Donna King

Donna King is an American dancer, actress, and musical theatre performer born in 1957 in Kansas City, Missouri. She trained at the Miller Marley School of Dance in Overland Park, Kansas, before beginning her professional career. Prior to her Broadway work, she spent time performing in a Las Vegas revue and was present at Studio 54 in New York City on its opening night in 1977.

King's Broadway career spanned from 1978 to 1982. Her first Broadway credit was The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at the 46th Street Theatre in 1978, where she played the role of Linda Lou. She next appeared in Roland Petit's revival of Can-Can at the Minskoff Theatre in 1981, taking on the role of Mimi. Her most prominent Broadway credit came when she originated the role of Bombalurina in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats at the Winter Garden Theatre, a part she held from 1982 to 1984. In September 1982, New York Magazine published a feature on King, which included an image of her as Bombalurina in a window display at Bergdorf Goodman. Beyond Broadway, she performed as a Shark in the Mediterranean Tour of West Side Story.

King also worked in film during this period. In 1982 she appeared as a lead dancer in Grease 2, and in 1997 she took on the role of Martha Winterton in the television production of Jilly Cooper's The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous. Her film work continued into later years, including a role as Amanda in the Italian production Papaya69 in 2022. In 1991, she appeared in a London stage production, playing the lead role of May in a revival of Sam Shepard's Fool for Love at Timber Street Studios.

In 1984, King married British theatre designer John Napier, who had designed the sets and costumes for Cats. Together they had two children, James, who became the musician Jimmy Napes, and Jessica. The marriage ended in divorce in 1994. King has lived and worked primarily in England since the 1980s, and currently operates a studio in Camden Town where she teaches music, theatre, and film students.