Sharon D Clarke
Encyclopedia
Sharon D Clarke is a British theatre and television actress and singer known for her role in the UK medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...

 Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...

and for taking lead roles in many West End Musicals including originating the role of the Killer Queen in Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....

 and Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

's hit musical We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You (musical)
We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor...

at the Dominion Theatre
Dominion Theatre
The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre on Tottenham Court Road close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point Tower, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:...

.

Television career

Sharon D Clarke is most popularly known for her role in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...

 Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...

in which she played Lola Griffin, a doctor with ancestors from Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

. She left the programme in 2008 to concentrate on her theatre work.

Other notable television roles include the character of Gran'Ma Flossie in the CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...

 show The Crust. In 2008, Sharon D. Clarke sat alongside Russell Watson
Russell Watson
Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club...

 as a judge on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 talent show Last Choir Standing
Last Choir Standing
Last Choir Standing was a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. Broadcast on BBC One in July and August 2008, the series saw amateur choirs competing each week to be the 'last choir standing'....

. Sharon's other TV credits include: Waking the Dead
Waking the Dead (TV series)
Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...

, Soldier Soldier
Soldier Soldier
Soldier Soldier is a British television drama series. The title comes from a traditional song of the same name.Produced by Central Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of seven series and 82 episodes from 1991 to 1997...

, Broken Glass, Between the Lines, Children's Ward
Children's Ward
Children's Ward is a British children's television drama series produced by Granada Television and broadcast on the ITV network as part of its Children's ITV strand on weekday afternoons...

, Stop, Look & Listen Mary Seacole, Past Caring, The Singing Detective
The Singing Detective
The Singing Detective is a BBC television miniseries written by Dennis Potter, which stars Michael Gambon, and was directed by Jon Amiel. The six episodes were "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It"....

, Eastenders and Where's Boo.

Sharon has also appeared as a guest on Ready Steady Cook
Ready Steady Cook
Ready Steady Cook was a BBC daytime TV cooking programme it first debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last edition was broadcast on the 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott became the new host...

hosted by Ainsley Harriet representing Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...

in 2008 and worked with chef Garrey Dawson
Garrey Dawson
Garrey Dawson is a British chef who has appeared on television in the BBC programme Ready Steady Cook.-Career:Dawson started his career at . Since then he has worked at Cliveden Hotel & Spa and at Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck restaurant, where he helped Blumenthal make the restaurant a 3...

 to create a Duck and Sweetcorn broth. Sharon (a Red Tomato) won the show managing to beat her opponent Luke Roberts by one point.

Sharon has appeared as a guest on The Paul O'Grady Show
The Paul O'Grady Show
The Paul O'Grady Show was a BAFTA award-winning British comedy chat show hosted by Birkenhead-born comedian Paul O'Grady. The format was originally devised by Granada Television and was broadcast on ITV before moving to Channel 4...

and ceremoniously sang the 'O'Grady, O'Grady' song to celebrate the 500th show.

Sharon has also made appearances on Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...

for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

. She sang in character as Killer Queen with the cast of We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You (musical)
We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor...

and more recently singing with her Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...

co-stars.

On 10 August 2010, Sharon appeared in an episode of The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...

, 'Death Knock' as Denise Jones, who runs a brothel at which one of the prostitutes is involved in accident.

On 24 January 2011, Sharon appeared in EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

, as Connor Stanley's mother Kendra

In May 2011, Sharon starred in the BBC drama The Shadow Line
The Shadow Line (TV series)
The Shadow Line is a seven-part British television drama serial produced by Company Pictures/Eight Rooks Ltd/Baby Cow/CinemaNX production for BBC Two...

as Mrs Dixon appearing in episodes 2 and 3. Her performance along with the rest of the cast received high praise for the series.

Theatre

Clarke is also noted for her West End theatre
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 work. She has played many roles, including General Cartwright in Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure", two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, most notably...

(1996), Joanne Jefferson in Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...

(Shaftesbury Theatre
Shaftesbury Theatre
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...

