Legendary actress Jenifer Lewis, aka “The Mother of Black Hollywood,” will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The ceremony will take place on July 15, 2022 and be streamed live at WalkOfFame.com.
“Jenifer Lewis is considered a national treasure and a force to be reckoned with. She is one of those performers who always keeps the audience on their toes! I placed Jenifer’s star next to one of her all-time favorite actresses, the legendary Katharine Hepburn. Those ladies are two peas in a pod, as both delved in Human Rights activities and are known to be as feisty as all get out!” said Ana Martinez, Producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Lewis launched her career as a singer in her church choir at the age of 5. She later relocated to New York where she landed a small role in the musical Eubie based on the work of Eubie Blake in 1979. While making a name for herself in New York, she played Harlette, a backup singer for Bette Midler which led to Lewis' first TV appearances on Midler's HBO specials. In her first screen role, she appeared as a singer in Beaches in 1988.
From 1992 to 1993, she played Dean Davenport in the sixth and final season of A Different World. She also had a recurring role as Will Smith's Aunt Helen in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1991 to 1996. Furthermore, she starred as Lana Hawkins in the Lifetime medical drama Strong Medicine from 2000 to 2006.
Recently, she completed an eight-season run on ABC’s ground-breaking sitcom Black-ish playing the hilarious grandmother Ruby Johnson. In her illustrious career, Lewis has appeared in more than 400 episodic television shows, 68 movies, 40 animations, and four Broadway shows including Friends, Twenties, Cast Away, What’s Love Got to Do With It, Think Like a Man, The Princess and the Frog, Mickey Mouse Funhouse, Rugrats, Cars I, II and III, American Dad, Hairspray and many more.
Her autobiography, The Mother of Black Hollywood, became a national best-seller in 2017. And her sophmore book, Walking in My Joy: In These Streets, is set for release next month on August 30, 2022.
Currently, Lewis is starring in the new hit series, I Love That For You on Showtime.
In April, the International Press Academy presented Lewis with the 2022 Honorary Satellite Award for her charitable work and her contributions to the entertainment industry.
Her induction will be hosted by Lupita Sanchez Cornejo and she’ll be presented by six-time Emmy Award Debbie Allen and Tony and Grammy Award-winner Marc Shaiman.
