Renée_Elise_Goldsberry

Renée Elise Goldsberry

Renée Elise Goldsberry

American actress, singer (b. 1971)

Renée Elise Goldsberry (born January 2, 1971)[1] is an American actress and singer known for originating the role of Angelica Schuyler in the Broadway musical Hamilton, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Her other Broadway credits include Nettie Harris in the original Broadway cast of The Color Purple, and Mimi Marquez in Rent. She has portrayed many roles on television, including Geneva Pine on The Good Wife, and Evangeline Williamson on One Life to Live, for which she received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Since 2021, she has starred in the Netflix musical comedy Girls5eva.[2] Also that year, she received a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role in a Limited Series or Movie for her performance in the Disney+ live stage recording of Hamilton, which was released in 2020.

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Early life and education

Goldsberry was born in San Jose, California and raised in both Houston, Texas and Detroit, Michigan.[3] She is the daughter of Betty Sanders, an industrial psychologist, and her father was an automotive industry executive in Michigan.[4][5] Goldsberry has one older brother and two younger brothers.[5] Goldsberry was introduced to theater in summer camp when she was 8 years old. Renée's younger brother was shy, and their mother enrolled both of them in camp at the HITS Theatre in Houston taught by Carolyn Franklin.[4]

After graduating from Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, she attended Carnegie Mellon University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater, in 1993. This is also where she became a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority through the Theta Beta chapter.[6][7] She subsequently attended graduate school at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music, where she received a Master of Music in jazz studies, graduating in 1997.[8]

Career

Television

Between 1997 and 2002, Goldsberry had a recurring role on the Fox legal comedy-drama Ally McBeal, as one of the back-up singers who frequently accompanied Vonda Shepard's performances. She appeared in a total of 43 episodes prior to the series' cancellation. Goldsberry also carried the role over into a three-episode guest appearance on the spin-off series Ally.

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 in 2004 for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series, and won a Soap Opera Digest Award in 2005 with co-stars Michael Easton and Melissa Archer. Goldsberry was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in both 2006 and 2007 for the role.[9] After she left One Life to Live, Goldsberry held a recurring role as assistant state attorney Geneva Pine on the CBS political drama The Good Wife, appearing multiple times every season throughout its run. She ultimately appeared in 23 episodes between 2010 and the series' end in 2016. Goldsberry has also made guest appearances on series such as Evil (2019 TV series from the same creators of The Good Wife), Star Trek: Enterprise, Royal Pains, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Younger, Masters of Sex, and That '80s Show.

In 2017, Goldsberry starred as Henrietta Lacks in the HBO television film adaptation of Rebecca Skloot's nonfiction work, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.[10] In 2018, she appeared in the Netflix science fiction series Altered Carbon as Quellcrist Falconer, and reprised the role in season 2.[11] She also performed the Johnny Cash song "Ain't No Grave" for the end credits to the final episode. Goldsberry currently stars on Girls5eva in the role of Wickie Roy, a member of a one-hit wonder early 2000’s girl band group Girls5eva. Girls5eva chronicles their reunion and attempts to reignite their stardom. The series premiered on May 6, 2021, on the Peacock streaming service. Reviewing the third season, Saloni Gajjar of The A.V. Club called Goldsberry the show's scene-stealer and MVP, writing, "It shouldn’t be this easy to root for a selfish Wickie, who spins things out of control by being extra, but Goldsberry pulls off that feat".[12]

Film

In 2001, Goldsberry had the lead role of Nicole Taylor in the romantic comedy All About You, for which her performance was praised. She also portrayed Drea Smalls in the 2008 action film Pistol Whipped, and small supporting roles as Cynthia Barnes in the crime drama Every Secret Thing (2014) and Kim in the comedy Sisters (2015). In 2019 she starred in Waves (2019) with co-star Sterling K. Brown.

Theatre

Goldsberry (right) with co-star Javier Muñoz in costume for Hamilton

Goldsberry played a replacement Nala in the Broadway production of The Lion King,[9] and was in the cast of the United States national tour of Dreamgirls.

She was nominated for a Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance, and won a New York magazine Best of 2005 Award, for her performance as Sylvia in the 2005 Shakespeare in the Park revival of Two Gentlemen of Verona.[9] Goldsberry later originated the role of Nettie Harris in The Color Purple, the Broadway musical adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name.[9] She starred in the production from November 2005 to January 2006.

