Regina King

Regina Rene King (born 15 January 1971) is an American actress and television director known for her role as "Brenda Jenkins" on the NBC sitcom 227 (1985–90) and a supporting role in the feature film Jerry Maguire, then for her roles in the television shows The Boondocks and Southland.

Her role in Southland earned her two Critics' Choice Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2012 and 2013. 

From 2015 to 2017, she starred in the ABC anthology series American Crime, for which she has received three nominations for Emmy Awards with two wins and was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award. From 2015 to 2017, she also played "Erika Murphy" on the critically acclaimed HBO drama, The Leftovers, for which she has received a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination.

From 2013 to 2019, she had a recurring role as "Janine Davis" on The Big Bang Theory, and has starred in numerous films, including Ray, Poetic Justice, Friday, and Legally Blonde 2.

Regina Rene King was born on January 15, 1971, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in View Park-Windsor Hills, the eldest daughter of Gloria, a special education teacher, and Thomas King, an electrician. The two divorced in 1979. Her younger sister is former actress Reina King. 

King attended Westchester High School and the University of Southern California. 

King began her acting career in 1985 playing the role of "Brenda Jenkins" on the television series 227, a role she played until the show ended in 1990. She went on to appear in the John Singleton films Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice, and Higher Learning. In 1995, she was featured in the Ice Cube's hit comedy film Friday, starring Cube, Chris Tucker, and Nia Long.

In 1996, she starred in the Martin Lawrence dark comedy-romance A Thin Line Between Love and Hate as "Mia". Later in 1996, she gained fame starring in the blockbuster romantic comedy film Jerry Maguire as "Marcee Tidwell", the wife of Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s character.

She played Will Smith's character's wife in Enemy of the State, and was also featured in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Mighty Joe Young, Down to Earth, Daddy Day Care, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, A Cinderella Story, Ray and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.

Beginning in the mid-2000s, she had ongoing roles on several TV series, including acclaimed work as the voice of "Huey Freeman" and "Riley Freeman" for the animated series The Boondocks and detective "Lydia Adams" on the TNT police drama Southland. She also appeared in roles on 24, The Big Bang Theory, and Shameless.

In 2007, she played "Lisa Moore" in This Christmas. She also joined the cast of ABC's John Ridley-penned ensemble drama American Crime as a devout member of the Nation of Islam and sister to a drug addict accused of murder. Her performance was praised by television critics. 

In September 2015 and September 2016, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie for American Crime.

In 2018, King played the role of the mother of a murdered black teenager in Netflix original series Seven Seconds, winning her third Primetime Emmy Award. Her performance in the 2018 film If Beale Street Could Talk, directed by Barry Jenkins and starring KiKi Layne and Stephan James, garnered critical acclaim and earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2019-2020, she directed One Night in Miami based upon the play of the same name, starring Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, and Aldis Hodge. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 7, 2020, the first film directed by an African-American woman to be selected in the festival’s history.

In 2019, King was seen in the role of Angela Abar/Sister Night in 9 episodes of the TV mini-series Watchmen.

She is also working on Jeymes Samuel's Western drama The Harder They Fall with Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, and Idris Elba. The release date is not yet known.

In 1997, King married Ian Alexander but they divorced in 2007. They had one son, Ian Alexander Jr., born on January 21, 1996.

From 2011 until Marc 2013, she dated actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

Film

Television

As director

As music video director