Wanda Sykes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wanda Sykes
Sykes at the 2010 GLAAD Media Awards
Birth name	Wanda Yvette Sykes
Born	(1964-03-07) March 7, 1964 (age 60) Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up television film
Education	Hampton University (BS)
Genres	Observational comedy surreal humor insult comedy black comedy blue comedy satire
Subject(s)	American politics African-American culture pop culture racism race relations sexism interpersonal relationships traditions
Spouse	Dave Hall ​ ​ (m. 1991; div. 1998)​ Alex Niedbalski ​ (m. 2008)​
Children	2

Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on The Chris Rock Show, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, Entertainment Weekly named Sykes as one of the 25 funniest people in America. She is also known for her recurring roles on CBS' The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006–10), and HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm (2001–). She received Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nominations for her roles in ABC's Black-ish (2015–2022), and Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2020). She currently stars in the Netflix original series The Upshaws (2021–), the HBO Max comedy series The Other Two (2019–2023), and The Good Fight (2021).

Aside from her television appearances, Sykes has also had a career in film, appearing in Monster-in-Law (2005), My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006), Evan Almighty (2007), and License to Wed (2007), as well as voicing characters in animated films such as Over the Hedge, Barnyard, Brother Bear 2 (all in 2006), Rio (2011), two sequels of the Ice Age franchise (2012–2016), and UglyDolls (2019).

Early life and family

Wanda Sykes was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. Her family moved to Maryland when she was in third grade. Her mother, Marion Louise (née Peoples), worked as a banker, and her father, Harry Ellsworth Sykes, was a U.S. Army colonel employed at the Pentagon. She has an older brother, Harry.

Sykes' family history was researched for an episode of the 2012 PBS genealogy program Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr. Her ancestry was traced back to a 1683 court case involving her ancestor, Elizabeth Banks, a free white woman and indentured servant, who gave birth to a biracial child, Mary Banks, fathered by a slave, who inherited her mother's free status. According to historian Ira Berlin, a specialist in the history of American slavery, the Sykes family history is "the only such case that I know of in which it is possible to trace a black family rooted in freedom from the late 17th century to the present."

Sykes attended Arundel High School in Gambrills, Maryland, and went on to graduate from Hampton University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing and became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. After college, her first job was as a contracting specialist at the National Security Agency, where she worked for five years.

Career

1990s

Following a role with the National Security Agency (NSA), Sykes began her stand-up career at a Coors Light Super Talent Showcase in Washington, DC, where she performed for the first time in front of a live audience in 1987.

She continued to perform at local venues while at the NSA until 1992, when she moved to New York City. One of her early TV appearances was Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam in the early 1990s, where she shared the stage with Adele Givens, J. B. Smoove, D. L. Hughley, Bernie Mac, & Bill Bellamy. Working for the Hal Leonard publishing house, she edited a book entitled Polyrhythms – The Musician's Guide, by Peter Magadini. Her first big break came when opening for Chris Rock at Caroline's Comedy Club.

In 1997, she joined the writing team on The Chris Rock Show and also made many appearances on the show. The writing team was nominated for four Emmys, and in 1999, won for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Special.

Sykes on the cover of Ms. magazine in 2004

Since that time, she has appeared in the films Pootie Tang and on TV shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm. In 2003, she starred in her own short-lived Fox network sitcom, Wanda at Large. The same year, Sykes appeared in an hour-long Comedy Central special, Tongue Untied. That network also ranked her No. 70 on its list of the 100 greatest all-time stand ups. She served as a correspondent for HBO's Inside the NFL, hosted Comedy Central's popular show Premium Blend, and voiced a recurring character named Gladys on Comedy Central's puppet show Crank Yankers. She also had a short-lived show on Comedy Central called Wanda Does It.

2000s

Sykes wrote Yeah, I Said It, a book of humorous observations on various topics, published in September 2004. In 2006, she landed a recurring role as Barb, opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus, on the sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine; she became a series regular during the series' third season in 2008. She also guest starred in the Will & Grace episode "Buy, Buy Baby" in 2006. She provided voices for the 2006 films Over the Hedge, Barnyard, and Brother Bear 2. She had a part in My Super Ex-Girlfriend and after playing in Evan Almighty, had a bit part in License to Wed. Sykes's first HBO Comedy Special, entitled Wanda Sykes: Sick & Tired, premiered on October 14, 2006; it was nominated for a 2007 Emmy Award. In 2008, she performed as part of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour for LGBT rights.

In October 2008, Sykes appeared in a television ad for the Think Before You Speak Campaign, an advertising campaign by GLSEN aimed at curbing homophobic slang in youth communities. In March 2009, Sykes became the host of a late-night talk show on Saturdays on Fox, The Wanda Sykes Show which was scheduled to premiere November 7, 2009. In April 2009, she was named in Out magazine's "Annual Power 50 List", landing at number 35.

In May 2009, Sykes was the featured entertainer for the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, becoming both the first African American woman and the first openly LGBT person to get the role. Cedric the Entertainer had been the first African American to become the featured entertainer in 2005. Her second comedy special, Wanda Sykes: I'ma Be Me premiered on HBO in October 2009. November 2009 saw the premier of The Wanda Sykes Show, which starts with a monologue and continues with a panel discussion in a similar format to Bill Maher's shows Real Time with Bill Maher and Politically Incorrect.

