Regina King facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Regina King
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King in 2018
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| Born |
Regina Rene King
January 15, 1971 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1985–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Ian Alexander Sr.
(m. 1997; div. 2007) |
| Children | 1 (deceased) |
| Awards | Full list |
Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is a famous American actress, director, and producer. She has won many important awards for her amazing work in movies and TV shows. These include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
King first became well-known for starring in the TV show 227 from 1985 to 1990. She later appeared in popular films like Friday (1995) and Ray (2004). She also voiced characters in the animated series The Boondocks (2005–2014). Regina King has continued to impress audiences with her roles in TV dramas like Southland (2009–2013) and The Leftovers (2015–2017).
She earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her powerful role in the film If Beale Street Could Talk (2018). She also starred in the exciting western movie The Harder They Fall (2021) and played the main character in the movie Shirley (2024). Besides acting, Regina King has directed episodes for several TV shows, including Scandal and This Is Us. Her first feature film as a director was One Night in Miami... (2020), which was highly praised.
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Early Life and Education
Regina Rene King was born on January 15, 1971, in Los Angeles County, California. She grew up in a neighborhood called View Park–Windsor Hills. Her family has roots in Liberia, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. Both of her parents moved to Los Angeles from the Southern United States during a time called the Great Migration.
Her mother, Gloria Jean, was a special education teacher. Her father, Thomas Henry King Jr., worked as an electrician. Regina has a younger sister named Reina. Her parents divorced when she was eight years old. Regina attended Westchester High School and graduated in 1989. She then studied communications at the University of Southern California for two years before deciding to follow her dream of acting.
Acting Career Highlights
Regina King started her acting career in 1985. Her first big role was Brenda Jenkins on the TV series 227, which she starred in until 1990. After that, she appeared in several films directed by John Singleton, including Boyz n the Hood (1991), Poetic Justice (1993), and Higher Learning (1995).
In 1995, she was in the popular comedy film Friday. The next year, she gained more fame starring in the romantic comedy Jerry Maguire as Marcee Tidwell. In 1998, she was cast in the film Enemy of the State, which earned her a nomination for an NAACP Image Award. She also appeared in How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Mighty Joe Young that same year.
In 2004, King played Margie Hendrix in the biographical film Ray, which was about the famous musician Ray Charles. Her performance in Ray earned her several awards, including the Satellite Award and an NAACP Image Award.
From 2005 to 2014, Regina King voiced the characters Huey and Riley Freeman in the animated series The Boondocks. From 2009 to 2013, she played Detective Lydia Adams in the police drama Southland, winning two NAACP Image Awards for her role.
In 2013, King had a recurring role as Janine Davis in the popular TV series The Big Bang Theory. From 2015 to 2017, she was a cast member on the ABC drama American Crime, where she played three different roles. She won the Primetime Emmy Award two years in a row for her work on this show. Also in 2015, King starred in The Leftovers, which also received an award.
In 2018, King starred in the Netflix series Seven Seconds, playing the mother of a murdered teenager. This role earned her a third Primetime Emmy Award. Her performance in the 2018 film If Beale Street Could Talk was highly praised. She won the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for this role. Many critics called her the most awarded actress of 2018 in film.
In 2019, King starred in the limited series Watchmen. Her performance was widely acclaimed, and she won her fourth Primetime Emmy Award for it. In October 2021, King starred in the Netflix western film The Harder They Fall, for which she won another NAACP Image Award. Most recently, she produced and starred as Shirley Chisholm in the Netflix movie Shirley, which tells the story of the first Black congresswoman during her historic presidential campaign.
Directing Career
Regina King began directing TV shows in 2015. She directed six episodes of the drama series Being Mary Jane. In 2016, she directed episodes for popular shows like Scandal, The Catch, Animal Kingdom, This Is Us, and Shameless.
In July 2019, it was announced that King would direct her first feature film, One Night in Miami.... The movie premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 7, 2020. It was the first film directed by an African-American woman to be chosen for the festival's history. King received many awards and nominations for her directing, including a Best Director nomination.
She is also an executive producer and director for the Netflix TV series A Man in Full, which was released in 2024.
Personal Life
Regina King was married to Ian Alexander Sr. from 1997 to 2007. They had one son, Ian Alexander Jr., who was born in 1996. Ian Jr. became a disc jockey and recording artist. Sadly, he passed away in January 2022 at the age of 26.
Images for kids
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King in 2018
See also
In Spanish: Regina King para niños
