Jenifer Lewis
Birthday:
Birthplace:
Kinloch, Missouri, USA
Best known for playing unapologetically mature, assertive, and intelligent adult women, African-American supporting actress Jenifer Lewis originally launched her career as a vocalist, singing in a church choir in Kinloch, MO. Lewis' passion (and gift) for singing carried her to the Great White Way, where she appeared in a number of sell-out Broadway musicals -- including Ain't Misbehavin' and Dreamgirls. She subsequently migrated to the West Coast for a string of appearances in TV programs such as Roc, A Different World, Murphy Brown, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Touched by an Angel, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and graduated to features in 1992. The films in which Lewis has appeared run the gamut of quality, from outstanding (What's Love Got to Do With It?, 1993) to satisfactory (Sister Act, 1992; The Preacher's Wife, 1996) to downright abominable (Frozen Assets, 1992); many, however, demonstrated her fine gifts. More recently, Lewis attained some much-deserved recognition (and ascended to higher than usual billing) with her multi-season portrayal of Lana Hawkins in the prime-time medical drama Strong Medicine (2000).
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|---|
64% | Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square |
|
— | 2020 |
69% | Cars 3 |
|
$152.7M | 2017 |
No Score Yet | Jewel's Catch One |
|
— | 2016 |
No Score Yet | The List |
|
— | 2015 |
No Score Yet | Playin' for Love |
|
— | 2015 |
29% | The Wedding Ringer |
|
— | 2015 |
23% | Think Like a Man Too |
|
— | 2014 |
15% | Baggage Claim |
|
$17.3M | 2013 |
No Score Yet | It Had to Be You |
|
— | 2013 |
No Score Yet | The Magic City |
|
— | 2013 |
25% | Zambezia |
|
$1.1M | 2013 |
54% | Think Like a Man |
|
$91.6M | 2012 |
40% | Cars 2 |
|
$191.5M | 2011 |
No Score Yet | The Heart Specialist |
|
$1.1M | 2011 |
No Score Yet | Five |
|
— | 2011 |
47% | Hereafter |
|
$32.8M | 2010 |
85% | The Princess and the Frog |
|
$104.4M | 2009 |
31% | Not Easily Broken |
|
$10.6M | 2009 |
33% | Meet The Browns |
|
$42M | 2008 |
No Score Yet | Redrum |
|
— | 2007 |
6% | Who's Your Caddy? |
|
$5.6M | 2007 |
50% | Dirty Laundry |
|
— | 2006 |
74% | Cars |
|
$244.1M | 2006 |
26% | Madea's Family Reunion |
|
$63.2M | 2006 |
No Score Yet | Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns |
|
— | 2005 |
36% | Shark Tale |
|
$160.8M | 2004 |
5% | The Cookout |
|
$11.6M | 2004 |
No Score Yet | Partners |
|
— | 2004 |
No Score Yet | Nora's Hair Salon |
|
— | 2004 |
10% | Juwanna Mann |
|
$13.5M | 2002 |
63% | The Brothers |
|
$26.6M | 2001 |
No Score Yet | Masterpiece Theatre's American Collection |
|
— | 2001 |
89% | Cast Away |
|
— | 2000 |
No Score Yet | Little Richard |
|
— | 2000 |
No Score Yet | Dancing in September |
|
— | 2000 |
No Score Yet | Jackie's Back |
|
— | 1999 |
71% | Get Bruce |
|
— | 1999 |
61% | Mystery Men |
|
— | 1999 |
58% | Blast From the Past |
|
— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | Partners |
|
— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | The Temptations |
|
— | 1998 |
75% | The Mighty |
|
— | 1998 |
No Score Yet | An Unexpected Life |
|
— | 1997 |
60% | The Preacher's Wife |
|
— | 1996 |
33% | Girl 6 |
|
— | 1996 |
45% | Dead Presidents |
|
— | 1995 |
27% | Panther |
|
— | 1995 |
39% | Corrina, Corrina |
|
— | 1994 |
12% | Renaissance Man |
|
— | 1994 |
No Score Yet | Deconstructing Sarah |
|
— | 1994 |
19% | Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit |
|
— | 1993 |
37% | Undercover Blues |
|
— | 1993 |
25% | The Meteor Man |
|
— | 1993 |
34% | Poetic Justice |
|
— | 1993 |
96% | What's Love Got To Do With It? |
|
— | 1993 |
74% | Sister Act |
|
$139.7M | 1992 |
No Score Yet | Frozen Assets |
|
— | 1992 |
No Score Yet | Daddy, (Danielle Steel's 'Daddy') |
|
— | 1991 |
No Score Yet | My Father, My Son |
|
— | 1988 |
No Score Yet | Star Tours |
|
— | 1987 |
No Score Yet | The Magic City (Magiki polis) |
|
— | 1954 |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet |
Big Hero 6: The Series
2017
|
|
|
92% |
black-ish
2014
|
|
|
70% |
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars
2012
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Elena of Avalor
2016
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Match Game
2016-2020
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The $100,000 Pyramid
2016-2019
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
2015
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Talk
2010
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The View
1997
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Doctors
2008
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Cleveland Show
2009-2013
|
|
|
22% |
The Playboy Club
2011
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Meet the Browns
2009
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Dr. Phil
2002
|
|
|
50% |
Day Break
2006
|
|
|
86% |
Boston Legal
2004-2008
|
|
|
52% |
Shark
2006-2008
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Girlfriends
2000-2008
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Strong Medicine
2000-2006
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
That's So Raven
2003-2007
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Proud Family
2001-2005
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The PJs
1999-2001
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
For Your Love
1998-2002
|
|
|
33% |
Grown Ups
1999-2000
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Moesha
1996-2001
|
|
|
45% |
Time of Your Life
1999-2000
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Jamie Foxx Show
1996-2001
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Touched by an Angel
1994-2003
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
1990-1996
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
New York Undercover
1994-1998
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Living Single
1993-1998
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Hangin' With Mr. Cooper
1992-1997
|
|
|
86% |
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
1993-1997
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Roc
1991-1994
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
A Different World
1987-1993
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Murphy Brown
1988-2019
|
|
|
17% |
Courthouse
1995
|
|
|
Quotes from Jenifer Lewis' Characters
Jackie Washington: | My Afro was bigger than Angela Davis's. |
Jackie Washington: | My Afro was bigger than Angela Davis'. |
Jackie Washington: | I never stabbed nobody. He fell on that comb. |
Jackie Washington: | Your love for me makes me love me more. (song) |
Jackie Washington: | Your love for me makes me love me more. |
Mama Odie: | Not bad for a 197-year-old blind lady. |