Tracey Ullman | |
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 Ullman at a book signing in 1998 | |
| Born | Trace Ullman (1959-12-30)30 December 1959 (age 65) Slough,Buckinghamshire, England |
| Citizenship |
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| Alma mater | Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1976–present |
| Works | Full list |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Full list |
| Comedy career | |
| Medium |
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| Genres | |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1983–1985 |
| Labels | Stiff |
Musical artist | |
Tracey Ullman (bornTrace Ullman; 30 December 1959)[1] is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, and director. Critics have lauded her ability to shift seamlessly in and out of character and accents, with many dubbing her the "femalePeter Sellers".[2][3][4] Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy showsA Kick Up the Eighties (withRik Mayall andMiriam Margolyes) andThree of a Kind (withLenny Henry andDavid Copperfield). For the latter she wasBAFTA nominated in 1984.[5] After a brief singing career (which garnered three top-ten singles), she appeared as Candice Valentine inGirls on Top withDawn French andJennifer Saunders.
Ullman emigrated from the United Kingdom to the United States. She would go on to star in her own network television comedy series,The Tracey Ullman Show from 1987 until 1990, which also featured the first appearances of the long-running animatedmedia franchiseThe Simpsons. She later produced programmes forHBO, includingTracey Takes On... (1996–99) garnering numerous awards. Her sketch comedy seriesTracey Ullman's State of the Union ran from 2008 to 2010 onShowtime. She has appeared in several feature films, including inPlenty (1985), which earned Ullman a nomination for theBAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress.[6][7]
In 2016, she returned to British television with theBBC sketch comedy showTracey Ullman's Show, her first project for the broadcaster in over 30 years.[8] This led to the creation of the topical comedy seriesTracey Breaks the News in 2017.
In 2017, Ullman was reportedly Britain's richest comedian and the second-richest British actress,[9] with an estimated wealth of £80 million.[10] She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including twelveAmerican Comedy Awards, sevenPrimetime Emmy Awards, twoBritish Academy Film Awards, fourSatellite Awards, aGolden Globe Award, and aScreen Actors Guild Award.
Tracey Ullman was born inSlough,Buckinghamshire (nowBerkshire),[11] the younger of two daughters,[12] to Doreen (née Cleaver; 1929–2015), who was of British andRoma extraction,[13] and Anthony John Ullman (1917–1966), aRoman CatholicPole.[14] Anthony served in thePolish Army and took part in theBattle of Dunkirk duringWorld War II.[15] After emigrating and marrying in England, he worked as asolicitor, a furniture salesman, and a travel agent. He also brokered marriages and translated among the émigré Polish community.[16]
When she was six, Ullman's father, who had been recovering from a heart operation, died of a heart attack in front of her.[17][18] She was subsequently uprooted toHackbridge, southwestLondon. Her mother could barely make ends meet without their father's income.[19] In an effort to cheer her family up, Ullman, along with her sister Patti, created and performed nightly shows on their mother's bedroom windowsill. After their mother remarried, the family began moving around the country, with Ullman attending numerous state schools, where she wrote and performed in school plays.[20]
She eventually caught the attention of a headmaster, who recommended that she attend a performing arts school. She won a full scholarship to theItalia Conti Academy at the age of twelve.[21] At sixteen, she attended a dance audition under the impression that she was applying for summer season inScarborough.[22] The audition resulted in a contract with a German ballet company for a revival ofGigi in Berlin.[23] Upon returning to England, she joined the Second Generation dance troupe, performing in London,Blackpool, andLiverpool.[24] She branched out into musical theatre and was cast in numerousWest End musicals includingGrease,Elvis The Musical, andThe Rocky Horror Show.[18][25]
Ullman began her television career in 1980 playingLynda Bellingham's daughter in the British seriesMackenzie. "I really thought I was great when I did a quite serious soap opera for the BBC. I played a nice girl fromSt. John's Wood. 'Mummy, I think I'm pregnant. I don't know who's done it.' Then I would fall down a hill or something. 'EEEEE! Oh, no, lost another baby.' It seemed all I ever did was have miscarriages—or make yogurt."[26]
