Tony Sheldon (born c. 1954/1955)[1] is an Australian actor and singer, best known for his work in theatre, especially his role as Bernadette in the original Australian stage production of the musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. He is also a writer.
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.[3][4]
Sheldon played more than 1,700 performances as Bernadette in Priscilla Queen of the Desert in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, West End (2009)[7] and Toronto prior to the Broadway premiere in March 2011.[8][9] 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.
Personal life
Sheldon and his long-term partner, actor and playwright Tony Taylor, had been together for 38 years in 2018.[1]
Awards and nominations
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 2011 Glug Awards – Colleen Clifford Memorial Award Outstanding Performance in a Musical or Special Comedy Satire, co-winner, for [13]