Social satirist, actress, singer, and dancer - Tracey Ullman was born in London, England on 12/30/59. Her Polish father died when she was six. Her British mother raised Tracey and encouraged her performing talent. Her diverse background includes a scholarship to stage school at age 12 and her stage debut in "Gigi" in Berlin at 16.
Tracey was a member of the popular "Second Generation" dance troupe appearing on numerous TV variety programs. This led to roles in the English musical threatre in "Elvis", "Grease", "The Rocky Horror Show" and a dramatic role in "Talent". Her character of Beverly the bizarre club singer in the improvisational play "Four In A Million" proved to be her breakthrough role. This was followed by her successful, award-winning London Theatre Critics' Award for Most Promising New Actress of 1981 in the BBC Television comedy series "Three Of A Kind."
As a singer, Ms. Ullman had five singles in the top ten of the British pop charts, and her LP, "You Broke My Heart In Seventeen Places," was certified gold. Her single "They Don't Know, reached number eight on the Billboard Charts in the U.S. Movie audiences were first introduced to Ullman in the movie Plenty (1985) with Meryl Streep. Then came the music video of her hit song, "They Don't Know," with Paul McCartney (1984).
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Her comedy/variety show, "The Tracey Ullman Show" first began in the States in 1987. She received the 1989 Emmy Award for outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Program for "The Tracey Ullman Show" and an Emmy in 1990 for Outstanding Performance for her program. She appeared opposite Morgan Freeman on the New York Stage in The New York Shakespeare Festival's production of The Taming Of The Shrew, and recently starred in the one-woman show The Big Love, on Broadway. Tracey starred in I Love You To Death with Kevin Kline in 1980, appeared in Household Saints, I'll Do Anything, Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway, and Pret A Porter. |
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In 1993 Ullman returned to American TV with "Tracey Ullman...A Class Act" and "Tracey Takes On New York." She created, wrote, was executive producer and starred in the specials. Her husband Allan McKeown is her co-producer. The shows have won critical acclaim, CableACE awards and numerous Emmys. The series "Tracey Takes On" was commissioned by HBO and to date 35 episodes have been produced. The series has won four Emmys, including one in 1997 for Outstanding Music, Comedy, and Variety Show, and a CableACE award in 1996 for Best Comedy Variety Series. |
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Tracey resides with her husband and children, Mabel and Johnny in London and Los Angeles. The New Year will see the release of 11 new episodes of "Tracey Takes On" on HBO with the first episode broadcast on January 4th at 10PM EST and every subsequent Sunday @10PM. January also marks the release of The "Tracey Takes On" home video by HBO Home Video and the Tracey Takes On...book (Hyperion). Forever the comic chameleon, Tracey Ullman's personna has taken on various characters that she has created that have something profound to say about the best and worst of the human condition. |
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She has practiced her unique, irreverent brand of comedy for over a decade. Her book touches on opinions and commentaries by her characters and Tracey on subjects such as: mothers, royalty, and childhood. Included in all of her comic creations are their disguises, makeup, wigs, and applications of chins, lips, noses, teeth, mustaches etc. The book also contains paper doll cut-outs of her characters. Tracey now appears at the start and end of each episode of the show, because people were finding it difficult to know it was her under that makeup in all those comic disguises: men, women, children of any and every nationality. |
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