Tony Sheldon

Tony Sheldon (born c. 1954/1955) is an Australian actor and singer, best known for his work in theatre, especially his role as Bernadette in Priscilla Queen of the Desert. He is also a writer.

Sheldon comes from one of Australia's leading theatrical families: his mother is Toni Lamond, his father and Frank Sheldon,[better source needed ] his aunt Helen Reddy, and his grandmother Stella Lamond.[citation needed ]

In 1993, Sheldon starred as the Baker in the Australian premiere of Into the Woods. One year later he starred as Mendel in Falsettos in its Australia premiere.

Sheldon won the 2005 Helpmann Award, the Sydney Critics Award, the Mo Award and a Glugs Award for his performance as Roger de Bris in The Producers in 2005. He was also nominated for a Helpmann and a Green Room Award for his work in The Witches of Eastwick in 2003. He wrote and directed The Times of My Life at the Ensemble Theatre (2006) and the Adelaide Cabaret Festival for his mother, Toni Lamond.

Sheldon played more than 1,700 performances as Bernadette in Priscilla Queen of the Desert in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, West End (2009) and Toronto prior to the Broadway premiere in March 2011. He won the Green Room Award, Best Male Artist in a Leading Role,[10] and was nominated for an Olivier Award (2010, London).[11] He was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Priscilla on Broadway.[12] In 2014, he portrayed Merlyn and Pellinore in a concert staging of Camelot at the Kennedy Center. As part of the tenth anniversary tour in Australia presented by Michael Cassel Group, Tony performed his 1800th performance as Bernadette in Melbourne on 7 March 2018 and hit the milestone of 1900 performances in the role on Wednesday 20 June at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. He played Dufayel in the musical adaption of Amélie. Starting in 2019 he played Grandpa Joe in the Australian production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Sheldon and his long-term partner, actor and playwright Tony Taylor, had been together for 38 years in 2018.