) (1998), and Miss Sherman in Fame
Fame: The Musical
Fame: The Musical is a singing and dance contest in Ireland, produced by Screentime ShinAwiL for RTÉ. The audition and Fame Bootcamp stages were filmed around Ireland and in London....

(1999). She played Rafiki in The Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...

from 2000-2002 at the Lyceum Theatre
Lyceum Theatre
- United Kingdom :* Lyceum Theatre, London, a 2,000-seat West End theatre located in the City of Westminster* Lyceum Theatre , an Edwardian period Grade II listed building and theatre* Lyceum Theatre , a 1068-seat theatre in the City of Sheffield...

 and in 2004 played the character of Matron Mama Morton in Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...

. Clarke originated the role of Killer Queen in the Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....

/Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

 jukebox musical We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You (musical)
We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor...

at the Dominion Theatre
Dominion Theatre
The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre on Tottenham Court Road close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point Tower, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:...

 alongside Alexander Hanson
Alexander Hanson (actor)
Alexander Hanson is a British stage actor who has appeared in numerous plays and musicals in the West End, and recently on Broadway.-Personal life:Hanson is an alumnus of Guildhall School of Music and Drama...

 as Commander Khashoggi. Mazz Murray
Mazz Murray
Mazz Murray is a stage actress who is currently portraying the role of Killer Queen in the West End production of the musical We Will Rock You. She is the longest cast member to be involved in the show, having been in the original ensemble when the musical opened in May 2002. She took over the...

 her understudy, took over the role in 2004 and played the role up until maternity leave in 2010 where Brenda Edwards
Brenda Edwards
Brenda Edwards is a British singer and West End actress. Known for her strong vocals and personality, she rose to fame during her appearance on the second series of The X Factor, where she came fourth.-Early Life:...

 took over the role. In 2008, Clarke made her pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...

 début in the Hackney Empire
Hackney Empire
The Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a music hall.-History:Hackney Empire is a grade II* listed building...

's 'Mother Goose
Mother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...

'. She starred in Once on This Island
Once On This Island
Once on This Island is a one-act musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Based on the novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy, set in the French Antilles in the Caribbean Sea...

in Birmingham at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Birmingham Repertory Theatre is a theatre and theatre company based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England...

. She was also set to star in The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler which ran at the Off Broadway Westside Theatre after a limited run at AFRICA in 1996. Ensler originally starred in the production which was produced by David Stone, Nina Essman, Dan Markley, The Araca Group, Willa Shalit, Mike Skipper...

and Once on This Island at the Hackney Empire
Hackney Empire
The Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a music hall.-History:Hackney Empire is a grade II* listed building...

 in 2009. Sharon finished starring in the massively successful hit musical Hairspray when it closed on 28 March 2010 at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Shaftesbury Theatre
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...

 due to a UK tour. She played the role of Motormouth Maybelle, alongside Phill Jupitus
Phill Jupitus
Phillip Christopher Jupitus is an English stand-up and improvised comedian, actor, performance poet, musician and podcaster....

 and Brian Conley
Brian Conley
Brian Conley is an English comedian, television presenter, singer and actor. At the peak of his television career, he was the highest-paid male television personality in the UK. Outside of television, he is best known for his frequent portrayals of Buttons in pantomime versions of...

 as Edna Turnblad.

Sharon's vocal talents were heard as 'Davina the Diva Harp' in Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...

and as 'Carmina the Camel' in Aladdin
Aladdin (musical)
Aladdin, is a musical/pantomime written by Sandy Wilson for the inaugural Christmas Pantomime at the newly refurbished Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith...

both at the Hackney Empire.

In July 2010, Sharon appeared in a one-off performance at the Hackney Empire called 'Sounds Like Hackney' alongside Clive Rowe
Clive Rowe
Clive Rowe is a British actor, probably best known for his role as "Duke" in BBC Children's drama The Story of Tracy Beaker. Rowe grew up in Shaw, Lancashire, in the parish of East Crompton and attended St. James Primary School...

