Sheryl Underwood

Last updated
Sheryl Underwood
Underwood, Sheryl (2008).jpg
Underwood in 2008
Born
Sheryl Patrice Underwood

(1963-10-28) October 28, 1963 (age 61)
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
Notable work
Political party Republican
Comedy career
Medium
  • Stand-up
  • television
  • film
Education University of Illinois Chicago (BA)
Years active1988–present
Subject(s)
Website packratproductionsinc.com
Military career
Service / branch
Years of service1981–1982
Unit

Sheryl Patrice Underwood (born October 28, 1963) [1] is an American comedian, actress and television host. She first rose to prominence in the comedy world as the first female finalist in 1989's Miller Lite Comedy Search. Currently, Underwood is one of the hosts on the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk , becoming the show's longest running co-host, [2] a role she first stepped into in September 2011. She has received one Daytime Emmy Award from seven nominations. [3]

Contents

Early life

Underwood was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and later moved to Atwater, California, where she attended high school. [4] [5] Her sister, Frankie, was diagnosed with polio. Sheryl is now Frankie's caregiver. [6]

Professional career

After graduating college, Underwood joined the United States Air Force, where she served two years in the reserves. [7] She later gained public notice as the first female finalist in the Miller Lite Comedy Search in 1989. [8] She won the BET "Funniest Female Comedian on Comic View" award in 1994 and the BET Comedy Awards' Platinum Mic Viewers Choice Award in 2005. [9]

Following her stand up success, Underwood took a number of minor acting roles, including Bad Mouth Bessie in the 1998 film I Got the Hook Up and Catfish Rita in the 2005 film Beauty Shop .

Underwood was the host of BET's Comic View and executive producer and host of the limited run comedy/variety series Holla (September 2002 – January 2003). [10]

Sheryl Underwood with a soldier at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, December 12, 2007, as a part of the Sgt. Maj. of the Army's Hope and Freedom tour to entertain deployed troops. Sheryl Underwood Kuwait.jpg
Sheryl Underwood with a soldier at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, December 12, 2007, as a part of the Sgt. Maj. of the Army's Hope and Freedom tour to entertain deployed troops.
The Talk co-hosts Julie Chen, Aisha Tyler, Sharon Osbourne, Sara Gilbert and Sheryl Underwood in 2012. The Ladies of TV 2012.jpg
The Talk co-hosts Julie Chen, Aisha Tyler, Sharon Osbourne, Sara Gilbert and Sheryl Underwood in 2012.

Underwood was a contributor on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show until June 2010 when she joined The Steve Harvey Morning Show as a contributor. [11] [12] She briefly hosted her own radio program, Sheryl Underwood and Company, for Radio One-owned Syndication One News/Talk and XM Satellite Radio's Channel 169 (The Power). [13] On Tuesday nights, Underwood hosts The Sheryl Underwood Show on Jamie Foxx's Sirius Satellite Radio channel, The Foxxhole (Sirius 106) [14]

In 2011, Underwood became a co-host of the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk in its second season, replacing Leah Remini.

More recently, Underwood signed a multi-year development deal with CBS Studios. [15]

Personal life

Underwood holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago and master's degrees in media management and mass communication from Governors State University. [16] Underwood once served in the U.S. Armed Forces, and frequently makes jokes about "all the creative places you can get busy on a military base."

Underwood is a lifelong Republican. [17] However, she campaigned for Barack Obama's re-election in 2012 United States presidential election. [18] Underwood also campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election "because we have to protect the legacy of President Obama. Low voter turnout benefits Donald Trump and the Republicans. He can't win." [19]

Underwood is a lifetime member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority, first joining in 1990. [8] [11] She served as president of the organization's Omicron Rho Zeta chapter, as the National Chair of Honorary Members, National Executive Board Chair and International Grand Basileus. [11]

In addition to the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, Underwood is also a member of the National Council of Negro Women and the NAACP. [8] She also founded the African-American Female Comedian Association. [8]

In the fall of 2011, Underwood revealed that after dating seven years, her husband—who might have suffered from clinical depression—died by suicide after they had been married three years. [20]

Zeta Phi Beta presidency

Underwood was elected as the 23rd International Grand Basileus (President) during Zeta Phi Beta's biennial business meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2008. Her election as Grand Basileus was disputed, but District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Gerald I. Fisher dismissed a lawsuit against the sorority and Underwood that asked the court to unseat her. [11] [21] [22]

