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Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman; 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, and director. Despite being frequently referred to as a comedian, Ullman considers herself a character actress. Critics have lauded her ability to shift seamlessly in and out of character and accents, with many dubbing her the "female Peter Sellers". Ullman began her career as a dramatic actress on stage, as well as in the British soap opera Mackenzie, playing Lisa Mackenzie. After an award-winning performance in the improvised play Four in a Million at the Royal Court Theatre, she expanded into comedy. She starred in the British television sketch comedies A Kick Up the Eighties (with Rik Mayall and Miriam Margolyes) and Three of a Kind (with Lenny Henry and David Copperfield), the latter winning her a BAFTA in 1984. After a brief singing career (which garnered three top-ten singles), she appeared as Candice Valentine in Girls on Top with Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.
Ullman emigrated from the United Kingdom to the United States. She would go on to star in her own network television comedy series, The Tracey Ullman Show, from 1987 to 1990, which also featured the first appearances of the long-running animated media franchise The Simpsons. She later produced programmes for HBO, including Tracey Takes On... (1996–99) garnering numerous awards. She has appeared in several feature films, including Plenty (1985) which earned her a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination.
In 2016, she returned to British television with the BBC sketch comedy show Tracey Ullman's Show, her first project for the broadcaster in over 30 years. This led to the creation of the topical comedy series Tracey Breaks the News in 2017.
In 2017, Ullman was reportedly Britain's richest comedian and the second-richest British actress, with an estimated wealth of £80 million. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including twelve American Comedy Awards, seven Primetime Emmy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, four Satellite Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
When she was aged six, Ullman's father, who had been recovering from a heart operation, died of a heart attack in front of her. She was subsequently uprooted to Hackbridge, southwest London. Her mother struggled to make ends meet without their father's income. In an effort to cheer her family up, Ullman, along with her sister Patti, created and performed nightly shows on their mother's bedroom windowsill. After their mother remarried, the family began moving around the country, with Ullman attending numerous state schools, where she wrote and performed in school plays.
She eventually caught the attention of a headmaster who recommended that she attend a performing arts school. She won a full scholarship to the Italia Conti Academy at the age of twelve. At sixteen, she attended a dance audition under the impression that she was applying for summer season in Scarborough. The audition resulted in a contract with a German ballet company for a revival of Gigi in Berlin. Upon returning to England, she joined the Second Generation dance troupe, performing in London, Blackpool, and Liverpool. Tracking Tracey. Retrieved 1 April 2007. She branched out into musical theatre and was cast in numerous West End musicals including Grease, Elvis The Musical, and The Rocky Horror Show. History Of The RHPS. Retrieved 1 April 2007.
Ullman appeared in Les Blair's avant-garde Four in a Million, an improvised play about club acts, at London's Royal Court Theatre. She won the London Critics Circle Theatre Award as Most Promising New Actress for her performance. The BPI Awards 1984 . Retrieved 1 April 2007.
In 1981, she was cast in the BBC Scotland sketch comedy programme A Kick Up the Eighties, which in turn led to her being offered the sketch show Three of a Kind, co-starring comedians Lenny Henry and David Copperfield. Ullman said, "My first reaction was you must be joking, as women are treated so shoddily in comedy. Big busty barmaids and all those sort of clichés just bore me rigid." Eventually a deal was struck with a proviso that she would have script approval and could choose her own costumes. Three of a Kind premiered in July 1981, running for three series until 1983. Throughout the series, Ullman would also sing, performing comical spoofs of well-known artists of the era such as Toyah Willcox, Bananarama, Jennifer Warnes, and Dollar. Three of a Kind led to a brief but successful singing career in 1983, as well as her winning her first BAFTA (for "Best Light Entertainment Performance") in 1984. By this time, she had become a household name with the British media referring to her as "Our Trace".
In 1985, she signed on to star in the ITV sitcom Girls on Top. She was cast as the promiscuous golddigger Candice Valentine. The show, co-starring Dawn French, Ruby Wax, and Jennifer Saunders, continued for a second series without Ullman who bowed out after the first.
