Audra McDonald
Audra McDonald – “Beauty And The Beast” Los Angeles Premiere, 2017 – Photo Credit: Izumi Hasegawa / PRPhotos.com
Birth Name: Audra Ann McDonald
Place of Birth: West Berlin, Germany (now Germany)
Date of Birth: July 3, 1970
Ethnicity: African-American
Audra McDonald is an American actress and singer. She has won the Tony Award six times, more than anyone else for acting Tonys.
Audra was born in West Berlin, Germany, to American parents, Anna Kathryn (Jones), a university administrator, and Stanley James McDonald, Jr., a high school principal. Her sister, Alison McDonald, writes and directs for television and film. She was raised in Fresno, California. Audra is married to actor Will Swenson. She has a daughter with her former husband, bassist Peter Donovan; and a daughter with Will.
Audra’s paternal grandfather was Stanley James McDonald (the son of Jessie McDonald and Ruth Lindsay/Lindsey). Stanley was born in Mississippi, and moved with his family to Fresno. Jessie was the son of Nellie Flowers.
Audra’s paternal grandmother was named Evelyn Louise Mack/Smith.
Audra’s maternal grandfather was Thomas Hardy E. Jones (the son of Clarence Washington Jones and Anna Mae Hardy). Thomas was born in Virginia, and was a prominent academic. Clarence was the son of Lemuel Jones and Martha F. Kemp, who were born in Washington, D.C. Anna was the daughter of Floyd A. Hardy and Cora Virginia “Carrie” Haywood. Carrie’s parents, Crosky Haywood, born in Florida, and Amanda Kellogg, born in Georgia, were born into slavery.
Audra’s maternal grandmother was Jamesetta Blanche Liddell (the daughter of William Langdon “Willie” Liddell and Kathryn L. Dixon). Jamesetta was born in Mississippi.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2021) stated that Audra’s genetic ancestry is:
*72% African
*28% European
Genetically, she was found to have a common ancestor with rapper and actor Sean Combs.
Sources: Genealogy of Audra McDonald – https://www.geni.com
Audra’s paternal grandfather, Stanley J. McDonald, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Audra’s maternal grandfather was Thomas Hardy Jones (the son of Clarence W. Jones and Anna M. Hardy). Thomas was born in Virginia.
Audra’s maternal grandmother was Jamesetta Blanche Liddell (the daughter of William L Liddell and Kathryn L. Dixon). Jamesetta was born in Mississippi.