Lena Waithe facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lena Waithe
Waithe at the 2018 WonderCon
Born	(1984-05-17) May 17, 1984 (age 41) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Education	Columbia College Chicago (BFA)
Occupation	Actress producer screenwriter
Years active	2007–present
Spouse(s)	Alana Mayo ​ ​ (m. 2019; div. 2021)​

Lena Waithe (born May 17, 1984) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She is known for creating popular TV shows like The Chi on Showtime and Boomerang and Twenties on BET. She also wrote and produced the movie Queen & Slim (2019). She is an executive producer for the horror series Them.

Waithe became famous for her role in the Netflix comedy-drama series Master of None. In 2017, she made history by becoming the first African-American woman to win a Primetime Emmy Award for writing. She won for the "Thanksgiving" episode of Master of None, which was based on her own life experiences. She has also acted in Steven Spielberg's movie Ready Player One and the HBO series Westworld. In 2023, she was nominated for a Best Play for her work on the play Ain't No Mo'.

In 2018, Time magazine named Waithe one of the 100 Most Influential People.

Early Life and Education

Lena Waithe was born in Chicago, Illinois. She knew from a young age that she wanted to be a television writer. Her single mother and grandmother strongly supported her writing dreams. Waithe grew up on the South Side of Chicago until she was 12.

She went to a special elementary school called Turner-Drew. Later, she moved to Evanston and finished middle school there. Waithe graduated from Evanston Township High School. She then earned a degree in cinema and television arts from Columbia College Chicago in 2006. She praised her teacher Michael Fry for his help and encouragement.

Career Highlights

After moving to Los Angeles, Waithe started working as an assistant. She worked for the executive producer of the TV show Girlfriends. Soon after, she had a small acting role in Lisa Kudrow's show The Comeback. She later became a writer for the TV series Bones and How to Rock. She also worked as a producer on the movie Dear White People in 2014.

In 2014, Variety magazine called Waithe one of their "10 Comedians to Watch." In 2015, Showtime ordered a pilot episode for a new series called The Chi. Waithe wrote this show, and Common produced it. The show tells the story of a young Black-American man growing up in the city. Waithe used her own experiences from growing up on the South Side of Chicago to create a detailed story. She wanted to show a more complete picture of her hometown. She also helps other Black-American artists in the entertainment industry.

In 2015, Waithe was cast in the Netflix series Master of None. She met the show's creator, Aziz Ansari, and they changed the character of Denise to be more like Waithe. She said it was important to show a character like her on TV. She wanted to show that people like her exist in the world.

In 2017, Waithe and Ansari won a Primetime Emmy Award for writing the episode "Thanksgiving". This made her the first African-American woman to win an Emmy in that category. Waithe said the episode was based on a very personal experience from her own life. She thanked everyone for supporting her journey as a Black woman from Chicago. Out Magazine named Waithe the Out100: Artist of the Year in 2017.

Since 2018, Waithe has been the voice for the tagline in AT&T commercials. That same year, she started her own production company, Hillman Grad Productions.

Waithe wrote and produced the movie Queen & Slim. It starred Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya. The movie was released in 2019. It explored important social issues like police brutality and unfair treatment. Queen & Slim won a BET Award for Best Movie in 2020. It also won a Florida Film Critics Circle Award in 2019.

In 2020, Waithe voiced the character Officer Specter in the Pixar animated film Onward.

She works to bring more diverse people into film and television projects. In 2020, her company, Hillman Grad Productions, started a mentoring and training program. She also signed a deal with Warner Bros. TV Group. This deal is to create a TV version of the movie Hoop Dreams.

Film and Television Work

Lena Waithe has worked on many films and TV shows. She has been an actress, writer, and producer.

Film Roles

Television Roles

Writing and Producing Work

Awards and Nominations

Lena Waithe has won and been nominated for many awards for her work.