Thea Vidale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thea Vidale (born November 26, 1956, in Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.) is an African-American stand-up comedian and actress. She began her career doing stand-up comedy in comic clubs in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles. As an actress, she has also numerous guest appearances on sitcoms, including Ellen, The Wayans Bros., The Drew Carey Show, and My Wife and Kids. She is best known for her portrayal of "Thea" on the short-lived sitcom Thea for which she was nominated for a People's Choice Award as Favorite Female in a New Series.
In 1999 promoted by Scott Sherman of Atlantic Entertainment Group, Thea appeared at the Philadelphia GLBT Pride Fest, her first glbt event, with comic Etta May and both were accoladed and awarded by the Mayor of Philadelphia by naming the day simultaneous officially "Thea Vidale Day" & "Etta May Day" in Philadelphia
[edit] World Wrestling Entertainment career
Thea Vidale made her debut on World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in January of 2006. She appeared as the kayfabe mother to wrestler Shelton Benjamin, who had been going through storyline difficulties in the preceding weeks. Her first appearance was on the January 2 episode of RAW,[1] where she surprised Benjamin by showing up and yelled at him that he wasn't acting the way Benjamins act. Over the next several weeks, "Momma Benjamin", as she came to be known, was involved in several backstage skits resulting in her challenging wrestlers to matches on Shelton's behalf. Unlike his streak before her arrival, however, Shelton won the majority of these matches.[2][3][4]
On the February 6, episode of RAW Momma Benjamin attempted to interfere in Shelton's match with the Big Show, only to have the Big Show turn to her and scream in her face. After he turned back to finish the match Momma Benjamin (kayfabe) fainted to the ground prompting EMTs to rush to her side and wheel her backstage.[5] The official WWE website later announced that she was resting at home after having suffered from a heart arrhythmia, which was what caused her to pass out. Momma Benjamin returned to RAW the next week,[6] but with an oxygen tank attached to her wheelchair that started being used as a weapon, especially on the February 20 episode when she led Shelton to the WWE Intercontinental Championship.[7] Momma Benjamin was mentioned for the final time on WWE television on March 13, with Shelton announcing to the crowd that she was having heart surgery, and had no plans to return to WWE.[8]
[edit] Back on TV
In 2007 she made a guest appearance on the television series Ugly Betty playing a hairdresser in the episode "Queens for a Day". In 2007, she played the part of Helen's grandmother on the Drake & Josh episode "Really Big Shrimp".
Later in the year she tried out for the reality television show Last Comic Standing, making it to the second round.[9]
In addition thea vidale has starrred in Master P's comedy movie Repo's.
