Jennifer Lewis

In 2017, she published a book about her life and career, entitled The Mother of Black Hollywood in which she shares her life experiences with Whoopi Goldberg, Loretta Devine, Chris Rock, Bette Midler, Rosie O'Donnell, Liza Minnelli, Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin.

Lewis was born in Kinloch, Missouri, to a nurse's aide mother, Dorothy, and a factory worker father. Lewis is the youngest of seven children. She sang in her church choir at the age of five. She attended Kinloch High School and then college at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri. She would later receive an honorary degree from Webster in 2015. After college, she moved to New York to focus on her career in performing.

In 2014, Lewis was cast as Ruby Johnson, Anthony Anderson's character's mother in the ABC comedy series, Black-ish. She was upped to regular as of second season. In 2016, she received Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series nomination for her performance. She has also been featured on various TV advertising commercials.

Lewis has been married to Arnold Byrd since 2012. She has an adopted daughter named Charmaine Lewis.

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." In 2012 Lewis began working with Shangela on the online reality show parody, "Jenifer Lewis and Shangela," where she acts as herself alongside Shangela, a "drag queen living in her basement." She later appeared in Shangela's music video for "Werqin Girl (Professional)."

As such, Lewis earned the title "Black Mother of Hollywood". She also provided the voice for Mama Odie in Disney's animated feature The Princess and the Frog (2009), and Flo in Pixar's Cars series. Additional film roles include Dead Presidents (1995), Cast Away (2000), and Hereafter (2010).

On April 22, 2008, Lewis replaced Darlene Love as Motormouth Maybelle in Broadway's Hairspray. On television, she guest starred on That's So Raven and Boston Legal. Lewis also had number of voice over roles, include Walt Disney's animated musical The Princess and the Frog (2009), for which she received Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production nomination.

On television, Lewis starred as Lana Hawkins in the Lifetime medical drama Strong Medicine from 2000 to 2006. She also had recurring roles on sitcoms A Different World, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Girlfriends. In 2014, Lewis began starring as Ruby Johnson in the ABC comedy series Black-ish, for which she received two Critics' Choice Television Award nominations. She is known unofficially as "The Mother of Black Hollywood" (also the name of her memoir) given her frequent matriarchal film and television roles.

In 1996, Lewis appeared as Theresa Randle's telephone sex line boss in the film Girl 6. Later that year she played Whitney Houston's character's mother in the film The Preacher's Wife. She received another NAACP Image Award nomination for her role in The Preacher's Wife. She also has had roles in The Mighty (1998), The Temptations TV miniseries (1998), Mystery Men (1999) and Blast from the Past (1999), before obtaining the leading role in the film Jackie's Back.

After Lewis relocated to Los Angeles, she began appearing in television sitcoms, including Murphy Brown, Dream On, In Living Color, Roc, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and Friends. From 1992 to 1993 she played Dean Davenport in the sixth and final season of the NBC sitcom A Different World. She also had a recurring role as Will Smith's Aunt Helen in the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1991 to 1996. As regular, Lewis starred alongside Patricia Wettig in her short-lived legal drama Courthouse in 1995, playing Judge Rosetta Reide, the first main African American lesbian character on television.

In 1990, Lewis was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She originally hid her diagnosis, as she felt ashamed, but eventually came to embrace it after 17 years of therapy and 10 years of medication. She now embraces her diagnosis, saying that "You have to look in the mirror... and say—before you can go or grow into anything—you have to say you love yourself," she says.

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 acquired her first screen role as a result, appearing as a singer in the Otto Titsling production number in the Bette 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.

Soon after she arrived in New York City, Lewis debuted on Broadway in a small role in Eubie (1979), the musical based on the work of Eubie Blake. She next landed the role of Effie White in the workshop of the Michael Bennett-directed musical Dreamgirls, but when the show moved to Broadway, Bennett chose Jennifer Holliday for the role.

Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American actress, comedian and activist. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in films Beaches (1988) and Sister Act (1992). Lewis is known for playing roles of mothers in the films What's Love Got to Do With It (1993), Poetic Justice (1993), The Preacher's Wife (1996), The Brothers (2001), The Cookout (2004), Think Like a Man and in the sequel Think Like a Man Too (2014), Baggage Claim (2013), and The Wedding Ringer (2015), as well as in The Temptations TV miniseries (1998).