Taraji P. Henson

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Taraji P. Henson
Born	Taraji Penda Henson September 11, 1977 (1977-09-11) (age 30) Washington, D.C., United States
Years active	1997-Present

Taraji Penda Henson (born September 11, 1977) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as pregnant prostitute Shug in Craig Brewer's Hustle & Flow (2005).

Contents 1 Biography 2 Career 3 Awards/Nominations 4 Selected Filmography 5 Notes 6 External links

[edit] Biography

Henson was born in Washington, DC, and attended Oxon Hill High School in Oxon Hill, MD. Henson's first and middle names are of Arabic origin, meaning "hope". She is a descendant of Matthew Henson, co-discoverer of the North Pole^[1].

She first attended NC A&T where she attempted to study Electrical Engineering. She failed Pre-Calculus so she 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 2007 ^[2].

[edit] Career

She has appeared in the films Baby Boy (2001), "Hairshow" (2004), Hustle & Flow (2005), Four Brothers (2005), and Talk to Me, and was a cast member on Lifetime Television's The Division.

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 "Please let me testify" but no one had let her.

She is currently playing attorney Whitney Rome on ABC's Boston Legal.

[edit] 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)

[edit] Selected Filmography

• Streetwise (1998)
• 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/II) (V)....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)

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Taraji P. Henson at the Internet Movie Database
• Taraji P. Henson at TV.com