Tracie Bennett

Tracie Bennett is an English actress and singer born on 17 June 1961 in Leigh, Lancashire. She trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in Clapham, London, and has built a career spanning television, film, and stage, with particular distinction in West End and Broadway theatre. Her Broadway appearances span 2012 to 2022, encompassing productions including End of the Rainbow, billed as The Rainbow, and Hangmen.

Bennett's television career began with a recurring role on the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street, where she played Sharon Gaskell, the Faircloughs' foster daughter, from 1982 to 1984. She returned to the role in 1999 and again in 2021, when it was announced she would reprise the character, by then known as Sharon Bentley, after a 22-year absence. Her other television credits include Tracy Glazebrook in Steven Moffat's sitcom Joking Apart, appearing first in the 1991 pilot and continuing through two full series in 1993 and 1995. She portrayed Shirley's rebellious daughter Millandra in the 1989 film Shirley Valentine. Between 2014 and 2017, she played patient Molly Drover in the BBC medical drama Casualty, and in 2013 she joined the cast of detective series Scott & Bailey as Sharon, the estranged mother of DC Bailey.

On stage, Bennett has accumulated an extensive record of acclaimed performances in both dramatic and musical theatre. She appeared in She Loves Me at the Savoy Theatre in 1994, earning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical. She played Ida in Honk!, which won the 2000 Olivier Award for Best Musical. A 2003 London production of High Society brought her an Olivier Award nomination the following year, and in 2005 she appeared in Sex, Chips and Rock 'n' Roll at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, winning a TMA Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical. In January 2006, she joined the West End production of Les Misérables at the Queen's Theatre in the role of Madame Thénardier, remaining in the production through July 2007. Beginning in October 2007, she played Velma Von Tussle in the London premiere of Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre, a performance that earned her a second Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical in March 2008. In 2015 and 2016, she played Laura Henderson in Mrs Henderson Presents, receiving an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. In 2017, she appeared in the National Theatre production of Follies by Stephen Sondheim, playing Carlotta and performing the song "I'm Still Here," a role that brought her an additional Olivier Award nomination.

Bennett's Broadway career is anchored by her portrayal of Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow, a play by Peter Quilter. She first took on the role in February 2010, when the production premiered at Northampton's Royal Theatre before transferring to London's West End, where her performance earned an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play. When the production transferred to Broadway in March 2012, Bennett reprised the role and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Play. That same year, she won both the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play and the Theatre World Award for the performance. She subsequently returned to Broadway in Hangmen, extending her Broadway presence through 2022.