Regina King

Regina King is an American actress and director who has enjoyed one of the most rich and diverse careers of any performer in the 21st century; working consistently since she was a teenager, appearing in groundbreaking and culturally relevant films before transitioning back onto the small screen, she appeared in some of the 2000s most popular and acclaimed series, and, 35 years in to her career, was nominated for the 2019 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Born on January 15, 1971 in Los Angeles, CA, Regina King grew up in the View Park-Windsor Hills neighborhood of L.A. Her mother, Gloria, was a special education teacher, while her father, Thomas, was an electrician. She also had a younger sister, Reina. Her parents split in 1979, when King was eight years old. While attending Westchester High School, King began acting professionally: her first gig ever was a recurring role on the popular sitcom "227" (NBC, 1985-1990), playing Brenda Jenkins. She would play the role for the entire run of the series, graduating from high school in the middle of the show's fourth season.

King continued to mix acting and academics: she began classes at University of Southern California while making her film debut in writer/director John Singleton's groundbreaking debut feature "Boyz n the Hood" (1991), a sobering look at teenage life in South Central L.A. King would go on to appear in Singleton's next two films as well, "Poetic Justice" (1993), and "Higher Learning" (1995). That same year, King also co-starred in another look at a day in the life of South Central, albeit a much more laid back and comedic one: "Friday" (1995) quickly became a comedic cult classic, and one of the most beloved stoner comedies of the decade. King next co-starred alongside Martin Lawrence in the dark romantic comedy "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate" (1996), before taking on a scene-stealing turn as Marcee Tidwell, wife to Cuba Gooding Jr.'s would-be football superstar in the smash hit "Jerry Maguire" (1996). King then went on a run of supporting roles alongside superstar black actors, playing Will Smith's wife in the espionage thriller "Enemy of the State" (1998), Chris Rock's love interest in the "Heaven Can Wait" remake "Down to Earth" (2001), and Eddie Murphy's wife in the family comedy "Daddy Day Care" (2003). In between supporting roles in two hit comedy sequels, "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde" (2003) and "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous" (2005), King found time to play Margie Hendricks, backup singer and drug-addled mistress to Jamie Foxx's Ray Charles in the smash hit biopic "Ray" (2004).

Around this time, King began to pivot back towards TV gigs: she voiced Riley and Huey Freeman on Adult Swim's subversive "The Boondocks" (Cartoon Network, 2005-2014), played Sandra Palmer, sister of slain president David Palmer, on season 6 of "24" (FOX, 2001-2010), starred as Detective Lydia Adams on the critically acclaimed police procedural "Southland" (ABC, 2009/TNT, 2010-13) (she also directed a few episodes), and took on a recurring role as Janine Davis, Human Resources administrator, on the smash hit sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS, 2007-2019). King then joined the cast of John Ridley's anthology series "American Crime" (ABC, 2015-2017), which told a different hot-button story every season using the same cast. King was awarded the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress, TV movie or Limited Series for her work two years in a row, on seasons one and two.

After "American Crime" was cancelled following its third season, King moved on to another socially conscious drama, playing the mother of a murdered black teenager on the Netflix series "Seven Seconds" (Netflix, 2018-), for which she won a third Primetime Emmy, this time for Outstanding Actress, TV Movie or Limited Series. King would receive some of the best reviews of her career for her deeply humanistic performance in "If Beale Street Could Talk" (2018). An adaptation of a 1974 novel by James Baldwin from "Moonlight" (2016) writer/director Barry Jenkins, King played Sharon, the matriarch who lead the charge to clear the name of Fonny (Stephan James), the true love of her daughter Tish (KiKi Layne), after his unjust arrest for a rape he could not have committed.

Amongst the many accolades King received for her work was a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. King's first post-Oscars project was a lead role in the TV adaptation of Alan Moore's classic graphic novel "Watchmen" (HBO, 2019-).