Donna Murphy

Donna Murphy (born March 7, 1958) is an American stage, film and television actress.

She is known for her role as Anij, Captain Jean-Luc Picard's love interest, in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and her stage roles in musical theatre. Murphy has won two Tony Awards as Best Actress in a Musical for her roles in Passion and The King and I. She also starred in Wonderful Town, among other musicals.

Personal life

Murphy, one of seven children, was born in Corona, New York, the daughter of Jean (née Fink) and Robert Murphy (an aerospace engineer).^[1][2] Murphy is of Irish, French, German and Czech ancestry.^[3][4] Her family moved to Hauppauge, Long Island, New York. At age three, she asked for voice lessons, and she put on shows as a child in Hauppauge.^[2] She later moved to Topsfield, Massachusetts and graduated from Masconomet Regional High School in 1977.

Murphy has been married to actor and singer Shawn Elliott since 1990. She is the stepmother of Elliott's two daughters. In 2005, they adopted a daughter from Guatemala, Darmia Hope.^[5]

Career

Murphy dropped out of the New York University drama program in her sophomore year when she was cast to understudy the three backup singers in the 1979 Broadway musical They're Playing Our Song. In a 2007 interview, Murphy explained, "At the end of my sophomore year, I took a leave of absence. I needed to audition without cutting classes."^[6][7][2] She also studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.^[8]

She appeared in many Off-Broadway productions, including the musical Francis in 1981 at the York Theater at St. Peter's, The Mystery of Edwin Drood in 1985 at the Public Theater's Delacorte Theatre, Birds of Paradise in 1987 (Promenade Theatre), Privates on Parade (Roundabout Theatre) in 1989, the musical Song of Singapore in 1991, the Michael John LaChiusa musical Hello Again at the Lincoln Center Mitzi Newhouse Theatre in 1993, Twelve Dreams at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre in 1995, and Helen at the Public Theater/New York Shakeseare Festival in 2002.

On Broadway, after They're Playing Our Song (1979), she was an understudy in the musical/opera The Human Comedy in April 1984 and played various roles in The Mystery of Edwin Drood from 1985 to 1987. In 1994, she played the role of Fosca in Stephen Sondheim's and James Lapine's Passion, winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. In 1996, she played Anna Leonowens in the revival of The King and I alongside Lou Diamond Philips. The role earned her a second Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She appeared as Ruth Sherwood in a revival of Wonderful Town from 2003 to 2005 (having previously performed in the New York City Center Encores! 2000 staged concert of that musical), and was nominated for the Tony Award, Best Actress in a Musical and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. In 2007 she appeared in Lovemusik as Lotte Lenya, opposite Michael Cerveris as Kurt Weill, receiving nominations for Tony and Drama Desk Awards. She appeared in the 2007 New York City Center Encores! staged concert of Follies as Phyllis.^[9]

Murphy's film roles include Anij, Captain Jean-Luc Picard's love interest, in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), Scarlett Johansson's mother in The Nanny Diaries and Rosalie Octavius, wife of Dr. Otto Octavius, the movie's villain, in Spider-Man 2.

Murphy appeared in the NBC daytime television drama Another World from 1989 through 1991 as District Attorney Morgan Graves. She has also appeared in a number of television series. She played a recurring character in Liberty! The American Revolution (as Abigail Adams) (1997), Murder One (1995–1996), Hack (2002–2003) and Trust Me (2009).

References

External links

• Donna Murphy at the Internet Broadway Database
• Donna Murphy at the Internet Movie Database
• Internet Off-Broadway Database listing
• Donna Murphy at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• 2007 Interview with Donna Murphy at The Sondheim Review
• Personal Website