Queen Latifah is a Grammy award-winning musician, critically acclaimed television and Oscar-nominated film actress, producer, label president, author and entrepreneur. Latifah has had amazing success since her career began in Hollywood and became the first hip-hop artist to be crowned with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006. She received rave reviews, an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award nomination for her portrayal of “Mama Morton” in the feature musical “Chicago.” She also received an Emmy Award nomination, a Golden Globe win and a SAG Award win for her role in the cable film “Life Support.”
Making her big screen debut in Spike Lee’s 1991 film, “Jungle Fever,” Latifah then starred in “Set it Off” and co-starred with Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito in the critically acclaimed “Living Out Loud.” From 1993-1998, Latifah starred in the network comedy “Living Single.” Following “Chicago,” she starred in and executive-produced the box office hit “Bringing Down the House.” Her additional film credits include “The Secret Life of Bees,” alongside Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Dakota Fanning; Neil Meron and Craig Zadan’s “Hairspray”; “Mad Money,” opposite Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes; “Just Wright”; “Joyful Noise”; “The Last Holiday”; and “Beauty Shop.” She also starred in and executive-produced the cable movie “Life Support” and the cable movie adaptation of “Steel Magnolias.” From 2013-2014, she was the host of “The Queen Latifah Show,” which she produced with partner Shakim Compere and Overbrook Entertainment’s Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and James Lassiter.
In May 2015, Latifah made her way back to the small screen, earning an Emmy Award nomination, Golden Globe nomination and a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for her role in the cable film “Bessie,” which she also produced.
In 2017, Latifah starred in the hit comedy “Girls Trip,” alongside Jada Pinkett Smith, Regina Hall and Tiffany Haddish. She also starred in the 2016 faith-based movie “Miracles from Heaven,” opposite Jennifer Garner, and returned as the voice of wooly mammoth “Ellie” in “Ice Age: Collision Course.” Additionally, she took to the stage and small screen performing as the title character in the television musical “The Wiz Live!,” alongside Uzo Aduba, Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo, Common and David Alan Grier. Latifah can also be seen in the FOX hit series STAR, which had its series finale May 2019.
Latifah has not only just been recognized for acting: She has earned six Grammy Award nominations, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap Performance in 1994. In 2004, she was nominated for Best Female Rap Solo Performance for “Go Head.” In 2005, she was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album for “The Dana Owens Album,” and in 2008, she was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for “Trav’lin Light.”
Flavor Unit Entertainment, the production company owned and operated by Latifah and Compere, was behind the hit feature comedies “Bringing Down the House,” “Beauty Shop” and “The Perfect Holiday.” Flavor Unit also produced the films “The Cookout” and “Just Wright,” as well as cable films “Bessie” and “Life Support.” Together, Latifah and Compere produced “The Real MVP: The Wanda Pratt Story,” “The Best Place to Be,” “Curvy Style with Timothy Snell,” “The Perfect Match” and “The Rap Game.” Additionally, Flavor Unit produced the one-hour special event “Dear Mama,” which premiered on Mother’s Day, and has been renewed as an annual special.
In November of 2019, Latifah was seen as Ursula in ABC’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. In April 2020, she starred in the Quibi drama, When the Street Lights Go On, and executive produced Lifetime’s The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, which became the highest-rated original movie for Lifetime since 2016. Most recently, she headlined the Netflix sports drama “Hustle” opposite Adam Sandler along with starring and producing Ray Giarratana’s “The Tiger Rising.”
Latifah currently stars and is an executive producer on the CBS series reboot of The Equalizer, which quickly became TV’s #1 scripted series this year averaging 14.6 million viewers per episode. The Equalizer’s season two finale aired earlier this year and the show has been renewed for a season three and four. Next up, Latifah will executive produce and star in the Netflix feature End of the Road.
From Newark, NJ, Latifah currently resides in Los Angeles.