2010s

She appeared as Miss Hannigan in a professional theatre production of Annie at The Media Theatre in Media, PA, a suburb southwest of Philadelphia. Her first appearance in a musical, she played the role from November 23 to December 12, 2010, and again from January 12 to 23, 2011. She voices the Witch in the Bubble Guppies episode "Bubble Puppy's Fin-tastic Fairlytale Adventure". In 2012, Sykes played the role of Granny in Blue Sky Studios' Ice Age: Continental Drift. In 2016, she returned to the role in Ice Age: Collision Course. In May 2013, Sykes was a featured entertainer at Olivia Travel's 40th anniversary Music & Comedy Festival in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

In 2013, Sykes appeared in eight episodes of Amazon's Alpha House, a political comedy series written by Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau. Sykes plays Rosalyn DuPeche, a Democratic Senator from Illinois and the next door neighbor of four Republican senators living together in a house on Capitol Hill. Sykes also appeared in Season Two, which became available in October 2014. The series was canceled after the second season. In 2018, Sykes became the head writer for the revived tenth season of Roseanne. This attracted attention due to star Roseanne Barr's history of controversial political remarks,. On May 29, 2018, Sykes announced on Twitter that she would no longer be working on the series after a since-deleted Twitter rant by Roseanne Barr about Valerie Jarrett.

2020s

In 2021, Sykes began starring on the Netflix sitcom The Upshaws. Sykes co-hosted the 94th Academy Awards with Regina Hall and Amy Schumer on March 27, 2022.

In January 2023, Sykes guest hosted The Daily Show after Trevor Noah's departure.

Personal life

Sykes in September 2004

Sykes was married to record producer Dave Hall from 1991 to 1998. In November 2008, she publicly came out as a lesbian while at a same-sex marriage rally in Las Vegas regarding Proposition 8. A month earlier, Sykes married her wife Alex Niedbalski, a French woman, whom she met in 2006. The couple also became parents in April 2009, when Niedbalski gave birth to a pair of fraternal twins.

During a September 19, 2011, appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Sykes announced that she had been diagnosed earlier in the year with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Sykes splits time between Media, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, and Cherry Grove, New York.

Activism

Sykes publicly expressed being devastated when California voters passed state Proposition 8. She said: "with the legislation that they passed, I can't sit by and just watch. I just can't do it." She has continued to be active in same-sex marriage issues hosting events and emceeing fundraisers. She has also worked with PETA on promoting dog anti-chaining legislation in her home state.

She has been an outspoken supporter of Detroit's Ruth Ellis Center after the organization's staff sent Sykes a letter asking her to visit during her 2010 tour's stop in Detroit.

Sykes often uses Twitter to express her political views, including on May 25, 2021 retweeting a photograph by Evan Vucci of Gianna Floyd, daughter of George Floyd, entering the White House. On July 17, 2021, she also tweeted, "Congress MUST pass the #ForThePeopleAct," and called on her followers to join the "Good Trouble Vigil", commemorating the passing of activist and Congressman John Lewis.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1998	Tomorrow Night	Wanda (Mel's Date)	credited as Wanda Sykes-Hall
2000	Nutty Professor II: The Klumps	Chantal
2001	Down to Earth	Wanda
	Pootie Tang	Biggie Shorty
2005	Monster-in-Law	Ruby
2006	The Adventures of Brer Rabbit	Sister Moon	Voice; Direct-to-video
	Over the Hedge	Stella	Voice
	Clerks II	Angry Customer
	My Super Ex-Girlfriend	Carla Dunkirk
	Barnyard	Bessy	Voice
	Brother Bear 2	Innoko	Voice; Direct-to-video
	CondomNation	Linda
2007	Evan Almighty	Rita Daniels
	License to Wed	Nurse Borman
2011	Rio	Chloe the Canada goose	Voice
	The Muppets	Officer Ethel	Cameo, deleted scene
2012	Ice Age: Continental Drift	Granny	Voice
2013	The Hot Flashes	Florine Clarkston
2016	Ice Age: Collision Course	Granny	Voice
	Bad Moms	Dr. Karl
2017	Snatched	Ruth
	A Bad Moms Christmas	Dr. Karl
2018	Hurricane Bianca 2: From Russia with Hate	Prison Matron
2019	UglyDolls	Wage	Voice
	The Wedding Year	Janet / Grandma
	Jexi	Denice
2020	Friendsgiving	Fairy Gay Mother
2021	Breaking News in Yuba County	Rita
	The One and Only Dick Gregory	Herself	Documentary
2024	Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie	Ma Cheeks	Voice

Television

Writer

Awards and nominations

Sykes has been nominated for seventeen Primetime Emmys, with one win (in 1999) for "Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music or Program." In 2001, she won the American Comedy Award for "Funniest Female Stand-Up Comic". She won a Comedy Central Commie Award for "Funniest TV Actress" in 2003. In 2010 she won the GLAAD Stephen F. Kolzak Award. In 2015 she won the Activism in the Arts honor at the Triumph Awards.

Discography

See also

In Spanish: Wanda Sykes para niños