Portrait of Tracey Ullman

Birthday profile

Tracey Ullman

Tracey Ullman, English-American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter

Born
December 30, 1959
Age in 2026
67
Zodiac sign
Capricorn
Birth year
1959

About Tracey Ullman

Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman; 30 December 1959) is a British and American actress, comedian, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, director, and author. Critics have lauded her ability to shift seamlessly between characters 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 branched out 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 that garnered three top-ten singles, she appeared as Candice Valentine in the ITV sitcom Girls on Top alongside Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, and Ruby Wax. Ullman emigrated from the United Kingdom to the United States, where she starred in her own network television comedy series, The Tracey Ullman Show, from 1987 to 1990. The series famously featured the first appearances of the long-running animated media franchise The Simpsons. She later produced programmes for HBO, including Tracey Takes On... (1996–1999), garnering numerous awards and critical acclaim. 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 an Actor Award. She would go on to star in her own network television comedy series, The Tracey Ullman Show, from 1987. Despite being frequently referred to as a comedian, Ullman considers herself a character actress.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

The world when Tracey Ullman was born

Tracey Ullman was born in 1959. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1959

  • #1 song"Mack the Knife" – Bobby Darin
  • Top movieBen-Hur
  • Top TV showGunsmoke
  • Best-selling bookGoldfinger – Ian Fleming

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentIngemar Johansson knocks out Floyd Patterson for heavyweight title
  • Top headlineAlaska and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th US states
  • Technology milestoneMicrochip (integrated circuit) invented
  • Defining fadBarbie dolls
  • Notable inventionBarbie doll
  • World population2.98 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
  • Sports championLos Angeles Dodgers (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population177.1M

1959 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Tracey Ullman's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19592026
Gas$0.31$3.45/gal
Average home$12,400$435,000
Average income$7,000$67,500
Minimum wage$1.00$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.69$11.95
Postage stamp$0.04$0.73
Population177.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, MusicBrainz. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.