Taraji P. Henson is an American actress, singer, and author. She began her career in 1997 with the role ofAidaIn one episodeParent Community‘.
She got her breakthrough film role “Baby Boy” After appearing in several TV series and a few movies, she was nominated for the Black Film Awards.
She was nominated forOscarShe won the Best Supporting Actress Award for her role as Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
She has appeared in many films, including Date Night, The Karate Kid, Think Like a Man, and Think Like a Man. Taraji P. Henson was nominated for the 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her role in Take My Life: The Tiffany Rubin Story.
contour
- Nickname: TJ, Cookie
- Gender: Female
- Date of Birth: September 11, 1970
- Full name: Taraji Penda Henson
- Occupation: Actor, writer
- Country: United States
- Birthplace: Washington, D.C., USA
- Religion: Christianity
- Parents: Boris Hanson, Bernice Gordon
- Son: Marcel Johnson
early life
Taraji P. Henson was born on September 11, 1970, in Washington, D.C. to Boris Lawrence Henson and Bernice Gordon. Her first name, Taraji, means hope in Swahili, while her second name, Penda, means love.
Her father was a metal manufacturer and her mother was a businesswoman, but her parents divorced when she was two.
She hoped to attend the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., but was rejected. Frustrated, she enrolled at Oxon Hill High School, graduating in 1988.
She majored in electrical engineering at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. After failing a pre-calculus course, she was sent to Howard University to study theater.
She received the Triple Threat Scholarship from Howard University. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1995.
Profession
In 1997, she made her television debut in the sitcom Parents. Sister, Sister (1997), ER (1998), The Precinct (2002–2004), CSI (2006), and Boston Legal (2007–2008) were her early television credits. Her first television film was Satan’s School for Girls (2000).
Taraji P. Henson made her feature film debut in 1998, playing the role of “Tammy” in the street crime thriller Street Smarts. In 2000, she starred in the live-action animated adventure comedy film The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
In 2001, she made her film debut in the comedy-drama film Honey Boy, for which she was nominated for the Black Film Awards for Best Actress.
In 2005, she played the prostitute “Shug” in the Oscar-winning independent film Hustle and Bustle.
She also sang the song “It’s Hard to Be a Pimp Here” in the movie. She has been nominated for the NAACP Image Award, MTV Movie Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Washington D.C. Film Critics Association Award for her performance.
She continued to showcase her acting talents by starring in films such as Smokin’ Aces (2006) and Talk to Me (2007).
She continued to show her flexibility as an actress in films such as Predator Family (2008), I Can Do Bad Alone (2009), Date Night (2010), and The Karate Kid (2010).
In January 2015, she made her debut as Cookie Lyon in the television musical Empire. The show was a huge success and won her the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series.
She has appeared in several music videos, including “Testify” and “Stay”.
In 2016, she played mathematician Katherina Johnson in the biographical drama Hidden Figures, for which she won the BET Award, NAACP Image Award, and MTV Movie Award.
In 2018, she starred in films such as Proud Mary and The Grudge. In the same year, she played the role of “Yesss” in the hit 3D computer-animated film Wreck-It Ralph 2: Breaking the Internet.
Filmography
- Hidden Figures (2016)
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Hustle and bustle (2005)
- Think Like a Man (2012)
- Four Brothers (2005)
- Talk to Me (2007)
- Something Fresh (2006)
- Honey Boy (2001)
- Best Enemies(2019)
- No Good Deeds(2014)
Personal life
While in college, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, Marcel Johnson, in 1994, to her high school sweetheart.
She married former NFL player Kelvin Hayden in 2018. She can trace her ancestry back to the Massa people of Cameroon.
Taraji P. Henson was engaged to Kelvin Hayden from 2018 to 2020.
She has also been romantically linked to several celebrities, including Drake in 2010, Lamar Odom from 2008 to 2009, Common from 2005 to 2007, Hill Harper from 2002 to 2005, Tyrese Gibson from 1995 to 2002, and William Johnson from 1987 to 1994.
net worth
Benson in “empire”, which ran from 2015 to 2020.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, thanks to the popular TV series and several high-profile big-screen roles, Henson has amassed a net worth of $25 million.
Social Media
- Instagram: @tarajiphenson