Filmography

YearWorkRole
1992 [9] Def Comedy Jam Frequent Performer
1993 Soul Train Comedy AwardsPresenter
1997 Make Me Laugh Herself
1998 Bulworth Woman in Frankie's
I Got the Hook-Up Bad Mouth Bessie
2000Oh Drama! (TV series)Host
2001 Nikki (episode: "Working Girl")Janet
2002HollaHost

Executive Producer

Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn Herself
2004BET Comedy Awards
2005 Beauty Shop Catfish Rita
The 2nd Annual BET Comedy AwardsHerself
Weekends at the D.L.
Made You Look: Top 25 Moments of BET History
Getting Played
2007 Baisden After Dark
2011 Comics Unleashed
2011−present The Talk Co-host
2012−13 The Young and the Restless Justice of the Peace
2016 The Bold and the Beautiful (2016, 2018)Emmy
Supergirl (episode: "Falling")Herself
The Odd Couple Diane
2017–19 Funny You Should Ask Herself
2018 Jane the Virgin (episode: "Chapter Seventy-Four")Herself
2019I Got the Hook Up 2Bad Mouth Bessie

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tatyana Ali</span> American actress and singer (born 1979)

Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and singer best known for her role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 to 1996. She starred as Tyana Jones on the TV One original series Love That Girl!, and played a recurring role as Roxanne on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless from 2007 to 2013. In 2023, she starred in Giving Hope: The Ni'Cola Mitchell Story on Lifetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. L. Hughley</span> American actor and comedian (born 1963)

Darryl Lynn Hughley is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Hughley is best known as the original host of BET's ComicView from 1992 to 1993, the eponymous character on the ABC/UPN sitcom The Hughleys, and as one of the "Big Four" comedians in The Original Kings of Comedy. Additionally, he has been the host of CNN's D. L. Hughley Breaks the News, a correspondent for The Jay Leno Show on NBC, and a local radio personality and interviewer in New York City. In early 2013, D. L. Hughley landed in ninth place on Dancing with the Stars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivica A. Fox</span> American actress and producer (born 1964)

Vivica Anjanetta Fox is an American actress, producer and television host. Fox began her career on Soul Train (1982–1983) and played roles on the daytime television soap operas Days of Our Lives (1988) and Generations (1989–1992). In prime time, she starred opposite Patti LaBelle in the NBC sitcom Out All Night (1992–1993). Fox's breakthrough came in 1996, with roles in two box-office hit films, Roland Emmerich's Independence Day and F. Gary Gray's Set It Off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gamma Phi Beta</span> International college sorority

Gamma Phi Beta is an international college sorority. It was founded in Syracuse University in 1874 and was the first of the Greek organizations to call itself a sorority. The term "sorority" was coined for Gamma Phi Beta by Dr. Frank Smalley, a professor at Syracuse University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phi Mu</span> American collegiate sorority

Phi Mu (ΦΜ) is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zeta Phi Beta</span> Historically African American sorority

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (ΖΦΒ) is an International collegiate sorority that is historically African American. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achievement, and foster a greater sense of unity among its members. They believed that sorority elitism and socializing overshadowed the real mission of progressive organizations. Since its founding Zeta Phi Beta has historically focused on addressing social causes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kym Whitley</span> American comedian and actress (born 1962)

Kym Whitley is an American comedian, actress and podcaster. She is known for her roles on television sitcoms, such as My Brother and Me, Sparks, Animal Practice, The Boondocks, Young & Hungry, The Parkers, The Cleveland Show, Black Dynamite, and Act Your Age. Whitley was nominated for a 2004 BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Box Office Movie for her role as Ormandy in the 2003 comedy film Deliver Us From Eva.

James Anthony Brown is an American comedian, actor and radio personality. He received the Peabody Award and the NAACP Image Award.

The Foxxhole was an uncensored comedy channel on Sirius XM Radio channel 96. Presented by actor/comedian/musician Jamie Foxx, the network broadcasts a variety of comedy and urban music such as hip-hop and R&B in addition to live talk shows broadcast during the weekdays. The channel originally debuted on Sirius 106 on May 17, 2007, and began broadcasting simultaneously on XM 149 on November 12, 2008, until both services moved The Foxxhole to channel 96 on May 4, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loni Love</span> American actress, comedian, and television personality

Loni Love is an American comedian, television host, actress, author, and former electrical engineer. While working as an electrical engineer in the early 2000s, she switched to music engineering, until later launching a career in stand-up comedy. She was the runner-up on Star Search 2003 and was named among the "Top 10 Comics to Watch" in both Variety and Comedy Central in 2009. She was one of the co-hosts of the syndicated daytime talk show The Real, which ran from July 15, 2013, and ended on June 3, 2022.

