Taraji P. Henson

Infobox Actor
name = Taraji P. Henson

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birthname = Taraji Penda Henson
birthdate = birth date and age|1970|9|11
birthplace = Washington, D.C., United States
deathdate =
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othername =
yearsactive = 1997-Present
spouse =
homepage =
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Taraji Penda Henson (born September 11, 1970) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Yvette on "Baby Boy" (2001).

Early life

Henson was born in Washington, DC, the daughter of Bernice, a manager at Woodward & Lothrop, and Boris Henson, a janitor. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/20/AR2005072002355_2.html] She attended Oxon Hill High School in Oxon Hill, MD. Henson's first and middle names are of Arabic origin, meaning "hope". She first attended NC A&T where she started a major in Electrical Engineering. She later transferred to Howard University.

Henson worked two jobs --in the morning as a secretary at the Pentagon; and in the night as a singing and dancing waitress on a dinner cruise ship-- to pay for Howard University. She graduated with a degree in Theater Arts. Her son Marcel was born in 1995; his father died unexpectedly in 1997. Her father died in 2006. [http://blackvoices.aol.com/black_entertainment/featurecanvas?id=20060301130609990001 BV Entertainment Newswire March 1: Taraji P. Henson Prepares For Her Oscar Close Up - AOL Black Voices]

Career

She has appeared in the films "Baby Boy" (2001), "Hair Show" (2004), "Hustle & Flow" (2005), "Four Brothers" (2005), and Talk to Me, 2007 film Smokin Aces and Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys (2008) and was a cast member on Lifetime Television's "The Division" and ABC's "Boston Legal" for one season.

Henson made her singing debut in "Hustle & Flow"; she provided the vocals for the Three 6 Mafia track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2006, giving Three 6 the distinction of becoming the first Black hip-hop act to win in the category. Henson performed the song at the Oscars on March 5, 2006 with the group.

Henson was in the music video Testify in 2005 as the wife of a soon to be convicted murderer, but she was the one who really committed the crime. Throughout the video she keeps pleading "Before you lock my love away".

Awards/nominations

*BET Awards
**2006, Best Actress (Winner)

*Black Movie Awards
**2005, Best Supporting Actress: Hustle & Flow (Winner)

*Black Reel Awards
**2006, Best Ensemble: Hustle & Flow (Nominated)
**2006, Best Ensemble: Four Brothers (Nominated)
**2006, Best Supporting Actress: Hustle & Flow (Winner)
**2002, Best Actress: Baby Boy (Nominated)

*Gotham Awards
**2007, Best Ensemble: Talk to Me (Winner)

*Image Awards
**2008, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Talk to Me (Nominated)
**2006, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Hustle & Flow (Nominated)

*MTV Movie Awards
**2006, Best Breakthrough Performance: Hustle & Flow (Nominated)
**2006, Best Kiss: Hustle & Flow (Nominated) shared w/ Terrence Howard

*Satellite Awards
**2008, Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Talk to Me (Nominated)

*Screen Actors Guild
**2008, Outstanding Cast in a Television Drama: Boston Legal (Nominated)
**2006, Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture: Hustle & Flow (Nominated)

Filmography

*"Streetwise" (1998)....Unknown
*"Satan's School for Girls" (2000)....Paige
*"The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" (2000) (as Taraji Henson)....Left-Wing Student
*"The Division" (2001) TV Series....Inspector Raina Washington
*"All or Nothing" (2001)....Kiko
*"Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man" (2001) (TV)
*"Baby Boy" (2001)....Yvette
*"Holla" (2002) TV Series....Guest
*"Hair Show" (2004)....Tiffany
*"Hustle & Flow" (2005)....Shug
*"Four Brothers" (2005)....Camille Mercer
*"Animal" (2005)....Ramona
*"Something New" (2006)...Nedra
*"Smokin' Aces" (2007)....Sharice Watters
*"Talk to Me" (2007) .... Vernell
*"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008) .... Queenie
*"The Family That Preys" (2008)....Pam
*"Hurricane Season" (2008)....Dayna Collins
*"Not easily broken(2009).......Clarice Clark

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0378245|name=Taraji P. Henson
*tv.com person|34734