Sharon D. Clarke

She has been a guest on The Paul O'Grady Show and sang the "O'Grady, O'Grady" song to celebrate the 500th show.

She has also made appearances on Children in Need for the BBC, performing as Killer Queen with the cast of We Will Rock You and also singing with her Holby City co-stars.

Sharon Delores Clarke (born 12 August 1966) is an English actress and singer.

She is a three-time Olivier Award winner, and is best known to television audiences for her role as Lola Griffin in the medical drama Holby City, and as Grace O'Brien in Doctor Who.

Clarke has also played lead roles in many West End musicals, and originated the roles of the Killer Queen in We Will Rock You and Oda Mae Brown in Ghost the Musical.

Throughout her stage career, Clarke has been nominated for several Laurence Olivier Awards.

Clarke's first professional role was in Southside, directed by Jude Kelly, at Battersea Arts Centre in 1984.

This role allowed Clarke to be issued her Actor's Equity Card.

She then went on to play Dolores Hope in the 1988 Talawa Theatre Company production of O 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.

Clarke has also appeared in West End theatre.

Her roles include General Cartwright in Guys and Dolls (1996), Joanne Jefferson in Rent at the Shaftesbury Theatre (1998), and Miss Sherman in Fame (1999).

She played Rafiki in The Lion King from 2000 to 2002 at the Lyceum Theatre and in 2004 played the character of Matron Mama Morton in Chicago.

In 2000, Clarke appeared in Flymonkey's production of The Wiz.

In that production, she played the role of Glinda at the Hackney Empire.

She originated the role of Killer Queen in The Ben Elton/Queen jukebox musical We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre, alongside Alexander Hanson as Commander Khashoggi, for which she was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical.

She left the programme in 2008.

In 2008, Clarke sat alongside Russell Watson as a judge on the BBC talent show Last Choir Standing.

Clarke's other TV credits include: Waking the Dead, Soldier Soldier, Broken Glass, Between the Lines, Children's Ward, Stop, Look & Listen – Mary Seacole, Past Caring, The Singing Detective, EastEnders, Boo! and Informer.

Clarke has also appeared as a guest on Ready Steady Cook, hosted by Ainsley Harriott, representing Holby City in 2008, winning with chef Garrey Dawson.

In 2008, Clarke made her pantomime début in the Hackney Empire's Mother Goose.

She starred in Once on This Island in Birmingham at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

She was also set to star in The Vagina Monologues and Once on This Island at the Hackney Empire in 2009.

On 10 August 2010, Clarke appeared in an episode of The Bill, "Death Knock" as brothel owner Denise Jones.

She finished starring in the massively successful hit musical Hairspray when it closed on 28 March 2010 at the Shaftesbury Theatre.

She played the role of Motormouth Maybelle, alongside Phill Jupitus and Brian Conley as Edna Turnblad.

Clarke was Davina the Diva Harp in Jack and the Beanstalk and Carmina the Camel in Aladdin, both at the Hackney Empire.

In July 2010, she appeared in a one-off performance at the Hackney Empire called Sounds Like Hackney, alongside Clive Rowe.

On 24 January 2011, she appeared in EastEnders, as Connor Stanley's mother Kendra.

In May 2011, Clarke starred in the BBC drama The Shadow Line as Mrs. Dixon, appearing in episodes 2 and 3.

Clarke voices the character of Treetog in the CBeebies series Tree Fu Tom as well as voicing “One Hundred” on the animated series ‘Numberblocks.

She won the 2014 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in James Baldwin's The Amen Corner.

In October 2017, the BBC announced that Clarke had been cast as Grace O'Brien in the eleventh series of Doctor Who, appearing in the episodes "The Woman Who Fell To Earth", "Arachnids in the UK" and "It Takes You Away".

She later made brief cameo appearances in the twelfth series episode "Can You Hear Me?", and in the 2021 festive special "Revolution of the Daleks".

In December 2017, Clarke made a guest appearance on Thunderbirds 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 on Amazon Video.

She won her second Olivier for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Caroline Thibodeaux in the 2018 West End production of Caroline, or Change, a role she reprised on Broadway in 2021, earning her both Tony and Grammy Award nominations.

Clarke reprised the role for one episode in 2019.

Other television roles include the character of Gran'Ma Flossie in the CBBC show The Crust.

In October 2020, she won her third Olivier for her role in the revival of Death of a Salesman at London's Young Vic.

Clarke is known for her role in the BBC medical drama Holby City, in which she played Lola Griffin, a doctor with ancestors from Ghana.