Kelli O Hara

Kelli O’Hara was born on April 16, 1976, in Elk City, Oklahoma. She pursued her education at Oklahoma City University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in music in vocal performance/opera. Her early career began with a U.S. national tour of the musical “Jekyll & Hyde” and included roles in the 2001 Broadway revival of “Follies” as Young Hattie Walker and Young Phyllis Rogers Stone. She continued her theatrical work in the 2002 Broadway production of “Sweet Smell of Success” as Susan Hunsecker and later joined the 2004 Broadway production of “Dracula, the Musical” as Lucy Westenra.

O’Hara gained significant recognition for her role as Clara Johnson in the 2005 Broadway production of “The Light in the Piazza” at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre, earning her first Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. This marked a turning point, as she has received a Tony Award nomination for every subsequent role she has played on Broadway. In 2006, she starred as Babe Williams in the revival of “The Pajama Game,” which led to another Tony nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Her career continued with the lead role of Nellie Forbush in the Broadway revival of “South Pacific” from 2008 to 2010, securing her third Tony Award nomination.

Her career expanded into television and film, including roles in “Sex and the City 2” (2010) and the CBS show “Blue Bloods” (2011–2021). She made her operatic debut at The Metropolitan Opera in 2014 in “The Merry Widow.” In 2015, O’Hara won her first Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Anna Leonowens in the Broadway revival of “The King and I.” She has since starred in television series like “Masters of Sex” (2016), “13 Reasons Why” (2018), and “The Gilded Age” (2022–present), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her role in the web drama “The Accidental Wolf” (2017). Her continued work includes productions at the Metropolitan Opera, West End theatre, and Broadway, such as “Kiss Me, Kate” (2019) and “Days of Wine and Roses” (2024), demonstrating her range across various performance mediums.