Jenifer Lewis

Jenifer Lewis
Lewis in November 2008
Born	Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (1957-01-25) January 25, 1957 (age 60) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Education	Kinloch High School Webster University
Occupation	Actress, Comedian, Singer, Activist
Years active	1979–present
Spouse(s)	Arnold Byrd (m. 2012)

Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American actress and comedian. 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 best known for playing roles of mothers in films What's Love Got to Do With It (1993), The Preacher's Wife (1996), The Brothers (2001), 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). As such, Lewis earned the title, "Black Mother of Hollywood". She also had roles in films include Dead Presidents (1995), Cast Away (2000), and Hereafter (2010).

On television, Lewis starred as Lana Hawkins in the Lifetime medical drama, Strong Medicine from 2000 to 2006. She also had the 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 a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination.