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

Sharon Delores Clarke is an English actress and singer. She is a three-timeOlivier Award winner, and is best known to television audiences for her role asLola Griffin in themedical dramaHolby City, and as Grace O'Brien inDoctor Who. Clarke has also played lead roles in manyWest End musicals, and originated the roles of the Killer Queen inWe Will Rock You and Oda Mae Brown inGhost the Musical.

Clarke has had a prolific stage career. She won the 2014Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role inJames Baldwin'sThe Amen Corner. She won her second Olivier forBest Actress in a Musical for her role as Caroline Thibodeaux in the 2018 West End production ofCaroline, or Change, a role she reprised onBroadway in 2021, earning her bothTony andGrammy Award nominations. In October 2020, she won her third Olivier for her role in the revival ofDeath of a Salesman at London'sYoung Vic.

Clarke is known for her role in theBBC medical dramaHolby City, in which she playedLola Griffin, a doctor with ancestors from Ghana who first appeared in 2005. She left the programme in 2008. Clarke reprised the role for one episode in 2019.^{[citation needed]}

Other television roles include the character of Gran'Ma Flossie in theCBBC showThe Crust.^{[citation needed]} Clarke's other TV credits includeWaking the Dead,Soldier Soldier,Broken Glass,Between the Lines,Children's Ward,Stop, Look & Listen – Mary Seacole,Past Caring,The Singing Detective,EastEnders,Boo! andInformer.^{[citation needed]}

On 10 August 2010, Clarke appeared in an episode ofThe Bill, "Death Knock", as brothel owner Denise Jones.^{[citation needed]}

On 24 January 2011, she appeared inEastEnders, asConnor Stanley's motherKendra.^{[citation needed]} In May 2011, Clarke starred in the BBC dramaThe Shadow Line as Mrs. Dixon, appearing in episodes 2 and 3.^{[citation needed]}

Clarke voices the character of Treetog in theCBeebies seriesTree Fu Tom^[1] as well as voicing “One Hundred” on the animated seriesNumberblocks.^{[citation needed]}

In October 2017, the BBC announced that Clarke had been cast as Grace O'Brien in theeleventh series ofDoctor Who, appearing in the episodes "The Woman Who Fell To Earth", "Arachnids in the UK" and "It Takes You Away".^[2][3][4] She later made brief cameo appearances in thetwelfth series episode "Can You Hear Me?", and in the 2021 festive special "Revolution of the Daleks".^[5][6]

In December 2017, Clarke made a guest appearance onThunderbirds Are Go, providing the voice for Fire Chief Cass McCready in the Season 2 episode "Inferno", which wasn't broadcast on ITV but was still shown onAmazon Video.^{[citation needed]}

In 2024, Clarke played DCI Ellis in theChannel 5 andAcorn TV drama seriesEllis alongsideAndrew Gower.^[7]

Apart from acting roles, Clarke has also appeared in various other capacities on TV. She sat alongsideRussell Watson as a judge on the BBC talent showLast Choir Standing in 2008. In the same year, she appeared as a guest onReady Steady Cook, hosted byAinsley Harriott, representingHolby City, winning with chefGarrey Dawson.^{[citation needed]} She has also been a guest onThe Paul O'Grady Show, and made appearances onChildren in Need for the BBC, performing as Killer Queen with the cast ofWe Will Rock You and singing with herHolby City co-stars.^{[citation needed]}

Clarke's first professional role was inSouthside, directed byJude Kelly, atBattersea Arts Centre in 1984. This role allowed Clarke to be issued herActor's Equity Card.^[8]

She went on to play Dolores Hope in the 1988Talawa Theatre Company production ofO Babylon! The Musical, the story of the Trench Town community's struggle for survival against the encroachment of Babylon, in the form of a new luxury hotel.^[9][10][11]

Clarke has also appeared in West End theatre. Her roles include General Cartwright inGuys and Dolls (1996), Joanne Jefferson inRent at theShaftesbury Theatre (1998), and Miss Sherman inFame (1999).^{[citation needed]} She playedRafiki inThe Lion King from 2000 to 2002 at theLyceum Theatre and in 2004 played the character of Matron Mama Morton inChicago.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, Clarke appeared in Flymonkey's production ofThe Wiz. In that production, she played the role of Glinda at theHackney Empire.^{[citation needed]}

She originated the role of Killer Queen^[12] in theBen Elton/Queen jukebox musicalWe Will Rock You at theDominion Theatre, alongsideAlexander Hanson as Commander Khashoggi, for which she was nominated for theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, Clarke made herpantomime début in the Hackney Empire'sMother Goose. She starred inOnce on This Island in Birmingham at theBirmingham Repertory Theatre.^{[citation needed]} She was also set to star inThe Vagina Monologues andOnce on This Island at the Hackney Empire in 2009. She finished starring in the massively successful hit musicalHairspray when it closed on 28 March 2010 at the Shaftesbury Theatre. She played the role ofMotormouth Maybelle, alongsidePhill Jupitus andBrian Conley as Edna Turnblad.^{[citation needed]}

Clarke was Davina the Diva Harp inJack and the Beanstalk and Carmina the Camel inAladdin, both at the Hackney Empire. In July 2010, she appeared in a one-off performance at the Hackney Empire calledSounds Like Hackney, alongsideClive Rowe.^{[citation needed]}

In October 2010, theApollo Victoria Theatre, home to the musicalWicked, celebrated its 80th anniversary and Clarke was a guest performer^[13] alongside other stars such asWayne Sleep.

2011 saw Clarke take the role of Oda Mae Brown in amusical adaptation of the filmGhost. Beginning previews in March at theManchester Opera House, the show transferred in June 2011 to theWest End at thePiccadilly Theatre, replacingGrease. Clarke was nominated in 2012 for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical,^[14] losing out on the award toNigel Harman for his role inShrek the Musical.^{[citation needed]}

In October 2011, she appeared in a concert of the new musicalSoho Cinders at theQueen's Theatre, London. Clarke has also worked as Musical Director onMeridan.^{[citation needed]}

Clarke appeared in her own one-woman cabaret at theSt James Theatre.^{[citation needed]}

She appeared inJames Baldwin'sThe Amen Corner at theRoyal National Theatre, for which she won Best Supporting Actress at the 2014 Olivier Awards.^[15]

In summer 2014, she played the supporting role of Mariah in theRegent's Park Open Air Theatre production ofPorgy and Bess.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2015, Clarke played the Nurse inRomeo and Juliet at theRose Theatre, Kingston.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2016, she received critical acclaim for her role in a revival ofAugust Wilson'sMa Rainey's Black Bottom at theLyttelton Theatre (for example: "Sharon D Clarke is terrific as Ma Rainey, regally imperious" –The Telegraph; "Her golden delivery of the title song is a high point" –The Observer; "Sharon D Clarke offers a wonderfully obstreperous performance as the eponymous blues star" –Time Out; "the powerhouse delivery of Sharon D Clarke in the central role of Ma Rainey is exhilarating" –The Stage).^{[16][17][18][19]}

In 2017, she played the role of Sonya inCy Coleman's musicalThe Life atSouthwark Playhouse^[20] and Caroline Thibodeaux inCaroline, or Change at theChichester Festival Theatre.^[21] Clarke reprised her role inCaroline, or Change when the production transferred to thePlayhouse Theatre in the West End in 2018.^[22] At the2019 Laurence Olivier Awards, Clarke won theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for this role.^[23] The production transferred toRoundabout Theatre Company'sStudio 54 onBroadway in October 2021, having been postponed for over a year due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Clark reprised her role, making her Broadway debut and was well received by critics. The limited run ended on 9 January 2022.^[24]

In 2019, she played the role of Linda Loman inArthur Miller's playDeath of a Salesman at theYoung Vic, which transferred to the West End in October 2019 and later to Broadway in September 2022. In July 2019, she played the role of The Lady inSheldon Epps’sBlues In The Night at theKiln Theatre, London.^[25]

Clarke achieved chart success with theFPI Project's remake of "Going Back to My Roots" and inNomad with the singles "(I Wanna Give You) Devotion" and "Just a Groove", the latter of which sold more than two million singles worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

Clarke was also part of the female vocal groupSix Chix, formed for theEurovision Song Contest 2000. They came second in theUK selection with the song "Only the Women Know". They were beaten byNicki French singing "Don't Play That Song Again", which went on toStockholm to finish 16th.^[26]

As well as appearing on the original cast recordings forOnce on This Island,Stepping Out,We Will Rock You andGhost the Musical, Clarke recorded the title song onTerry Pratchett'sOnly You Can Save Mankind album alongside other West End stars, includingKerry Ellis, Ricardo Afonso andDaniel Boys.^{[citation needed]}

Clarke is married to writer and director Susie McKenna. They wed around 2008 on theHackney Empire stage.^[27][28]

Clarke was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2017 New Year Honours for services to drama.^[29]

Tony Award

Laurence Olivier Awards

Grammy Awards

Drama Desk Awards

Outer Critics Circle Awards

Other awards

• Sharon D. Clarke atIMDb

• 1966 births
• Living people
• 20th-century English actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• Actresses from London
• Black British actresses
• 20th-century Black British women singers
• 20th-century British women singers
• English film actresses
• English musical theatre actresses
• English people of Ghanaian descent
• English stage actresses
• English television actresses
• English video game actresses
• English voice actresses
• English lesbian actresses
• Singers from the London Borough of Enfield
• Laurence Olivier Award winners
• LGBTQ people from London
• Black British LGBTQ people
• 20th-century English LGBTQ people
• 21st-century English LGBTQ people
• Members of the Order of the British Empire
• People from Enfield, London
• Actors from the London Borough of Enfield
• Theatre World Award winners
• Nomad (British band) members

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