Ullman returned to HBO in 2003 with the television special Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales, which she also directed. She returned to HBO again in 2005 with her one-woman stage show . "Tracey Ullman: Live and Exposed". HBO.com. Retrieved 14 March 2007.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Q&A: Tracey Ullman. Wall Street Journal. 21 March 2008 Comic Turns Celebs Into Recurring Characters. Variety. Cynthia Littleton. 7 March 2008. It ran for three seasons, concluding in 2010.
In March 2014, Ullman was introduced as Genevieve Scherbatsky, the mother of character Robin Scherbatsky in How I Met Your Mother. 'How I Met Your Mother' recap: Mom's the word' . Retrieved 21 March 2014. On 15 February 2017, it was announced that she would star in the Starz-BBC co-produced limited series adaptation of Howards End, playing Aunt Juley Mund.
On 14 May 2019, it was announced that Ullman would be portraying Betty Friedan in the FX limited series Mrs. America. The nine-episode series premiered 15 April 2020 on Hulu to favourable reviews. Her performance garnered her an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Primetime Emmy nomination.
Ullman played councilwoman Irma Kostroski in the eleventh and twelfth seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Within 18 months, Ullman had scored five Top 30 hits on the UK Singles Chart. Her first two singles ("Breakaway" and "They Don't Know") were certified Silver by the BPI, as was her debut album. Ullman's songs were over-the-top evocations of 1960s and 1970s pop music with a 1980s edge, "somewhere between Minnie Mouse and the Supremes" as Melody Maker put it.
Her 1983 debut album You Broke My Heart in 17 Places was a Top 20 hit in the UK, and featured three UK Top 10 hit singles. Her first hit single, "Breakaway", reached #4 in the UK. This was followed by the international hit version of Kirsty MacColl's "They Don't Know", which reached #2 in the UK, and #8 in the United States. The video for "They Don't Know" featured a cameo appearance from Paul McCartney (at the time, Ullman was filming a minor role in McCartney's film Give My Regards to Broad Street). Tracey. traceytakeson.com A third single from the album, a recording of Doris Day's "Move Over Darling", reached #8 in the UK.
Ullman released her second and final studio album You Caught Me Out in 1984. This included her version of Madness's "My Girl", which she changed to "My Guy", which reached #23. Its accompanying video featured a cameo from the British Labour Party politician Neil Kinnock, at the time the Leader of the Opposition. A Decade Of Revolution The Thatcher Years . Retrieved 2 April 2007. Her final Top 30 hit, "Sunglasses" (1984), peaked at #18 in the UK and featured comedian Adrian Edmondson in its music video. During this time she also appeared as a guest VJ on MTV in the United States.[14] . Promo Poster of Tracey Ullman MTV Guest VJ.
Her voice work in film includes Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and the animated films The Tale of Despereaux and Onward.
In 1990, she starred opposite actor Morgan Freeman as Kate in Shakespeare in the Park's production of Taming of the Shrew set in the Wild West for Joe Papp. In 1991, she performed on Broadway theatre in Jay Presson Allen's one-woman show The Big Love, based on the book of the same name. Both Taming of the Shrew and The Big Love garnered her Theatre World Awards.
In 2011, she returned to the British stage in the Stephen Poliakoff drama My City. Her performance earned her an Evening Standard Theatre Awards nomination for Best Actress. In 2012, she joined the cast of Eric Idle's What About Dick?, described as a 1940s-style stand-up improv musical comedy radio play, taking on three roles. The show played for four nights in April in Los Angeles at the Orpheum Theater. She had performed the piece previously in a test run for Idle back in 2007. Cast members included Idle, Eddie Izzard, Billy Connolly, Russell Brand, Tim Curry, Jane Leeves, Jim Piddock, and Sophie Winkleman. On 6 October 2014, it was formally announced that she would star in a limited engagement of The Band Wagon.
Ullman's mother died in a fire at her flat on 23 March 2015. An inquest ruled the death to be accidental. She was 85 years old.
In September 2018, Ullman said that her daughter was pregnant and that she was about to become a grandmother.
Ullman acquired American citizenship in December 2006. She holds dual citizenship in the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2006, she topped the list for the "Wealthiest British Comedians", with an estimated wealth of £75 million. In 2017, The Sunday Times estimated her wealth to be £80 million.
An avid knitting, she co-wrote a knitting book, Knit 2 Together: Patterns and Stories for Serious Knitting Fun, in 2006.
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