The Tom Joyner Morning Show was an American nationally syndicated radio program, hosted by veteran broadcaster Tom Joyner. The program, which aired on Urban contemporary- and Urban adult contemporary-formatted stations across the United States, ran from January 3, 1994 until December 13, 2019.

Felicia Morris, better known by her stage name, The Poetess, is an American rapper and radio personality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violette Neatley Anderson</span> American lawyer (1882–1937)

Violette Neatley Anderson became the first African-American woman to practice law before the United States Supreme Court on January 29, 1926. She was one of the most prominent advocates of a landmark piece of legislation that helped secure rights and economic mobility for sharecroppers in the South, the Bankhead-Jones Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nellie A. Buchanan</span> American educator and theatre professional (1900–1993)

Nellie A. Buchanan was an American educator and theatre professional. She was the fourth international president of the historically black sorority Zeta Phi Beta, serving from 1923 to 1925.

Arizona Cleaver Stemons, born Arizona Leedonia Cleaver, was an American social worker. While she was a student at Howard University in 1920, she was one of the five founding members of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, and its first president.

The 48th Daytime Emmy Awards, presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), honored the best in U.S. daytime television programming in 2020. It took place on June 25, 2021, as a remotely-produced special due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna Houston Ransom</span> American college administrator

Joanna Raynor Houston, later Joanna Houston Ransom, was an American English instructor, college administrator, assistant dean of women at Howard University, third Grand Basileus of Zeta Phi Beta, and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Presidents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pearl Anna Neal</span> American music educator

Pearl Anna Neal was an American music educator and one of the founding members or "Five Pearls" of the sorority Zeta Phi Beta in 1920.

References

  1. "Sheryl Underwood". TVGuide.com . Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  2. Lewis, Errol (2022-03-04). "Sheryl Underwood Staying at 'The Talk', Signs Multi-Year Deal with CBS and CBS Studios". Soap Opera Network. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  3. "Sheryl Underwood". IMDb. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  4. Sheryl Underwood by Diana Gibbs on Prezi Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  5. "Actress, TV Host Sheryl Underwood Also Served in the Air Force". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  6. "The Talk host Sheryl Underwood on life caring for her disabled sister". Monsters and Critics. September 15, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  7. Rodriquez Jr., Ismael. "Celebrating Iconic Black Veterans", VFW Magazine, Veterans of Foreign Wars, volume 108, number 5, February 2021, p. 20.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Sheryl Underwood". Archived from the original on December 15, 2008. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
  9. 1 2 "Sheryl Underwood". TV.com. CNET Networks, Inc.
  10. "Holla". TV.com. CNET Networks, Inc.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated Elects Entertainer Sheryl Underwood 23rd International President". Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. July 7, 2008. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008.
  12. "Underwood Jumps From Joyner To Harvey". BV Newswire.
  13. "Comedian Sheryl Underwood gets a daily talk show on XM". ReddingNewsReview.com. March 26, 2007. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
  14. "The Foxxhole".
  15. Jackson, Angelique (March 4, 2022). "Sheryl Underwood Inks Multi-Year Renewal at 'The Talk,' Development Deal With CBS Studios (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  16. "Sheryl Underwood ( Special Event)". PalmBeachImprov.com. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  17. "NewsOne Now Exclusive: 'The Talk's' Sheryl Underwood Dishes GOP Politics [VIDEO]". February 10, 2015.
  18. AOL. "Why 'Proud Republican' Sheryl Underwood Campaigned And Voted For Obama - AOL.com".
  19. "Sheryl Underwood Reveals What Republicans Don't Want Democrats To Know". BlackAmericaWeb.com. 27 September 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  20. "Sheryl Underwood Debuts on CBS The Talk, Reveals Her Husband's Suicide". The YBF. September 6, 2011.
  21. Alexander, Keith L. (August 16, 2008). "Comedian Fights to Retain Presidency of Sorority". Washington Post. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
  22. "Judge rules in favor of comedian in sorority". San Jose Mercury News. The Associated Press. November 25, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2009.[ dead link ]
Media offices
Preceded by The Talk co-host
2011-present
Incumbent
Preceded by
Barbara C. Moore
Zeta Phi Beta National President
2008 – 2012
Succeeded by
Mary Breaux Wright