Ellen Cleghorne facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ellen Cleghorne
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Ellen Cleghorne at the La Bella Vista Club in 2008
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| Born | November 29, 1965 New York City, U.S.
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| Education | Hunter College |
| Occupation | Actress, comedian |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Children | 1 |
Ellen Leslye Cleghorne (born November 29, 1965) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for being a cast member on the TV show Saturday Night Live (SNL) from 1991 to 1995.
Ellen was the second African-American woman to be a main cast member on SNL. She was also the first African-American woman to stay on the show for more than one season. She returned for SNL's 40th anniversary special in 2015. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her as the 69th greatest SNL cast member.
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Early Life and Start in Comedy
Ellen Cleghorne grew up in Red Hook, Brooklyn in Brooklyn, New York. She went to Brooklyn Technical High School and then to Hunter College.
She started her comedy career in New York City comedy clubs. In 1989, she competed in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search. In 1991, she appeared on Def Comedy Jam. She also had small roles in the second season of In Living Color. This is where producers from Saturday Night Live noticed her talent.
Ellen Cleghorne's Career Highlights
Ellen Cleghorne joined Saturday Night Live in 1991. She stayed on the show for four seasons, until 1995. She was the third Black woman to be listed in the credits on Saturday Night Live. She was also the first woman of color to be a full cast member for longer than one season.
She later explained that, for a long time, Black performers on SNL did not get contracts. This meant their names were not always in the credits. Getting a contract was important for getting paid fairly for reruns of the show.
Impressions and Characters on SNL
While on Saturday Night Live, Ellen was great at doing impressions of famous people. An impression is when an actor copies how someone else talks and acts.
- Alfre Woodard
- Anita Baker
- Debbie Allen
- Dr. Dre
- Florence Griffith Joyner
- Mary J. Blige
- Natalie Cole
- Patti LaBelle
- Marla Gibbs
- Robin Quivers
- Tina Turner
- Toni Morrison
- Whoopi Goldberg
She also had two popular characters of her own:
- Queen Shenequa: This character was a social critic who wore African clothes. She often talked about race and celebrated Kwanzaa.
- Zoraida: Zoraida was an energetic but easily annoyed NBC page. She would bother celebrity hosts backstage. If the celebrity tried to leave, Zoraida would sometimes get angry and threaten them.
After Saturday Night Live
In 1995, Ellen Cleghorne left SNL to star in her own TV show called Cleghorne!. It was a sitcom about a single mother named Ellen Carlson. The show aired for one season on The WB network. Ellen later said she felt she wasn't ready to be strong enough to make the show exactly how she wanted it.
Ellen also appeared on the Nickelodeon children's TV show The Adventures of Pete and Pete in 1993 and 1994. She played a bus driver who was a love interest for Pete's regular bus driver.
She has also appeared in several movies, including:
- Mr. Wrong (1996)
- Armageddon (1998)
- Coyote Ugly (2000)
- Little Nicky (2000)
- Old School (2003)
- Grown Ups 2 (2013)
- Second Act (2018)
In 2015, Ellen was a contestant on the cooking competition show Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition. She finished in 3rd place. That same year, she appeared in the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special. She called this experience "a cleansing," meaning it felt like a fresh start.
Education and Later Life
In 2014, Ellen Cleghorne earned her PhD in Performance Studies. She received this degree from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.
