Sheryl Lee Ralph

Sheryl Lee Ralph, born December 30, 1956, in Waterbury, Connecticut, is an American actress and singer whose career has spanned stage, film, and television for more than four decades. The daughter of Stanley Ralph, an African-American college professor, and Ivy Ralph, a Jamaican fashion designer and creator of the kariba suit, Ralph was raised between Mandeville, Jamaica, and Long Island, New York. She attended Uniondale High School in Uniondale, New York, where she appeared in a production of Oklahoma!, portraying Ado Annie, and graduated in 1972. That same year she was crowned Miss Black Teen-age New York. Ralph went on to become the youngest woman to graduate from Rutgers University, earning her degree at age 19. During her time there she was among the earliest recipients of the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships awarded by the American College Theatre Festival and was named one of the top ten college women in America by Glamour magazine. She later returned to Rutgers as commencement speaker for the Class of 2023 and delivered the commencement address at Drexel University in 2024.

Ralph launched her professional career in the late 1970s, making her film debut in the 1977 crime comedy A Piece of the Action, directed by Sidney Poitier. Early television work included guest appearances on Good Times, The Jeffersons, and Wonder Woman. Her Broadway career began in 1980 with a role in Reggae, and the following year she originated the role of Deena Jones in the landmark musical Dreamgirls. The performance earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical in 1982. Concurrently, she appeared in the cast of the CBS daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow. Following Dreamgirls, Ralph signed with Sid Bernstein's music label and released her sole studio album, In the Evening, in 1984. The album's title track reached number five on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart and number 64 on the UK Singles Chart. She subsequently took on the leading role of Ginger St. James in the television series It's a Living, which ran from 1986 to 1989. In 1988, she provided the voice of Rita, an Afghan Hound, in the Disney animated film Oliver & Company, and in 1989 she starred opposite Denzel Washington in The Mighty Quinn.

The 1990s brought further recognition across multiple platforms. Ralph starred as Vicki St. James in the ABC sitcom New Attitude in 1990, and the following year she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her work in the 1990 drama To Sleep with Anger. In 1992 she appeared alongside Robert De Niro in Mistress and co-starred with Eddie Murphy in The Distinguished Gentleman. She also played Florence Watson, the mother of Lauryn Hill's character, in the 1993 film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. Her portrayal of Dee Mitchell on the UPN sitcom Moesha, which ran from 1996 to 2001, generated five NAACP Image Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. During this period she also provided the voice of Cheetah in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited and produced Divas Simply Singing, which became a notable AIDS fundraiser.

Ralph returned to Broadway in 2002, playing Muzzy Van Hossmere in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and later appeared as Madame Morrible in Wicked from 2016 to 2017. She also produced the Broadway plays Thoughts of a Colored Man in 2021 and Ohio State Murders in 2022. Her Broadway work spans from 1980 to 2003 in performance, with her producing credits extending into the 2020s. In 2023, her work in connection with a Broadway revival earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Revival of a Play.

Beginning in 2021, Ralph joined the cast of the ABC mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary, portraying veteran elementary school teacher Barbara Howard. Her performance earned her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2022, making her the second Black actress to win in that category after Jackée Harry, who had won in 1987 for 227, and the first Black woman in 35 years to claim the honor. She also received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2023. In October 2022, the governor-general of Jamaica presented Ralph with the Order of Jamaica in recognition of her contributions to the national film industry. In 2023, she performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing" at the Super Bowl LVII pre-show and became the first celebrity and first Black person to portray Mrs. Claus in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.