Queen Latifah

Born and raised in the projects of Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of Rita, a schoolteacher who worked at Irvington High School, and Lancelot Owens, a policeman.

Her parents divorced when Latifah was ten. Latifah performed the number "Home" from the musical The Wiz in a high school play. Her stage name, Latifah, meaning "kind" in Arabic, was given to her when she was eight by her cousin. Latifah was raised in the Baptist church, and, while in high school, was a power forward on her basketball team.

Latifah started her career beatboxing for the rap group Ladies Dick. She also sang in front of town hall in Provincetown, Massachusetts and in the post office cafe. Latifah was one of the members of the original version of the Flavor Unit, which, at that time, was a crew of MC's grouped around producer DJ Mark the 45 King. At the same time, Latifah was a pole dancer at a night club in Brooklyn called Bigger and Better. In 1988, DJ Mark the 45 King heard a demo version of Latifah's single "Princess of the Posse" and gave the demo to Fab Five Freddy, who was the host of Yo! MTV Raps. Latifah shifted primarily to sung lyrics in soul music and jazz standards, which she had previously used sparingly in her previous hip-hop-oriented records. In 2004, she released the soul/jazz standards The Dana Owens Album. In 2007, Latifah released an album entitled Trav'lin' Light. Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Joe Sample, George Duke, Christian McBride, and Stevie Wonder made guest appearances. It was nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album" category. On September 12, 2008, Rolling Stone reported that Queen Latifah is working on a new album "The L Word" that is due in December 2008; this album will be produced by Dr. Dre.

From 1993 to 1998, Latifah had a starring role on Living Single, a FOX sitcom; she also wrote and performed its theme music. She began her film career in supporting roles in the 1991 films House Party 2, Juice, and Jungle Fever. She had her own talk show, The Queen Latifah Show, from 1999 to 2001. She also had recurring roles during the second season (1991-1992) of the NBC hit The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Latifah made her big-screen debut in the 1996 box-office hit, Set It Off and subsequently had a supporting role in the Holly Hunter film Living Out Loud (1998). She played the role of Thelma in the 1999 movie adaptation of Jeffrey Deavers' The Bone Collector, alongside Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Although she had already received some critical acclaim, she gained mainstream success after being cast as Matron "Mama" Morton in the Oscar-winning musical Chicago, the recipient of the Best Picture Oscar. The summer of 2007 brought Latifah triple success in the big-screen version of the Broadway smash hit Hairspray, in which she acted, sang, and danced. The film rated highly with critics. It starred, among others, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Allison Janney, James Marsden and Christopher Walken. Also in 2007, she portrayed an HIV-positive woman in the film Life Support, a role for which she garnered her first Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and an Emmy nomination.

Raised in East Orange, New Jersey, she has been a resident of Rumson, New Jersey. Latifah's older brother Lancelot Jr. was killed in 1992 in an accident involving a motorcycle that Latifah had recently bought him. Latifah still wears the key to the motorcycle around her neck, which can be seen throughout her performance in her sitcom Living Single. She also dedicated Black Reign to him.

In 1993, Latifah was the victim of a carjacking, which also resulted in the shooting of a friend. In 1996 she was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and possession of a loaded handgun. In her 1999 autobiography, Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman, Latifah discussed how her brother's death led to a bout of depression and drug abuse, from which she later recovered.

Because of her portrayal of a lesbian in Set It Off and her avoidance of discussing her romantic life, tabloid media have at times speculated on her sexual orientation. Latifah responded to these rumors in her autobiography by saying: "It's insulting when someone asks, 'Are you gay?' A woman cannot be strong, outspoken, competent at running her own business, handle herself physically, play a very convincing role in a movie, know what she wants — and go for it — without being gay? Come on." The rumors about her sexuality escalated further in late 2007, when Media Take Out reported an allegedly planned wedding ceremony between Latifah and her personal trainer of four years Jeanette Jenkins upon California's legalization of gay marriage. Latifah publicly denied this claim in October of 2008, proclaiming "I don't feel like I need to share my personal life, and I don't care if people think I'm gay or not. Assume whatever you want. You do it anyway. People will make up all sorts of things that are not true. There ain't gonna' be no wedding."

In early 2003, Latifah had breast reduction surgery to relieve back pain. She also works out with a trainer and kickboxes.

Latifah recently appeared in advertisements for Jenny Craig which chronicle her weight loss while on the diet. She was hired as the new spokesperson due to her 35 pound loss on the Jenny Craig program, from 265 pounds, down to 230 and she now stands, recorded October 2008, at 254 pounds with 31 percent body fat.