. The show featured a wide range of songs spanning many genres.

Sharon made an appearance at 'Music on the Farm' held at Battlers Green Farm in aid of charity singing hits from musicals that she has starred in. Her spot included "When You're Good to Mama" from Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...

, "Big Blonde and Beautiful" from Hairspray
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...

, "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...

and "Seasons of Love" from Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...

.

In October 2010, the Apollo Victoria Theatre
Apollo Victoria Theatre
The Apollo Victoria Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Wilton Road near Victoria station in the City of Westminster. Opened as a cinema and variety theatre, the Apollo Victoria became a venue for musical theatre, beginning with The Sound of Music in 1981, and including the long-running...

, home to the musical Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...

celebrated it's 80th anniversary and Sharon lent her vocal talents, appearing as a guest performer alongside other stars such as Wayne Sleep
Wayne Sleep
Wayne Philip Colin Sleep OBE is a British dancer, director, choreographer and panelist. He was a Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet and has appeared as a Guest Artist with several other ballet companies.-Early life:...

.

2011 saw Sharon take the lead role of 'Oda Mae Brown' in a musical adaptation of the film Ghost
Ghost (film)
Ghost is a 1990 romantic drama film starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. It was written by Bruce Joel Rubin and directed by Jerry Zucker.-Plot:...

. Beginning premieres in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 at the Manchester Opera House
Manchester Opera House
The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England is a 1,920 seater commercial touring theatre which plays host to touring musicals, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is the sister to the Palace Theatre which is a similar venue in nearby Oxford Street at its junction with Whitworth...

. The show transferred in June 2011 to the West End at the Piccadilly Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...

 replacing Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...

.

Sharon has also worked as Musical Director on Meridan.

Music career

Sharon D Clarke achieved chart success with the FPI Project's remake of Going Back to My Roots and in Nomad
Nomad (band)
Nomad was a house music duo from England, who had several hits on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart, as well as some similar successes in the UK Singles Chart. Group members were Damon Rochefort , Steve McCutcheon and Sharon D. Clarke.In 1991 they hit #1 on the U.S...

 with the singles (I Wanna Give You) Devotion and Just a Groove, the latter of which sold over two million singles worldwide.

Clarke was also part of the female vocal group Sixchix
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000
For the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest, the UK entered "Don't Play That Song Again", performed by Nicki French. It received 28 points and 16th place in Stockholm.The UK selection heat, A Song for Europe, was held on February 20, 2000 and was hosted by Katy Hill...

, formed for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000
Eurovision Song Contest 2000
The Eurovision Song Contest 2000 was the 45th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 13 May 2000 at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, following Charlotte Nilsson's victory in Jerusalem the previous year. It was the first time since 1996 that the contest was held on mainland Europe. The...

. They came second in the UK selection with the song 'Only the Women Know' written by Katrina and the Waves
Katrina and the Waves
Katrina and the Waves was an English pop rock band, best known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine" and their 1997 Eurovision Song Contest victory with the song "Love Shine a Light".-Pre-history: The Waves and Mama's Cookin' :...

 member Kimberley Rew
Kimberley Rew
Kimberley Rew is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as a member of Katrina and the Waves 1981 to 1999 and of Robyn Hitchcock's Soft Boys 1978 to 1981...

. They were beaten by Nikki French singing 'Don't Play That Song Again' which went on to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 to finish 16th.

She recorded the title song on Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...

's 'Only You Can Save Mankind
Only You Can Save Mankind
Only You Can Save Mankind is the first novel in the Johnny Maxwell trilogy of children's books and fifth young adult novel by Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld sequence of books. The following novels in the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy are Johnny and the Dead and Johnny and the Bomb...

' The Album alongside other West End stars including Kerry Ellis
Kerry Ellis
Kerry Jane Ellis is an English stage actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music...

, Ricardo Afonso and Daniel Boys
Daniel Boys
Daniel Boys is a British musical theatre actor, best known as a contestant on the BBC talent series Any Dream Will Do in 2007.-Acting Career:...

.

External links

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