Sharon Brauner was born on 21 August 1969 in West Berlin to a family of filmmakers: Her parents are producer Wolf Brauner and former costume designer Renee Brauner; her uncle is film producer Artur Brauner (CCC-Film). She had her first small acting appearance - at the age of three - in a CCC production, the Holocaust drama "Sie sind frei, Dr. Korczak" ("The Martyr", DE/IL 1973). At the age of nine Brauner played her first leading role in the children's film "Primel macht ihr Haus verrückt" (1980), alongside Barbara Valentin and Brigitte Mira. She had other early film appearances in the film "Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht" (1981) and in as the lead in the Holocaust drama "Zu Freiwild verdammt" ("After Your Decrees",1984), which was based on her aunt Maria's childhood experiences. But because, according to Sharon Brauner's own statement, her school performance suffered from acting, "further time-outs were not allowed". However she took acting, dance and singing lessons as a pupil, was the singer of the school band and got involved in theatre groups.

After graduating from high school in 1989, Brauner began a musical education at the Ballett Centrum Berlin, but dropped out in 1991 to go to New York. There she took acting lessons at the Strasberg Institute. Back in Berlin, she attended the acting school of Else Bongers (as one of her last students). During these years Brauner took part in cinema and television productions. For example in the music film "Hard Days, Hard Nights" (1990) and in the poet biography "Novalis - Die blaue Blume" (1993). In the family series "Zwei Halbe sind noch lange kein Ganzes" (1993) she was the daughter of Uwe Janson's main character; in eleven episodes of the pre-watershed series "Frauenarzt Dr. Markus Merthin" (1994-95) she impersonated the Turkish cleaning lady of the titular doctor. In 1994 Brauner passed her final exam at the Deutscher Bühnenverein (German Stage Association). 

Brauner received much critical praise for her performance in the multiple award-winning feature film "Verspielte Nächte" ("Nights, Gambled Away", DE/GR 1997) as a cocaine addicted night owl in Berlin. Mostly, however, she appeared in TV productions such as the series "Der Kapitän" (1997-99, as secretary) and "Unser Lehrer Doktor Specht" (1999, also as secretary); she played an important role alongside Daniela Ziegler in the drama "Meine Mutter, meine Rivalin" (2001, directed by Peter F. Bringmann).  

Brauner made her directorial debut with the highly acclaimed short documentary "Leben und leben lassen" (2002), in which she dealt with the city of Berlin, prejudices and anti-semitism.  

After having appeared on stage as a singer since 1993, Sharon Brauner released her first album "Sharon" in 2003. From 2006 to 2008, she was also active in theatre as a member of the Leipzig Pfeffermühle ensemble. Due to these diverse activities, her appearances in front of the camera became rarer. In 2006, she belonged to the ensemble of the award-winning and highly acclaimed Holocaust drama "Der letzte Zug" ("The Last Train", directed by Joseph Vilsmaier and Dana Vávrová), which was produced by her uncle Artur Brauner. Other CCC productions include the TV love comedy "So ein Schlamassel" (2009) and the Holocaust drama "Wunderkinder" (2011, directed by Marcus O. Rosenmüller), in which she played minor supporting roles.  

An important role, the title character at a younger age, Sharon Brauner then played in "Auf das Leben!" ("To Life!", 2014). The film about the friendship between a Jewish woman and former cabaret singer traumatized by the war and an incurably ill young man was produced by Sharon's cousin Alice Brauner and is dedicated to Alice Brauner's mother Maria, who the female main character is based on. With her band, Sharon Brauner also contributed a great deal to the music that is performed in the film.  

Four years later, Brauner starred in "Das letzte Mahl" ("The Last Supper") as a Jewish woman in Berlin in 1933 whose children reacted very differently to Hitler's rise to power. The film premiered at the Jewish Film Festival in Los Angeles and was released in German cinemas in January 2019.  

Sharon Brauner's main field of activity, however, remains music. In 2009, 2013 and 2015 she released further albums; to this day she regularly gives concerts and goes on tour with musical stage programmes.