Sharon Delores Clarke is an English actress and singer. She is a three-time Olivier Award winner, and is best known for her television roles as Lola Griffin in the medical drama Holby City, and as Grace O'Brien in Doctor Who. Clarke has also appeared in numerous West End productions, originating the roles of Killer Queen in We Will Rock You and Oda Mae Brown in Ghost the Musical.
Clarke won the 2014 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in James Baldwin's The Amen Corner. 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. She reprised the role on Broadway in 2021, receiving a Tony Award nomination, while the Broadway cast recording received a Grammy Award nomination. In 2020, she won her third Olivier for her performance in Death of a Salesman at London's Young Vic.
In addition to her acting career, Clarke provided lead vocals for the house music acts FPI Project and Nomad.
Contents
Career
Early career (1984–2004)
Clarke's first professional role was in Southside, at Battersea Arts Centre in 1984, directed by Jude Kelly, who also issued her Actor's Equity Card. Her early television appearances included a role as a night nurse in The Singing Detective. Clarke also played Susie in the BBC television film Past Caring, broadcast in 1986. She went on to play Dolores Hope in the 1988 Talawa Theatre Company production of O Babylon! The Musical. The musical follows the Trench Town community's struggle for survival against the encroachment of Babylon, in the form of a new luxury hotel. She then appeared as Mrs Richardson in Children's Ward (1990) and a cook in Between the Lines (1993). She subsequently appeared as a receptionist in Soldier Soldier (1995) and played Flora in the television film Broken Glass (1996).
In 1996, Clarke played General Cartwright in a production of Guys and Dolls at the Royal National Theatre. She later played Joanne Jefferson in Rent at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1998, followed by Miss Sherman in Fame in 1999. She also played Rafiki in The Lion King in the early 2000s at the Lyceum Theatre and in 2004 played the character of Matron Mama Morton in Chicago. Clarke also played Glinda in Flymonkey's production of The Wiz at the Hackney Empire.
Clarke originated the role of Killer Queen in We Will Rock You, the Queen jukebox musical written by Ben Elton, at the Dominion Theatre in 2002. In November that year, she performed "Another One Bites the Dust" with the cast of We Will Rock You during the BBC's Children in Need fundraiser. For her performance in We Will Rock You, Clarke was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical in 2003. Also in 2003, Clarke played Camelia Baptiste in Waking the Dead and provided narration and vocals for the CBeebies animated series Boo!. In 2004, she played the character of Gran'Ma Flossie in the CBBC show The Crust.
Career development (2005–2013)
Clarke played Lola Griffin in the BBC medical drama Holby City from 2005 until her departure in 2008. After her departure in 2008, Clarke made her pantomime début playing Charity in Mother Goose at the Hackney Empire. Clarke also performed a rendition of Aretha Franklin's "Respect" alongside her Holby City co-stars Nadine Lewington, Rakie Ayola and Phoebe Thomas during BBC Children in Need in November 2007. Apart from acting roles, Clarke has also appeared in various other capacities on television. She sat alongside Russell Watson as a judge on the BBC talent show Last Choir Standing in 2008. In the same year, she appeared as a guest on Ready Steady Cook, hosted by Ainsley Harriott, representing Holby City, and also appeared as a guest on The Paul O'Grady Show.
In 2009, she reprised her role as Asaka in Once on This Island, having previously appeared in the original 1994 production. The revival played at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse and the Hackney Empire. Earlier that year, she was also announced as part of the cast of The Vagina Monologues at the Hackney Empire. Clarke joined the West End production of the musical Hairspray in October 2009, playing Motormouth Maybelle alongside Phill Jupitus as Edna Turnblad. The production closed on 28 March 2010, with Brian Conley having returned to the role of Edna for its final weeks at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Clarke also voiced Carmina the Camel in the Hackney Empire's 2009 pantomime production of Aladdin.
In July 2010, she appeared in a one-off performance at the Hackney Empire called Sounds Like Hackney, alongside Clive Rowe. On 10 August 2010, Clarke made a guest appearance in The Bill in the episode "Death Knock". Clarke also performed at the Apollo Victoria Theatre's 80th anniversary gala on 10 October 2010, alongside performers from the musical Wicked and other West End Productions.
