Katie Brayben

Katie Brayben is an English actress, singer, and musician who has worked across stage, television, and musical theatre, and who also writes and performs original music as a pianist and guitarist. Born Katie Burke on 3 September, she grew up in the London borough of Lewisham in a musically active household; her parents, Mick Burke and Frances McGillivray, were London blues performers, and her sister Jo Burke is a folk singer and violinist. Brayben trained at the Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 2003. She adopted a professional surname distinct from her birth name to avoid confusion with the established British actress Kathy Burke.

Brayben made her West End debut taking over the lead role of Sophie in the tenth anniversary production of Mamma Mia!, and subsequently appeared opposite Matt Smith in the musical American Psycho. In 2014 she joined Mike Bartlett's King Charles III at the Almeida Theatre, playing Princess Diana, and continued in the production when it transferred to the West End. When King Charles III moved to Broadway in 2015, Brayben remained in London to take on the title role in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, a performance that earned her the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical at the 2015 ceremony.

In 2022, Brayben reunited with director Rupert Goold — with whom she had previously worked on American Psycho and King Charles III — for the world premiere of Tammy Faye at the Almeida Theatre. The biographical musical featured music by Sir Elton John and lyrics by Jake Shears, with Brayben in the title role. The production received four Laurence Olivier Award nominations, and Brayben took home her second Olivier for Best Actress in a Musical at the 2023 ceremony. Tammy Faye subsequently transferred to Broadway, where Brayben reprised the role in 2024, marking her Broadway debut.