About Laura Benanti
Laura Ilene Benanti (née Vidnovic; born July 15, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Benanti made her Broadway debut as an ensemble member and later as Maria von Trapp in the 1998 revival of The Sound of Music. Benanti went on to win the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical playing Louise in the revival of Gypsy (2008). She was Tony-nominated for her roles in Swing! (2000), Into the Woods (2002), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010), and She Loves Me (2016). Her other notable Broadway roles include Nine (2003), In the Next Room (2009), Meteor Shower (2017), and My Fair Lady (2018). On television she has had roles as Lauren Bennett on the NBC sitcom Go On (2012–2013), Sadie Stone in the ABC musical drama series Nashville (2014–2015), Alura and Astra in the CBS series Supergirl (2015–2016), Edie Randall in the TBS comedy The Detour (2017–2019), Kiki Hope in the HBO Max revival Gossip Girl (2021–2023), and as Susan Blane in the HBO drama series The Gilded Age (2023). From 2016 to its 2026 end, she had a recurring role as First Lady Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. At 16, Benanti played the title role in her high school production of Hello, Dolly! and won a Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award for Outstanding Actress in a high school production. Michael Buckley of Playbill later wrote that Benanti "was an absolutely wonderful Maria.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.