Thea Vidale

She has continued to do standup throughout her career. She went on a national comedy tour called Thea Vidale, Down & Dirty in 1999. In 2007 she tried out for the reality television show Last Comic Standing, making it to the second round. In 2009, Vidale was part of the "Hot Tamales Live! presented by Kiki Melendez" comedy tour, which was filmed for Showtime. On December 12, 2012, she appeared on Standup in Stilettos, a standup comedy show on the TV Guide Network.

Vidale has spoken often about her troubled marriage where she suffered physical abuse from her husband. She had four children from that marriage and later left the kids with her ex-husband when she began touring around the country. She has spoken frequently about her faith in God. On October 21, 2010, Vidale was a guest on The Howard Stern Show, where she announced she had decided to have gastric bypass surgery because she had developed complications resulting from type 2 diabetes. She stated, "I have four children. This is not about vanity...I want it to be like a rebirth. A new me. A healthier me."

She later made numerous guest appearances on sitcoms, including Ellen, The Wayans Bros., The Drew Carey Show, and My Wife and Kids. In 2007 Thea Vidale made a guest appearance on the television series Ugly Betty playing a hairdresser in the episode "Queens for a Day". That same year, she played the part of Helen's grandmother on the Drake & Josh episode "Really Big Shrimp".

Vidale made her début on World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in January 2006. She appeared as the mother to wrestler Shelton Benjamin, who had been going through difficulties in the preceding weeks. Her first appearance was on the January 2 episode of Raw, where she surprised Benjamin by showing up and yelled at him that he wasn't acting the way Benjamins act. Over the next several weeks, "Momma Benjamin", as she came to be known, was involved in several backstage skits resulting in her challenging wrestlers to matches in Shelton's behalf. Unlike in his streak before her arrival, however, Shelton won the majority of these matches.

Vidale served as co-host for both the 2005 and 2009 AVN Awards.

In 1999, Vidale appeared at the Philadelphia GLBT Pride Fest, her first GLBT event, with comic Etta May. Both were honored by the city's mayor, who officially named the day simultaneously "Thea Vidale Day" & "Etta May Day".

She has also had roles in movies such as 1995's Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, Jerry Springer's Ringmaster in 1998, and the 2006 Master P comedy Repos.

She may be best known for her portrayal of "Thea" on the short-lived 1993 sitcom Thea. The show was cancelled after one season in which it was noted to be "ranked near 50 out of approximately 75 shows in the weekly Nielsen ratings" Nevertheless, she was nominated for a People's Choice Award as Favorite Female in a New Series.

She provided the voice of Mammy Two Shoes in re-dubbed versions of 19 Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1989 to 2001.

She began her career in 1986 doing amateur stand-up comedy nights in Houston before quickly progressing to comedy clubs in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles. She appeared in the cable comedy special "Rodney Dangerfield: Opening Night at Rodney's Place" on HBO in 1989. On the same special were such notables as Tim Allen, Jeff Foxworthy, and Sam Kinison.

Thea Vidale (born November 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian and actress.