Ullman appeared inLes Blair'savant-gardeFour in a Million, an improvised play about club acts, at London'sRoyal Court Theatre.[4] She won theLondon Critics Circle Theatre Award as Most Promising New Actress for her performance.[27]
In 1981, she was cast in theBBC Scotlandsketch comedy programmeA Kick Up the Eighties, which in turn led to her being offered the sketch showThree of a Kind, co-starring comediansLenny Henry andDavid Copperfield. Ullman said "My first reaction was you must be joking, as women are treated so shoddily in comedy. Big busty barmaids and all those sort of clichés just bore me rigid."[28] Eventually a deal was struck with the proviso being that she would have script approval and choose her own costumes.[29]Three of a Kind premiered in July 1981, running for three series until 1983.[30] Throughout the series, Ullman would also sing, performing comical spoofs of well-known artists of the time such asToyah,Bananarama,Jennifer Warnes, andDollar.Three of a Kind led to her beginning her own brief but successful singing career in 1983, and also winning her firstBAFTA (for "Best Light Entertainment Performance") in 1984.[31] By this time, she had become a household name with the British media referring to her as "Our Trace".[16]
In 1985, she signed on to star in theITV sitcomGirls on Top. She was cast as the promiscuous golddigger Candice Valentine. The show, co-starringDawn French,Ruby Wax, andJennifer Saunders continued for a second series without Ullman who bowed out after the first series. Saunders also wrote the scripts.
In 1985, Ullman was persuaded by her husband, British independent television producerAllan McKeown, to join him inLos Angeles, where he was already partially based.[32] She set her sights on a film and stage career, believing that there was little in the way of television for her.[33][34] Her British agent put together a videotape compilation of her work and began circulating it around Hollywood. The tape landed in the hands of Craig Kellem, vice president for comedy atUniversal Television.[16] A deal was immediately struck withCBS.I Love New York, a show about a "slightly wacky" British woman working in New York, was written bySaturday Night Live writerAnne Beatts.[16] Unhappy with the direction the network wanted to take the show, Ullman's agent decided to contact producerJames L. Brooks.[34][35] Brooks felt that a sketch show would best suit her. "Why would you do something with Tracey playing a single character on TV when her talent requires variety? You can't categorize Tracey, so it's silly to come up with a show that attempted to."[33][36][37]The Tracey Ullman Show debuted on 5 April 1987, along withMarried... with Children.[38] The show also producedThe Simpsons as a series of animated shorts, or "bumpers", which would air before and after commercial breaks.The Simpsons shorts would eventually be spun-off into their own half-hour series in 1989.[39]The Tracey Ullman Show was awarded tenPrimetime Emmy Awards, with Ullman winning three, one in the category ofOutstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program in 1990.[40][41] The show was the first Fox network primetime show to win an Emmy award.[42] The show concluded after a four-season run in 1990.[43][44]
In 1991, Ullman's husband placed a successful bid on a television franchise in theSouth of England. The television programming lineup agreed upon included a Tracey Ullman special.[45] Unlike the Fox show, this programme would be shot entirely on location.Tracey Ullman: A Class Act, a send-up of theBritish class system, premiered on 9 January 1993 onITV.[46] This led toHBO in America becoming interested in having a special made for their network, with the caveat that Ullman take on a more American subject. She choseNew York City.[47]Tracey Ullman Takes on New York debuted on 9 October 1993. The programme went on to win two Emmy Awards, aCableAce Award, anAmerican Comedy Award, and aWriters Guild of America Award. The success led to the creation of the HBOsketch comedy seriesTracey Takes On... in 1996.[48]
Ullman returned to HBO in 2003 with the television specialTracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales, which she also directed.[49] She returned to HBO again in 2005 with her one-woman stage showTracey Ullman: Live and Exposed.[50]
In 2001, Ullman took a break from her multi-character-based work and created a fashion-based talk show forOxygen Network,Tracey Ullman's Visible Panty Lines. The series was spun-off from here-commerce clothing storePurple Skirt. Interviewees includedArianna Huffington andCharlize Theron.[51] The show ran for two seasons, concluding in 2002.[52]
Upon hernaturalisation in the United States, it was announced in April 2007 that she would be making the switch from HBO toShowtime after working fourteen years with the former.[53]Tracey Ullman's State of the Union, a new sketch comedy series, debuted on 30 March 2008.[54][55][56] It ran for three seasons, concluding in 2010.
