Cast of TV Series 'Girls5eva,' Famous for the Musical Broadway 'Hamilton'

Renee Elise Goldsberry | Biography 2021

She received 'Tony Award,' 'Grammy Award,' three more awards for her work in 'Hamilton'

• By Ashna Tamrakar
• Update : July 29, 2021

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Renee Elise Goldsberry is an actress best known for her roles in the Broadway musical 'Hamilton.' She is currently seen in the television series 'Girls5eva.'

Who Is Renee Elise Goldsberry?

Renée Elise Goldsberry is an American actress, singer, and composer best recognized for portraying Angelica Schuyler in the Broadway musical Hamilton. For the same reason, she earned the 'Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical,' in 2016. A theater graduate, Goldsberry has featured in notable musical plays like The Color Purple, Rent, and Disney's The Lion King. 

She made her television debut in 1997 with the television show Ally McBeal. Since then, she has appeared in television series like The Good Wife, Ally, One Life to Live, The Return of Jezebel James, and many more. As of 2021, the actress has been recently featured in the Peacock musical comedy TV series Girls5eva.

Goldsberry has also played notable roles in movies like All About You, Pistol Whipped, Every Secret Thing, and Sisters.

Early Life and Education 

Renee Elise Goldsberry was born on 2 January 1971 in Santa Clara County in California and raised in Houston in Texas and Detroit in Michigan. Her mother was an industrial psychologist, and her father worked as an automobile industry executive in Michigan. She has three brothers, one elder and two younger ones.

Goldsberry was exposed to theater at the young age of eight when she attended a summer camp. Her younger brother was pretty shy, and to make him overcome it, their mother put them both in Carolyn Franklin's HITS Theater camp in Houston. 

It was at Houston International Theater School she discovered her genuine passion for acting. She also gave her first on-stage play, Guys and Dolls, while she was studying there. Goldsberry attended Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. 

After graduating high school, she enrolled in Carnegie Mellon University and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater in 1993. While in college, she also joined Delta Sigma Theta Sorority through the Theta Beta chapter. For further studies, she attended the University of Southern California's Thornton Study of Musi and earned a Master of Music degree in jazz studies in 1997.

Broadway Career

Goldsberry's amazing performance secured her the part of Nala in the trademark Disney shows The Lion King in 1997, which served as a big professional stepping stone. She went on to play Nettie Harris in The Color Purple, a Broadway musical based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker.

She also featured in many other notable productions like Rent (2008), Good People (2011), and Hamilton (2015–2016). Goldsberry played Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton for the last time on 3 September 2016. 

In 2015, for Hamilton, Goldsberry won the 'Drama Desk Award,' and 'Lucille Lortel Award,' for the category, 'Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.' In 2016, for the same work in Hamilton, Goldsberry won the 'Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical,' 'Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album,' and 'Broadway.com Audience Awards for Favorite Featured Actress in a Musical.'

Television Career 

The actress started her television career in 1997 with a regular role in the courtroom comedy-drama Ally McBeal. She reprised the role in a three-episode special appearance in the spin-off series Ally. Her performance was well-received by the audience, and she quickly became well known in the entertainment industry. 

However, her career took off after her portrayal of Evangeline Williamson in the hit series One Life to Live. She also earned a 'Soap Opera Digest Award' in 2005 for the role. Goldsberry played a recurring role as assistant state attorney Geneva Pine on the CBS political drama, The Good Wife. 

She also featured in other television shows like Royal Pains, Evil, Star Trek: Enterprise, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Masters of Sex, Younger, and That '80s. 

In 2017, Goldsberry portrayed Henrietta Lacks in the HBO television film version of Rebecca Skloot's nonfiction classic The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. In 2018, the actress played Quellcrist Falconer in the Netflix science fiction series Altered Carbon, and her character also returned in the second season. 

'Girls5eva'

As of 2021, Goldsberry is starring in the musical comedy TV series Girls5eva. She portrays Wickie Roy, a part of the one-hit-wonder female band Girls5eva from the 1990s. It follows about their reunion and efforts to rekindle their name and fame after almost three decades. The series aired on 6 May 2021 exclusively in Peacock. 

Besides Goldsberry, the series stars talented actresses like Sara Bareilles, Paula Pell, and Busy Philipps in the lead role. After the success of the eight-episode debut season, the show has been renewed for a second season in June 2021. The hilarious comedy show is created and produced by Meredith Scardino.

Movie Career

In 2001, Goldsberry portrayed the protagonist Nicole Taylor in the romantic comedy All About You, for which she received wide critical acclaim. She also had brief supporting appearances as Cynthia Barnes in the crime drama Every Secret Thing in 2014 and Kim in the comedy Sisters in 2015, and Drea Smalls in the 2008 action picture Pistol Whipped the same 

year. 

Recently, she starred in movies like The House with a Clock in 2018 and Waves in 2019.

Music Career

Besides being an actress, Goldsberry is a well-known songwriter and vocalist. She has contributed to many of her films' soundtracks, including the title song in the 2001 film All About You. In 1997, she also won the John Lennon Songwriting Competition. 

In 2001, Goldsberry released an album, Everything But the Kitchen Sink, and an EP, Beautiful in 2006. She also appeared at the 'BET Hip Hop Awards' in October 2015, where she was one of two women that rapped in the Cypher.

Who Is Renee Elise Goldsberry Married to? 

In 2002, Goldsberry exchanged wedding vows with Alexis Johnson, a New York attorney. They welcomed their son, Benjamin Johnson, on May 2009 and adopted a baby girl named Brielle from Africa in 2014.