Lauren Anne D'Ambruoso (born February 20, 1978), known professionally as Lauren Ambrose, is an American actress and singer. She performs in television, film, and on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. Ambrose had television roles as

Claire Fisher The following is a list of descriptions for characters on the HBO television series '' Six Feet Under'', which aired for five seasons, from 2001 through 2005. While the series ends in 2005, the finale (“ Everyone's Waiting”) was met with uni ...

in ''Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005), for which she was nominated for two

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

and won two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and as Jilly Kitzinger in '' Torchwood: Miracle Day'' (2011). Her film credits include ''

Can't Hardly Wait ''Can't Hardly Wait'' is a 1998 American teen romantic comedy film written and directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. It stars an ensemble cast including Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green, and Jenni ...

'' (1998), ''

Psycho Beach Party ''Psycho Beach Party'' is a 2000 comedy horror film based on the off-Broadway play of the same name, directed by Robert Lee King. Charles Busch wrote both the original play and the screenplay. As the title suggests, ''Psycho Beach Party'', set ...

'' (2000), ''

Sleepwalk with Me ''Sleepwalk with Me'' is a 2012 American independent comedy film co-written by, directed by, and starring Mike Birbiglia. It also stars Lauren Ambrose, James Rebhorn, Carol Kane, and Cristin Milioti. Before making the film, Birbiglia had already t ...

'' (2012), and ''

Where the Wild Things Are ''Where the Wild Things Are'' is a 1963 children's picture book written and illustrated by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published in hardcover by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several tim ...

'' (2009). She is the lead singer of the

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

band Lauren Ambrose and the Leisure Class. Ambrose portrayed the lead role of

Eliza Doolittle Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play ''Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''. Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower woman, who comes to Profe ...

in the

Lincoln Center Theater The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), the Beaumont is the only Broad ...

revival of ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...

'' on

, for which she was nominated for the 2018

Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical is awarded to the best actress in a musical, whether a new production or a revival. The award has been given since 1948, but the nominees who did not win have only been publicly ...

and won the 2018

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. In 2019, Ambrose began starring as Dorothy Turner in the

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequent ...

series '' Servant''.

Early life

Lauren Anne D'Ambruoso was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

on February 20, 1978. She is the daughter of Frank D'Ambruoso, a caterer and Anne (née Wachtel), an interior designer. She is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent on her father's side, and German, English, and Irish on her mother's. Ambrose attended

Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall (often known as Choate; ) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Choate is currently ranked as the second best boarding school and third best private high ...

Wilbur Cross High School Wilbur Cross High School is a four-year public high school in the East Rock neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut, United States, serving ninth through twelfth grades. The school is named after Connecticut Governor Wilbur Lucius Cross and is th ...

, High School in the Community, and the

ACES Educational Center for the Arts ACES Educational Center for the Arts (ECA), is an American public arts magnet high school, located at 55 Audubon Street in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The school is primarily located in the former Congregation Mishkan Israel synagog ...

in New Haven as part of the class of 1996. She is also a trained

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

singer who studied voice and opera at the

Boston University Tanglewood Institute The Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) is a summer music training program for students age 10 to 20 in Lenox, Massachusetts, under the auspices of the Boston University College of Fine Arts. History BUTI was envisioned in 1965 when E ...

Career

1992–1997: Career beginnings

Ambrose began her career in New York theater, starring in the

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

play ''Soulful Scream of a Chosen Son'' at the

Vineyard Theatre The Vineyard Theatre is an Off-Broadway non-profit theatre company, located at 108 East 15th Street in Manhattan, New York City, near Union Square. Its first production was in 1981. It is best known for its productions of the Tony award-winning ...

from August to September 1990. Her early career also included television appearances, most notably playing supporting guest roles on ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

'', and a feature guest role on the show in the 1998 episode "Damaged" as Valerie Maxwell, a mentally-challenged young woman raped by a group of popular high school students. Her first film role was '' In & Out'' (1997).

1998–2005: Breakthrough and ''Six Feet Under''

She had a prominent role in the high school comedy ''

'' (1998). She was the ingenue lead, Florence "Chicklet" Forrest, in ''

'' (2000). Ambrose began her role on '' Six Feet Under'' in early 2001. She was nominated for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Emmy Award twice, following the 2002 and 2003 seasons of the critically acclaimed drama.

2006–2017: Broadway debut

In 2006, Ambrose made her

debut in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of ''

Awake and Sing! ''Awake and Sing!'' is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935. Summary and characters The play is set in The Bronx borough of New York City, New York, in 1933. It co ...

'' In 2007, she appeared as Juliet in the

Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

Shakespeare in the Park Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This conc ...

performance of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' at the

Delacorte Theater The Delacorte Theater is a 1,800-seat open-air theater in Central Park, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is home to the Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park productions. Over five million people have attended more than 15 ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

. She appeared as Ophelia in the 2008 performance of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' for Shakespeare in the Park. Ambrose returned to Broadway in ''

Exit the King ''Exit the King'' (french: Le Roi se meurt) is an absurdist drama by Eugène Ionesco that premiered in 1962. It is the third in Ionesco's "Berenger Cycle", preceded by '' The Killer'' (1958) and ''Rhinocéros'' (1959), and followed by ''A Str ...

'' (by

Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...

) at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway, opposite

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy Award, a Primetime Em ...

and

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...

. Ambrose provided the voice of the monster KW in ''

'', which was released in 2009. She also appeared in the 2009 Hallmark film "Loving Leah." In 2011, Ambrose appeared in seven of the ten episodes of '' Torchwood: Miracle Day''. She played Jilly Kitzinger, a "sweet-talking PR genius with a heart of stone who's just cornered the most important client of her career and maybe of all time". For her performance as Kitzinger, Ambrose received a

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actress In Television. Ambrose is the lead singer of Lauren Ambrose and the Leisure Class, a ragtime dixieland jazz band formed in 2009. They have performed several times at

Joe's Pub Joe's Pub, one of the six performance spaces within The Public Theater, is a music venue and restaurant that hosts live performances across genres and arts, ranging from cabaret to modern dance to world music. It is located at 425 Lafayette St ...

and charity events.

2018–present: Broadway return & ''Servant''

Ambrose was set to play

Fanny Brice Fania Borach (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951), known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedienne, illustrated song model, singer, and theater and film actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. S ...

in a 2012 Broadway-bound revival of '' Funny Girl'' directed by

Bartlett Sher Bartlett B. Sher (born March 27, 1959) is an American theatre director. '' The New York Times'' has described him as "one of the most original and exciting directors, not only in the American theater but also in the international world of opera" ...

, but the production was indefinitely postponed due to financial concerns. In March 2018 Ambrose started appearing as

in a new Broadway revival of ''

'' directed by Sher, a performance for which she was nominated for the 2018

and won the 2018

for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. In October 2018, Ambrose left ''My Fair Lady'' to take on the lead role as Dorothy Turner in the thriller series ''Servant'' produced by M. Night Shyamalan and Tony Basgallop for

. The series premiered in November 2019 and she has been starring in it since 2019.

Personal life

Ambrose has been married to professional photographer Sam Handel since September 2001. They have two children.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video game

Stage

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ambrose, Lauren 1978 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New Haven, Connecticut American film actresses American people of English descent American people of German descent American people of Irish descent American people of Italian descent American Shakespearean actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Choate Rosemary Hall alumni Tanglewood Music Center alumni