Updated June 1,2020
Regina King Career Summary:
Occup. Inheritance: No
Social Class: middle; father electrician; mother teacher
Race: black
Education: Westchester High School, 1988; age 17
Training: USC
Sage Debut:
Film Debut: Boyz N the Hood, 1991; age 20
Oscar Award: 1, Supp. Actress, If Beal Street Could Talk; age 47
Other Oscars: No
Other Awards: 3 Emmys
Marriage: 1
Politics
Death:
Regina Rene King was born January 15, 1971 in Los Angeles.
King has won an Oscar Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Primetime Emmy Awards. Time magazine named King one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.
Emmy Awards
King first gained attention in 1985 for her role in the NBC television series “227.” She appeared in both television and film, rising tor prominence with roles in the films Friday (1995), Jerry Maguire (1996), and the crime television series Southland (2009–2013).
From 2015 to 2017, King starred in the ABC anthology series American Crime, for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards, and in 2018, she starred in the Netflix miniseries Seven Seconds, for which she won her third Emmy Award.
Supporting Actress Oscar
Her role as a troubled mother in Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” won her the 2018 Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
King’s other TV roles include voice work for Huey and Riley Freeman on the Adult Swim animated series “The Boondocks,” the drama series “The Leftovers” (2015–2017), and the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.”
King grew up in View Park-Windsor Hills. She is the eldest daughter of Gloria (Cain), a special education teacher, and Thomas King, an electrician. King’s parents divorced in 1979. King’s younger sister is former actress Reina King, who appeared on What’s Happening Now!!
Education:
King attended Westchester High School; graduating in 1988 and later attended 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 appeared in the John Singleton films Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice and Higher Learning. In 1995, she was featured in the hit comedy film Friday.
In 1996, she starred in the Martin Lawrence dark comedy-romance A Thin Line Between Love and Hate as Mia. King gained fame starring in the 1996 blockbuster romantic comedy 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 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 was a cast member on ABC’s John Ridley-penned ensemble drama American Crime, and played a devout member of the Nation of Islam and sister to a drug addict accused of murder.
In September 2015 and September 2016, King won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie for American Crime.[17][16] In 2018, she played the role of the mother of a murdered black teenager in Netflix original series Seven Seconds, winning her third Primetime Emmy Award.[18] Her performance in the 2018 film If Beale Street Could Talk, directed by Barry Jenkins, garnered critical acclaim and earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[19]
In July 2019, it was announced King would direct One Night in Miami based upon the play of the same name. Principal photography began in January 2020, with Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge and Leslie Odom Jr. starring in the film.
In 1997, King married Ian Alexander, but they divorced in 2007. They have one son, Ian Alexander Jr., born January 19, 1996. King dated actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner from 2011until March 2013.