Goldsberry returned to the Off-Broadway stage in The Baker's Wife in 2007, before taking over the role of Mimi Márquez in the Broadway musical Rent, making her the final actress to play the role on Broadway.[9] Rent's last performance was filmed and made into a DVD, Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway, which also aired as a television film. In 2011, she was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for her portrayal of Kate Dillon in the Broadway production of David Lindsay-Abaire's play Good People.[13] She went on to appear in off-Broadway productions of Love's Labour's Lost and As You Like It, and appeared in I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road at Encores!.

Goldsberry (center) performs with Hamilton castmates at the White House

Goldsberry originated the role of Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton,[14] playing her last performance in the role on September 3, 2016.[15] For her work in the production, she won a 2015 Drama Desk Award, the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, and the 2016 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In addition, as a member of the principal cast, she also received a Grammy Award after the original cast album won Best Musical Theater Album at the 2016 Grammy Awards.[16]

Music

Goldsberry has had a lengthy singing and songwriting career, co-writing and performing more than half the soundtrack to the 2001 film All About You, including the title song. She was also the grand prize winner of the 1997 John Lennon Songwriting Contest for her rock music. Goldsberry wrote and recorded an album titled Everything But the Kitchen Sink (2001) and an EP titled Beautiful (2006).

In October 2015, she appeared at the BET Hip Hop Awards, where she was one of two women to rap in the Cypher.[17]

Personal life

In 2002, Goldsberry married New York attorney Alexis Johnson.[3] In May 2009, she gave birth to their first child, a son named Benjamin Johnson. In 2014, she and her husband adopted a second child, a daughter from Africa named Brielle.[18]

Filmography

Film

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Television

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Stage

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Discography

Awards and nominations

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References

    1. [1]
      "This day in history – The Boston Globe". Boston Globe. January 2, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018. Jan. 2, the second day of 2018... Birthdays... Actress Renee Elise Goldsberry is 47.
    2. [2]
      "Watch Girls5eva Streaming | Peacock". @peacocktv. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
    3. [3]
      Kaufman, Joanne (October 9, 2015). "A Night Out With Renée Elise Goldsberry of 'Hamilton'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
    4. [4]
      Dansby, Andrew (June 11, 2016). "Tony nominee bitten by acting bug as child in Houston". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
    5. [5]
      Weber, Mia (September 2, 2016). "Telling Her Story". New York Family. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
    6. [6]
      Rickwald, Bethany (October 2, 2015). "Renée Elise Goldsberry's Path From Middle School Class Clown to Hamilton Class Act". TheatreMania. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
    7. [7]
      "Hip-hop "Hamilton"". Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
    8. [8]
      "Alumna Renée Elise Goldsberry wins Tony for "Hamilton"". USC Thornton School of Music. June 13, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
    9. [9]
      "Headlines: Renée Elise Goldsberry to Join Broadway's Rent as Mimi". Broadway.com. May 15, 2008. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
    10. [10]
      Petski, Denise (July 25, 2016). "Renée Elise Goldsberry Cast In HBO Films' The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks". Deadline Hollywood.
    11. [11]
      Lee, Ashley (July 13, 2016). "Renée Elise Goldsberry to Exit Hamilton for Netflix's Altered Carbon". The Hollywood Reporter.
    12. [12]
      Gajjar, Saloni (March 14, 2024). "Girls5eva season 3 review: Netflix brings back an insanely fun show". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
    13. [13]
      "Outer Critics Circle Announce 2010–11 Season Nominees". OuterCritics.org. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
    14. [14]
      Schulman, Michael (August 6, 2015). "The Women of "Hamilton"". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
    15. [15]
      "Renée Elise Goldsberry sets Hamilton leaving date". New York Theatre Guide. August 25, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
    16. [16]
      "All Past Winners. GRAMMY Search". Grammy Awards. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
    17. [17]
      "The Cypher Revealed: Hamilton Cypher [Explicit]". BET.com. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
    18. [18]
      Jacobs, Pamela (August 31, 2015). "Hamilton's Renée Elise Goldsberry". Resident.com. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
    19. [19]
      "Disney Branded Television's 'Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation' Blasts Off Thursday, June 6, on Disney Channel and Friday, June 7, on Disney+". Retrieved March 8, 2024.
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