After an absence of over 30 years, Ullman returned to the BBC with the sketch comedy programmeTracey Ullman's Show in 2016.[57][58] It aired in the United States on HBO.[59] In 2017, the show earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Make-Up and Hair Design, and its first Primetime Emmy Award nomination in the category ofOutstanding Variety Sketch Series.[60] In 2018, it garnered two additional Primetime Emmy Award nominations in the categories of Outstanding Variety Sketch Series andOutstanding Costumes for a Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Programming.[61] The show eventually led to the creation of the topical comedy programmeTracey Breaks the News in 2017.[62][63][64]
In 1995, she became the first modern-day cartoon voice ofLittle Lulu.[65] In 1999, she had a recurring role as an unconventional psychotherapist onAlly McBeal. Her performance garnered her a Primetime Emmy Award, her seventh, and an American Comedy Award which was her eleventh.[66] In 2005, she co-starred withCarol Burnett in the television adaptation ofOnce Upon a Mattress. She played Princess Winnifred, a role originally made famous by Burnett on Broadway. This time Burnett took on the role of the overbearing Queen Aggravain.[67]
In March 2014, Ullman was introduced as Genevieve Scherbatsky, the mother of characterRobin Scherbatsky inHow I Met Your Mother.[68] On 15 February 2017, it was announced that she would star in theStarz-BBC co-produced limited series adaptation ofHowards End, playing Aunt Juley Mund.[69]
On 14 May 2019, it was announced that Ullman would be portrayingBetty Friedan in theFX limited seriesMrs. America. The nine-episode series premiered 15 April 2020 onHulu to favourable reviews.[70][71][72] Her performance garnered her anOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or MoviePrimetime Emmy nomination.[73]
Ullman played councilwoman Irma Kostroski in the eleventh and twelfth seasons ofCurb Your Enthusiasm.[74]
A chance encounter with the wife of the head ofStiff Records led to Ullman getting a recording contract in 1983. Label ownerDave Robinson was taken with some of the musical parodies she had been doing on television inThree of a Kind and signed her.[75] Ullman recounted, "One day, I was at my hairdresser, and Dave Robinson's wife Rosemary leant over and said, 'Do you want to make a record?'... I went, 'Yeah I want to make a record.' I would have tried anything."[76]
Within 18 months, Ullman had scored five Top 30 hits on theUK Singles Chart.[77] Her first two singles ("Breakaway" and "They Don't Know") were certified Silver by theBPI, as was her debut album. Ullman's songs were over-the-top evocations of 1960s and 1970s pop music with a 1980s edge, "somewhere betweenMinnie Mouse andthe Supremes" asMelody Maker put it.[78]
Her 1983 debut albumYou Broke My Heart in 17 Places was a Top 20 hit in the UK, and featured three UK Top 10 hit singles. Her first hit single, "Breakaway", reached #4 in the UK.[79] This was followed by the international hit version ofKirsty MacColl's "They Don't Know", which reached #2 in the UK,[77] and #8 in the United States.[80] The video for "They Don't Know" featured acameo appearance fromPaul McCartney[81] (at the time, Ullman was filming a minor role in McCartney's filmGive My Regards to Broad Street).[82] A third single from the album, a recording ofDoris Day's "Move Over Darling", reached #8 in the UK.[77]
Ullman released her second (and final) albumYou Caught Me Out in 1984.[77] This included her version ofMadness's "My Girl", which she changed to "My Guy", which reached #23.[83] Its accompanying video featured a cameo from theBritish Labour Party politicianNeil Kinnock, at the time theLeader of the Opposition.[84] Her final Top 30 hit, "Sunglasses" (1984), peaked at #18 in the UK and featured comedianAdrian Edmondson in its music video.[85] During this time she also appeared as a guestVJ onMTV in the United States.[86]