On 24 January 2011, Clarke appeared in EastEnders, as Connor Stanley's mother Kendra. She went on to play Oda Mae Brown in a musical adaptation of the film Ghost in 2011. The production premiered in March at the Manchester Opera House before transferring to London's Piccadilly Theatre in June. In May 2011, Clarke starred in the BBC drama The Shadow Line as Mrs. Dixon, appearing in episodes 2 and 3. In October 2011, she appeared in a concert of the new musical Soho Cinders at the Queen's Theatre in London.
Critical recognition (2012–2018)
Clarke was nominated in 2012 for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical in 2012 for her performance in Ghost the Musical. Also in 2012, Clarke was announced as a performer in the cabaret season at the St James Theatre in London. Clarke also provided the voice of Treetog in the CBeebies animated series Tree Fu Tom, which began airing in 2012.
Clarke appeared in James Baldwin's The Amen Corner at the Royal National Theatre in 2013, for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 2014. In summer 2014, she played the supporting role of Mariah in the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre production of Porgy and Bess. In March 2015, Clarke played the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet at the Rose Theatre, Kingston. Later that year, she was the voice of Davina the Diva Harp in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Hackney Empire.
In February 2016, Clarke played the title role in a revival of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Lyttelton Theatre. Reviewing the production for The Observer, Susannah Clapp praised Clarke's singing, while Andrzej Lukowski of Time Out commended her portrayal of the blues singer. Dominic Cavendish of The Daily Telegraph also praised Clarke's commanding portrayal of Ma Rainey, while Mark Shenton of The Stage highlighted the power of her performance.
In 2017, she also played the role of Sonja in Cy Coleman's musical The Life at Southwark Playhouse and Caroline Thibodeaux in Caroline, or Change at the Chichester Festival Theatre. 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". In December 2017, Clarke made a guest appearance voicing Fire Chief Cass McCready in "Inferno", a second-series episode of Thunderbirds Are Go. The episode was not broadcast on ITV in the UK but was made available through Amazon Video.
Clarke reprised her role in Caroline, or Change when the production transferred to the Playhouse Theatre in the West End in 2018. Clarke played DCI Rose Asante in the 2018 BBC crime drama Informer.
Subsequent work (2019–present)
Clarke briefly returned to Holby City in January 2019, reprising her role as Lola Griffin for one episode in 2019. She also voiced the character One Hundred in the CBeebies animated series Numberblocks that year. At the 2019 Laurence Olivier Awards, Clarke won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Caroline, or Change.
In 2019, Clarke played the role of Linda Loman in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic, alongside Wendell Pierce as Willy Loman. The production transferred to the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End in October that year. Clarke reprised the role when the production moved to Broadway's Hudson Theatre in September 2022. In July 2019, Clarke played the role of The Lady in Sheldon Epps’s Blues In The Night at the Kiln Theatre, London.
Clarke reprised her role as Grace O'Brien in two further episodes of Doctor Who: the twelfth series episode "Can You Hear Me?" in 2020, and the 2021 festive special "Revolution of the Daleks". A Broadway revival of Caroline, or Change opened at Roundabout Theatre Company's Studio 54 in October 2021, following a postponement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Clarke reprised her role, making her Broadway debut, and received positive reviews for her performance. The limited run ended on 9 January 2022.
In 2024, Clarke began starring as DCI Ellis in the Channel 5 and Acorn TV crime drama Ellis alongside Andrew Gower. She also voiced Dulcibear in the musical fantasy film Wicked (2024) and its sequel, Wicked: For Good (2025). Also in 2025, Clarke voiced Dame Gwendolyn Lestrade in the audio drama podcast Sherlock & Co. Clarke was subsequently cast in the title role of William Shakespeare's Othello at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon, originally scheduled for 2027. The production was postponed in August 2026.
Personal life
Clarke is married to writer and director Susie McKenna. The couple married on the Hackney Empire stage around 2008. In a 2018 interview with the Evening Standard, Clarke discussed her bisexuality and said that her relationships were based on the person rather than their sex. In August 2026, Clarke announced that she was undergoing treatment for cancer, which caused the Royal Shakespeare Company to postpone its production of Othello, in which she was due to play the title role.
