Celebrity Online NewsOnline Celebrity Gossip and News

Wanda Sykes extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes, September 2004
Born	March 7, 1964 (1964-03-07) (age 45) Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation	Actress/Comedian
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Dave Hall (1991-1998), "Alex" (full name undisclosed) (2008-present)
www.WandaSykes.com Official website

Wanda Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American Emmy Award winning stand-up comedian and actress. She is known for her blunt comedic observations on current events, the differences between the sexes and races, and the human condition. As an actress she is known for her role as Barb on The New Adventures of Old Christine, on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm as herself and numerous cameo appearances. In 2004 Entertainment Weekly named her as one of the 25 funniest people in America.¹

Contents 1 Early years 2 Career 3 Awards 4 Personal life 5 Filmography 5.1 Screenwriter 6 References 7 External links

Early years

Sykes was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and raised in the Washington, D.C. area. Her father served as a US Army colonel employed at the Pentagon, and her mother worked as a banker. She attended Arundel High School in Gambrills, Maryland, and went on to graduate from Hampton University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing. After college, her first job was as a procurement officer with the National Security Agency (NSA),² where she worked for five years.³

Career

Not completely satisfied with her role with the 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.⁴ She continued to hone her talents at local venues while at the NSA until 1992, when she moved to New York City. 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.⁴ The writing team was nominated for four Emmys, and in 1999 won for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Special. Since that time, she has appeared in such films as 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 #70 on its list of the 100 greatest all-time standups. 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.

In addition to her film and television work, she is also an author. She wrote Yeah, I Said It, a book of humorous observations on various topics, published in September 2004.

In 2006, she landed a recurring role on the sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine; she became a series regular in the second season. 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' first HBO Comedy Special, entitled Wanda Sykes: Sick & Tired, premiered on October 14, 2006. Her voice can be heard narrating the most recent Applebee's commercials as the talking apple, with her infamous ending line, "Get it together, baby."

Sykes performed as part of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour 2008.

In October 2008, Wanda 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 the 30-second spot, she uses humour to scold a teenager for saying "that's so gay" when he really means "that is so bad."⁵⁶

In March 2009, it was announced that Sykes would be the host of a new late-night talk show on Saturdays on Fox. It is expected to premiere in the Fall of 2009.⁷ In April 2009, she was named in Out magazine's Annual Power 50 List, landing at number 35.⁸

In May 2009, Sykes was the featured entertainer for the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, becoming both the first African American and the first openly LGBT person to get the role. At this event, Sykes made controversial headlines as she responded to conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh's recent comments regarding President Barack Obama. Limbaugh had said "I hope he fails" regarding Obama's "socialist" agenda, as Limbaugh put it. In response, Sykes quipped: "I hope his [Limbaugh's] kidneys fail."⁹

Awards

Sykes was nominated for three Primetime Emmys and in 1999 won the Emmy for "Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special." In 2001, she won the American Comedy Award for "Outstanding Female Stand Up Comic". She won three more Emmys, in 2002, 2004 and 2005 , for her work on “Inside the NFL” for “Outstanding Studio Show - Weekly- Inside The NFL" followed by a Comedy Central Commie Award for "Funniest TV Actress in 2003." ¹⁰

Personal life

Sykes was married to David Hall from 1991 to 1998.¹¹ In October 2008 in California she married her female partner Alex whom she met in 2006, and publicly came out in November at a same-sex marriage rally regarding Proposition 8 in Las Vegas that she is a lesbian and had just married.³ Alex gave birth to twins Olivia Lou and Lucas Claude on April 27, 2009.¹²

Sykes expressed her excitement over the presidential election of Barack Obama, and feeling "crushed" after California voters passed state Proposition 8, which forbade marriages of same-sex couples.³¹³ She has continued to be active in same-sex marriage issues hosting events and emceeing fundraisers.

Filmography

The Drew Carey Show (1995) (TV) The Chris Rock Show (1997) (TV) Premium Blend (1997) (TV) (2002) (presenter) Dr. Katz Professional Therapist (1998) (TV) (voice) Tomorrow Night (1999) Best of Chris Rock (1999) (TV) Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm (1999) (TV) Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) Down to Earth (2001) Pootie Tang (2001) The Downer Channel (2001) (TV) Crank Yankers (2002) (TV) (voice) MTV Movie Awards Reloaded (2003) (TV) Wanda at Large (2003) (TV) (actor/producer)

Wanda Does It (2004) (TV) Clerks II (2006) Monster-in-Law (2006) My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) Will & Grace (2006) Barnyard (2006) (voice) Brother Bear 2 (2006) (voice) Over the Hedge (2006) (voice) The Adventures of Brer Rabbit (2006) (voice) The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006-present) (TV) Evan Almighty (2007) License to Wed (2007) Back at the Barnyard (2007) (TV) (voice)

Screenwriter

• The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show (1997) (TV)
• The Chris Rock Show (1997) (TV)
• Best of Chris Rock: Volume 2 (2001)
• The Downer Channel (2001) (TV)
• The 74th Annual Academy Awards Show (2002) (TV)
• Wanda Sykes: Tongue Untied (2003) (TV)
• Wanda at Large (2003) (TV)
• Wanda Sykes: Sick and Tired (2006) (TV)

References

External links

• Wanda Sykes official website
• Wanda Sykes at the Internet Movie Database
• Wanda Sykes tells a crowd in Las Vegas she is gay NYTimes
• Wanda Sykes's exclusive coming out interview in The Advocate
• Boston