Along with her television work, Ullman has featured in many films throughout her career. Her first theatrical film was a small role inPaul McCartney's filmGive My Regards to Broad Street (1984).[82] This was followed by a supporting role in the dramaPlenty (1985) starringMeryl Streep.[87] She made her big screen leading role debut inI Love You to Death (1990) acting alongsideKevin Kline,River Phoenix, andJoan Plowright. She appeared in lead and supporting roles in films such asRobin Hood: Men in Tights (1993),[88]Nancy Savoca'sHousehold Saints (1993),[89]Bullets Over Broadway (1994),[90]Small Time Crooks (2000),Panic (2000) andA Dirty Shame (2004).[91] She was nominated for aGolden Globe Award in the category ofBest Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her work inSmall Time Crooks in 2001.[92] She played Jack's mother in thefilm adaptation of the Broadway musicalInto the Woods (2014)[93] and appeared in the musical filmThe Prom (2020).[94]
Her voice work in film includesTim Burton's Corpse Bride[95] and the animated filmsThe Tale of Despereaux[96] andOnward.[97]
Ullman has an extensive stage career spanning back to the 1970s. In 1980, she appeared inVictoria Wood'sTalent at theEveryman Theatre in Liverpool.[98] In 1982, she played Kate Hardcastle inShe Stoops to Conquer.[23] In 1983, she took part in the workshop forAndrew Lloyd Webber'sStarlight Express, playing the part of Pearl,[99] and performed inSnoo Wilson'sThe Grass Widow at the Royal Court Theatre withAlan Rickman.[100]
In 1990, she starred opposite actorMorgan Freeman as Kate in Shakespeare in the Park's production ofTaming of the Shrew set in theWild West forJoe Papp.[101] In 1991, she performed onBroadway inJay Presson Allen's one-woman showThe Big Love, based on the book of the same name.[102] BothTaming of the Shrew andThe Big Love garnered herTheatre World Awards.[103]
In 2011, she returned to the British stage in theStephen Poliakoff dramaMy City.[104] Her performance earned her anEvening Standard Theatre Awards nomination for Best Actress.[105] In 2012, she joined the cast ofEric Idle'sWhat About Dick?, described as a 1940s-style stand-up improv musical comedy radio play, taking on three roles. The show played for four nights in April in Los Angeles at the Orpheum Theater. She had performed the piece previously in a test run for Idle back in 2007.[106] Cast members included Idle,Eddie Izzard,Billy Connolly,Russell Brand,Tim Curry,Jane Leeves,Jim Piddock, andSophie Winkleman.[107] On 6 October 2014, it was formally announced that she would star in a limited engagement ofThe Band Wagon.[108]
Ullman married producer Allan McKeown in 1983. The couple have two children: Mabel, born in 1986, and John, born in 1991.[109] On 24 December 2013, McKeown died at home fromprostate cancer.[110]
Ullman's mother died in a fire at her flat on 23 March 2015.[111] An inquest ruled the death to be accidental.[112] She was 85 years old.[113]
In September 2018, Ullman said that her daughter was pregnant and that she was about to become a grandmother.[114]
Ullman acquired American citizenship in December 2006. She holdsdual citizenship in the United Kingdom and the United States.[115] In 2006, she topped the list for the "Wealthiest British Comedians", with an estimated wealth of £75 million.[116] In 2017,The Sunday Times estimated her wealth to be £80 million.[10]
An avidknitter, she co-wrote a knitting book,Knit 2 Together: Patterns and Stories for Serious Knitting Fun in 2006.[117]
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata
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