke in 2022
Born	Sharon Delores Clarke Enfield, London, England
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1986–present
Spouse(s)	Susie McKenna

Sharon Delores Clarke is a talented English actress and singer. She has won the prestigious Olivier Award three times. Many people know her from TV shows like Holby City, where she played Lola Griffin, and Doctor Who, where she was Grace O'Brien.

Sharon D. Clarke has also starred in many popular musicals in London's West End. She was the first to play the Killer Queen in We Will Rock You and Oda Mae Brown in Ghost the Musical.

She has had a very successful career on stage. In 2014, she won an Olivier Award for her role in The Amen Corner. She won her second Olivier Award in 2019 for her amazing performance as Caroline Thibodeaux in Caroline, or Change. She even took this role to Broadway in New York in 2021, which earned her nominations for both a Tony Award and a Grammy Award. In 2020, she won her third Olivier Award for her part in Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic theatre in London.

Sharon D. Clarke's Acting Career

Television Roles

Sharon D. Clarke is well-known for her role as Lola Griffin in the BBC medical drama Holby City. Lola was a doctor whose family came from Ghana. Sharon first appeared in the show in 2005 and left in 2008. She returned for a special episode in 2019.

She also played Gran'Ma Flossie in the CBBC show The Crust. Her other TV appearances include Waking the Dead, Soldier Soldier, EastEnders, and Informer.

In 2010, she was in an episode of The Bill called "Death Knock." In 2011, she played Kendra, Connor Stanley's mother, in EastEnders. She also appeared in the BBC drama The Shadow Line.

Sharon D. Clarke also uses her voice for animated shows. She is the voice of Treetog in the CBeebies series Tree Fu Tom. She also voices the character "One Hundred" on the animated series Numberblocks.

In 2017, the BBC announced that Sharon D. Clarke would join Doctor Who as Grace O'Brien. She appeared in several episodes, including "The Woman Who Fell To Earth" and "Arachnids in the UK". She also made short appearances in later Doctor Who episodes.

In 2017, she lent her voice to Fire Chief Cass McCready in an episode of Thunderbirds Are Go. More recently, in 2024, she played DCI Ellis in the TV drama series Ellis.

Besides acting, Sharon D. Clarke has also been a judge on the BBC talent show Last Choir Standing in 2008. She was also a guest on Ready Steady Cook and has appeared on Children in Need to perform.

Theatre Performances

Sharon D. Clarke's first professional acting job was in a play called Southside in 1984. This helped her get her Actor's Equity Card, which is important for professional actors.

She has performed in many famous West End musicals. These include playing General Cartwright in Guys and Dolls (1996) and Joanne Jefferson in Rent (1998). She also played Miss Sherman in Fame (1999).

From 2000 to 2002, she played Rafiki in The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre. In 2004, she took on the role of Matron Mama Morton in Chicago.

In 2000, she played Glinda in The Wiz at the Hackney Empire. She also created the role of Killer Queen in the musical We Will Rock You, based on the songs of Queen. For this role, she was nominated for an Olivier Award.

In 2008, Sharon D. Clarke started performing in pantomime shows, starting with Mother Goose. She also starred in Once on This Island. She played Motormouth Maybelle in the musical Hairspray until it closed in 2010.

She continued to perform in pantomimes like Jack and the Beanstalk and Aladdin. In 2010, she was a guest performer at the Apollo Victoria Theatre's 80th anniversary celebration.

In 2011, Sharon D. Clarke took on the role of Oda Mae Brown in the musical version of the film Ghost. The show started in Manchester and then moved to the West End. She was nominated for another Olivier Award for this role in 2012.

She also performed in her own one-woman show at the St James Theatre. In 2014, she won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Amen Corner at the Royal National Theatre.

In 2015, she played the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet. In 2016, she received great reviews for her role as Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Critics praised her powerful performance.

In 2017, she played Sonya in The Life and Caroline Thibodeaux in Caroline, or Change. She brought the role of Caroline to the West End in 2018 and won an Olivier Award for it in 2019. The show then moved to Broadway in 2021, where she made her Broadway debut and was highly praised.

In 2019, she played Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic, which also moved to the West End and then to Broadway in 2022.

Music Career

Sharon D. Clarke has also had success in music. She was part of the group FPI Project with their song "Going Back to My Roots." She was also in the band Nomad, known for singles like "(I Wanna Give You) Devotion" and "Just a Groove," which sold millions of copies.

She was also part of a female singing group called Six Chix. They competed to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 and came in second place.

Sharon D. Clarke has recorded songs for the original cast albums of musicals like Once on This Island, We Will Rock You, and Ghost the Musical. She also recorded the title song for Terry Pratchett's Only You Can Save Mankind album.

Personal Life

Sharon D. Clarke is married to writer and director Susie McKenna. They got married around 2008 on the stage of the Hackney Empire theatre.

Honours and Awards

Sharon D. Clarke was given the title Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2017. This award recognized her great contributions to drama.

She has won several major awards for her acting:

• Olivier Awards: She has won three Olivier Awards, including Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Amen Corner (2014), Best Actress in a Musical for Caroline, or Change (2019), and Best Actress for Death of a Salesman (2020).
• Critics' Circle Theatre Award: She won Best Actress for Death of a Salesman in 2019.
• Black British Theatre Awards: She won Best Female Actor in a Musical for Caroline, Or Change in 2019.
• Theatre World Award: She won Outstanding Debut Performance for Caroline, Or Change on Broadway in 2022.

She has also been nominated for many other awards, including the Tony Award and Grammy Award for Caroline, or Change.

Film and Television Appearances

Film

Television

Audio Drama and Radio

Video Games

Awards and Nominations

Tony Award

Laurence Olivier Awards

Grammy Awards

Drama Desk Awards

Outer Critics Circle Awards

Other awards