Coordinates | 51°0′17″N18°37′9″N |
---|---|
name | Jenifer Lewis |
birthname | Jenifer Jeanette Lewis |
birth date | January 25, 1957 |
birth place | Kinloch, Missouri, US |
yearsactive | 1979–present |
occupation | Actress |
spouse | }} |
Lewis accepted a position as a Harlette, a back-up singer for Bette Midler which led to Lewis' first TV appearances on Midler's HBO specials. She also landed her first screen role as a result, appearing as one of the buxom chorines in the 'Otto Titsling' production number in the Midler vehicle Beaches (1988). At the same time, Lewis was developing her nightclub act, The Diva Is Dismissed, an autobiographical comedy and music show in New York City cabarets. She performed the show off-Broadway at the Public Theater.
Although she auditioned for role of Tina Turner in the biopic What's Love Got to Do with It? she landed the role of Turner’s mother. In 1994 she followed with other supporting roles, including Mrs. Coleman the Unemployment Office lady in Renaissance Man and as Whoopi Goldberg's sister in Corrina, Corrina. In 1995, she was cast in maternal roles to Kadeem Hardison in Panther and to Larenz Tate in Dead Presidents before she accepted the role of a lesbian judge on the short-lived CBS series Courthouse. Lewis returned to the big screen as Theresa Randle's telephone sex line boss in Spike Lee's Girl 6 . She then played Whitney Houston's character's mother in Penny Marshall's The Preacher's Wife.
In 1999, she starred in the made-for-TV film Jackie's Back, a mockumentary about the struggling comeback of a diva in turmoil. She recently appeared in The Cookout, Nora's Hair Salon, Shark Tale and Cars. She was in a few episodes of Friends as Monica Gellar's co-worker. Since 2000, she has played Lana Hawkins on the Lifetime television medical drama Strong Medicine, the show ended February 2006. She also had a recurring role as Veretta Childs (Toni's mother) in the sitcom Girlfriends. In 2006, she had a featured role as the wedding planner in Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, and also appeared in the movie Meet the Browns.
In one episode of That's So Raven she played the titular character's maternal grandmother, who has psychic powers. She recently starred as a judge in Boston Legal and appeared in the 2008 film Meet The Browns. On April 22, 2008, Lewis replaced Darlene Love as Motormouth Maybelle in Broadway's Hairspray, a role that was originally written for her.
In June 2010, Lewis' distinctive voice was in fine form as she told The Jazz Joy and Roy syndicated radio show, "I just did a production of 'Hello Dolly' at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle and it had to be one of the greatest productions that I have ever done, because I got to just do a character, Dolly Levi, and it was just great."
Lewis' most recent singing role came with her role in the movie musical The Princess and the Frog.
Category:1957 births Category:Actors from Missouri Category:African American actors Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Living people Category:People from St. Louis County, Missouri
de:Jenifer Lewis it:Jenifer Lewis nl:Jenifer LewisThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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