Rachel York (born Rachel Lemanski August 7, 1971 in Orlando, Florida) is an American actress and singer. She is known for roles in City of Angels, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Les Misérables, Victor/Victoria, Kiss Me, Kate, Sly Fox, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Anything Goes. She also has many film and television credits, including her portrayal of Lucille Ball in the CBS biopic Lucy.

Biography

The youngest of four children, York's love for music and acting began at an early age. Influenced by her mother's love for the arts, she made her professional debut in a local production of Kiss Me, Kate in the chorus. That same year, she earned a scholarship to the American Center for Music Theatre at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. She moved to Los Angeles and began studying with acting coach Aaron Speiser, who then encouraged her to move to New York City.

At age 19 she moved to New York City and approached agent Bill Timms. She performed monologues from Nuts and Sophie's Choice and gave him a demo tape with songs from Evita. Timms signed her immediately and described her as being able to "... do anything."

York made her Broadway debut as Mallory in the musical City of Angels, and her performance won critical acclaim. After City of Angels, she has been in many performances on stage, including Fantine in Les Misérables, Irene St. Claire in Crucifer of Blood, The Younger Woman in Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together (with Julie Andrews), Norma Cassidy in Victor/Victoria (for which she won a Drama Desk Award), Marguerite in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Lili Vanessi/Katharine in Kiss Me, Kate, Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, Dorothy in Summer of '42, Miss Fancy in Sly Fox, Ruth Sutton in Dessa Rose, Mother in Ragtime, Christine Colgate in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and most recently in The Sound of Music as Elsa Shraeder at the Hollywood Bowl. York is one of the few actresses who have received rave reviews from notoriously picky New York critic John Simon.

Her film credits include One Fine Day, Billy Bathgate, Dead Center, Second Honeymoon, Terror Tract, Au Pair II, and the TV movie Lucy in which she played Lucille Ball. Her performance in the London production of Kiss Me, Kate is available on DVD/video.

She also has many credits in television, including appearances on Reba, Frasier, Arli$$, Spin City, The Naked Truth, Diagnosis: Murder, and also provides the voices of Bitty on Higglytown Heroes and Circe on Justice League Unlimited. In 2008, she also guest starred on an episode of Hannah Montana, playing Isis on the episode Yet Another Side of Me.

York released her debut album Let's Fall In Love in early 2005, produced by Tor Hyams under the HyLo Entertainment label and was exclusively distributed by Barnes and Noble. She can also be heard on the Cast Recordings of City of Angels, Victor/Victoria, The Scarlet Pimpernel: Encore!, Dessa Rose, Putting It Together, Summer of '42, the soundtrack of Billy Bathgate, and recordings of Opal and Celebration of Life.

She appeared as Guenevere in the National Tour of Camelot in the 2006-2007 season, for which she earned the Golden Icon Award from Travolta Family Entertainment for Best Actress in a Touring Production. In 2009, she played Dolly Levi in the Reagle Music Theatre production of Hello, Dolly! in Waltham, Massachusetts and won an IRNE Award for her performance.

In 2010, York returned to the Reagle Music Theatre in its production of Into the Woods where she played the Witch and won another IRNE Award for the role. That same year she played The Lady of the Lake in the Ogunquit Playhouse production of Spamalot.

On July 10, 2010 she married her boyfriend of six years, Ayal Miodovnik. The two have a daughter together.

In 2011, she starred as Billie Burke in the musical Ghostlight Off-Broadway at the Signature Theatre. She then played Anna in the 2011 Walnut Street Theatre production of The King and I.

York played the role of Reno Sweeney in the national tour of the 2011 Roundabout Theatre Broadway revival of Anything Goes, which began October 2, 2012. For this role, she won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Visiting Production. In February 2014, she played Young Belle in the Encores! concert of Little Me.


In May 2015, it was announced that York would appear in the musical "Grey Gardens" taking the role of Little Edie Bouvier Beale at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY.