Jenifer Lewis

Jenifer Jeanette Lewis, an actress, singer, and activist, started her career in Broadway musicals and worked as a backup singer for Bette Midler. She gained recognition for her roles in films like Beaches, Sister Act, What's Love Got to Do With It, Poetic Justice, The Preacher's Wife, The Brothers, Think Like a Man and its sequel Think Like a Man Too, Baggage Claim, and The Wedding Ringer. Lewis also provided voice work for Mama Odie in Disney's The Princess and the Frog, and Flo in Pixar's Cars series. She is known for often portraying mother figures, earning her the unofficial title "Mother of Black Hollywood," which is also the title of her memoir published in 2017.

Lewis saw success in the television industry as well. She portrayed the character of Lana Hawkins in the Lifetime medical drama "Strong Medicine" from 2000 to 2006. Her recurring roles in sitcoms included "A Different World," "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," and "Girlfriends." She later became a main cast member on the TV show "The Playboy Club" as Pearl. In 2014, Lewis began starring as Ruby Johnson in the ABC comedy series "Black-ish." Her performance in Black-ish garnered her two Critics' Choice Television Award nominations, and she won the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series from 2017-2019. She was also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for "Black-ish" in 2017 and 2018.

Beyond film and television, Lewis also showed her talent in other productions. In 2010, she performed in the production of "Hello Dolly" at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle and appeared in Shangela's music video for "Werqin Girl (Professional)."

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1990, Lewis initially hid her disorder due to feelings of shame. However, after 17 years of therapy and 10 years of being medicated, she has since embraced her diagnosis. As she quotes, "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 has been married to Arnold Byrd since 2012 and they have an adopted daughter named Charmaine Lewis.