Sheryl Lee Ralph Biography
Sheryl Lee Ralph is an American actress and singer best known for Dreamgirls (1981), It’s a Living (1980), Moesha (1996), and Fort Salem (2020). She rose to fame after starring in the TV series Abbott Elementary (2021-present).
Sheryl Lee Ralph Career
Ralph’s acting career began in the 1970s when she played the lead role in Sidney Poitier’s American crime comedy A Piece of the Action. Aside from that, she was on several TV shows, including Good Times, Wonder Woman, and The Jeffersons. After that, Ralph got a part in the Broadway show Reggae (1980), and then he played Deena Jones in the original Broadway musical Dreamgirls (1981). She was in the cast of the CBS daytime soap series Search for Tomorrow while also being the lead in Dreamgirls on Broadway. Ralph was up for a Tony Award in 1982 for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in Dreamgirls.
Soon after, she signed with Sid Bernstein’s record label and put out her only studio album, In the Evening, in 1984. The title track of the record reached No. 5 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart and No. 64 on the UK Singles Chart the same year. Moreover, Ralph was cast as the lead in the TV show It’s a Living as Ginger St. James. In 1988, she played the lead role in the Disney movie Oliver & Company and did the voice of the sassy Afghan Hound Rita. In the 1989 movie The Mighty Quinn, she played Denzel Washington’s wife, which was her first lead part.
Additionally, she was cast as Vicki St. James in the ABC series New Attitude in 1990. In addition, Ralph won the Independent Spirit Award the next year for Best Supporting Female for her role in the thriller film To Sleep with Anger, which came out in 1990. In 1992, she played the lead part in Mistress with Robert De Niro. She played Etienne Toussaint-Bouvier in Designing Women that same year, and she shared the lead role in The Distinguished Gentleman with Eddie Murphy. In the 1993 movie Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, she played Florence Watson, Rita Louise Watson’s mother, played by Lauryn Hill.
From 1996 to 2001, she played Dee Mitchell on Moesha. For that part, she was nominated five times for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She also had parts in The Flintstones, Deterrence, and Unconditional Love in the 1990s. In Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, she plays the character of Cheetah. Ralph put together Divas Simply Singing, which has become a big way to raise money for AIDS. She played Claire on the Showtime show Barbershop as well.
Ralph played a character on the hit NBC show ER who gave wartime pain a new face. Ralph’s project Baby of the Family from 2002 is about a little girl who is born with a cape over her head that lets her see ghosts and the future. Ralph was also on MTV’s My Super Sweet 16 and BET’s Baldwin Hills with her son Etienne. She was also on an episode of Clean House with her two children, Etienne and Ivy-Victoria (aka Coco), who is named after Ralph’s mother.
Ralph would play Elyse in the show The First Wives Club, which was going to Broadway, and the news came out on June 16, 2009. Adriane Lenox dropped out of the show because of health issues, and she took her place. Ralph played Amanda Waller on Young Justice as a guest star in 2011. Moreover, Ralph played Cynthia on the 2013 season of the NBC show Smash. Cynthia was the mother of Jennifer Hudson’s character. Ralph was at the 2013 Columbus Middle School youth gathering in Columbus, Mississippi, on February 9, 2013.
At the end of August 2014, she filled in as a talent reporter for KTLA Los Angeles Morning News. Ralph played the rich lady who takes Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn’s dog in November 2014 show. Moreover, these are some of her most recent TV roles: as Stephanie’s mother on the Nickelodeon series Instant Mom and in the TNT comedy Claws. Additionally, Ralph played Rose, one of the main characters on the one-season TV show Fam, from January 10 to April 11, 2019. The show ended in May 2019 after one season.
Ralph went to Uniondale High School in New York’s Uniondale. She played the lead role of Ado Annie in a high school version of the musical Oklahoma! Sheryl finished school in 1972. Early that year, she won the title of Miss Black Teenage New York. Ralph graduated from Rutgers University at the age of 19. She was the youngest woman to ever do so. Ralph was one of the first people to win one of the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival while she was at Rutgers.
Gloss magazine named Ralph one of the top ten college women in America that year. She wanted to be a doctor at first, but working with dead bodies in a pre-med class and getting a scholarship at the American College Theater Festival made her change her mind. Now she wants to be an actress. After a long time, she spoke at Rutgers’ graduation for the Class of 2023.
Sheryl Lee Ralph Age
Ralph was born on December 30, 1956, in Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. She is 67 years old as of 2023, and she celebrates her birthday on the 30th of December every year.
Sheryl Lee Ralph Height and Weight
Ralph stands at a height of 5 feet 7 inches tall (1.70m) and weighs 60 kgs (132 lbs).
Sheryl Lee Ralph Family
Ralph was born in Waterbury, Connecticut to Stanley Ralph (father), a college professor, and Ivy Ralph (mother), a Jamaican fashion designer and creator of the kariba suit. She has one sibling, a younger brother named Michael Ralph who is an actor and comedian. Growing up, she lived in both Mandeville, Jamaica, and Long Island, Brooklyn.
Sheryl Lee Ralph Husband
Ralph is currently married to Vincent Hughes, a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate. The pair met through a mutual friend. When they were introduced to each other, they were both divorced and had two children from their previous marriages. They tied the knot on July 30, 2005, at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. They were in a long-distance marriage but after 19 years, they decided to live together.
Sheryl Lee Ralph Net Worth
Ralph has an estimated net worth of about $1 Million – $5 Million which she has earned through her career as an actress and singer.
Sheryl Lee Ralph Salary
Ralph earns a salary of about $100,000-$500,000 annually.
Sheryl Lee Ralph Dreamgirls
Ralph plays the role of Deena Jones in the 1991 Broadway musical Dreamgirls. The Supremes chose Diana Ross as their lead singer because of her unique, softer, commercial voice that appeals to a wide range of music tastes. The Dreams chose Deena Jones as their lead singer for similar reasons. The relationship between Deena Jones and Curtis Taylor Jr. is similar to the relationship between Diana Ross and Berry Gordy Jr., with Diana’s and Deena’s success being more important than the group’s.
Deena Jones is taught how to speak for the group at press interviews, just like Diana Ross did for the Supremes. When Florence Ballard was pushed to the side, Diana Ross became the star of the Supremes. This made it hard to work with her. It makes Effie White feel the same way when Deena Jones is pushed forward as the Dreams star.
Sheryl Lee Ralph Super Bowl
Ralph sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at the Super Bowl 2023 on February 12, 2023, from Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium. With the help of a backup choir and American Sign Language performer Justina Miles, she put on a powerful show that captivated everyone in the stadium. Ralph was the first Black person to sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” on the field before the Super Bowl. This was a big deal on game day. Two years ago, Alicia Keys was the first person to sing the national anthem in a pre-recorded video during the Super Bowl.
Sheryl Lee Ralph Abbott Elementary
Ralph plays the role of Barbara Howard, an old-school kindergarten teacher at Willard R. Abbott Elementary School who has been teaching for twenty years. Even though Barbara only has Kindergarteners, all the kids at the school seem to respect her because when she tells a noisy classroom to calm down, they do. She is also admired by her coworkers, especially Janine Teagues, who Barbara began to see as her “work daughter.” Even though her coworkers respect her, they still make jokes about her age and sometimes get famous people’s names mixed up. These jokes are never directed at her.
For Mrs. Howard, Sunday is a Holy day because she is a religious woman. She goes to church a lot, but she doesn’t take it too seriously. Instead, she keeps a sense of fun about it, and she helps her coworkers calm down. She has two children with her husband Gerald Howard. She and her oldest daughter Taylor Howard don’t always get along, but they love each other very much. Also, out of all the people who work at Abbott, she seems to be closest with Melissa Schemmenti because they spend the most time together. Barbara loves her job and the kids she is responsible for every year.
Sheryl Lee Ralph First Husband
Ralph was previously married to Eric Maurice, a French businessman from 1990 to 2001. They were blessed with two children; a daughter named Ivy-Victoria Maurice (born 1995), and a son named Etienne Maurice, an actor (born 1992). The couple separated due to unknown reasons. Eric is a co-owner of 1515 Design and Manufacturing, a company that designs and makes items. The business is in Inglewood, California.
Sheryl Lee Ralph Son
Ralph has a son named Ettienne Maurice. Maurice is an actor and movie director who has taken after his mother’s footsteps. He has been on shows like Grown-ish and Scream Queen. Ettienne lives in Los Angeles and started the well-known fitness group WalkGood LA. He also started WalkGood Productions, a company that makes movies and TV shows.
Sheryl Lee Ralph Daughter
Ralph has a daughter named Ivy-Victoria Maurice. Ivy works with well-known names like Ciroc and her brother’s WalkGood Production, where she is Vice President. Moreover, she has a special bond with her dad and loves every moment she spends with him.
Sheryl Lee Ralph Movies and TV Shows
- Bob’s Burgers
- Young Love
- Praise Petey
- Celebrity Wheel of Fortune
- How We Roll
- Celebrity Family Feud
- The Young Wife
- Prepared
- The Comeback Trail
- Step Sisters
- Christmas at Holly Lodge
Sheryl Lee Ralph Social Media Platforms
Ralph is very active on her Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages and she has 357k followers on Twitter 1M followers on Instagram, and 110k followers on Facebook.