Queen Latifah

Dana Elaine Owens was born in Newark, New Jersey. Better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, she is a rapper, actress, and singer. Queen Latifah's work in music, film, and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy Award nomination, and an Academy Award nomination. From 1993-1998, Latifah had a starring role on Living Single. She began her film career in supporting roles in the 1991 and 1992 films House Party 2, Juice, and Jungle Fever. Later, Latifah appeared in the 1996 box-office hit, Set It Off, and subsequently had a supporting role in the Holly Hunter film Living Out Loud (1998). She also played Thelma in the 1999 movie The Bone Collector, alongside Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Although she had already received some critical acclaim, she gained mainstream success after being cast as Matron "Mama" Morton in the Oscar-winning film adaptation of the musical Chicago (2002). Latifah received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Since then, she has starred in many popular films, including Bringing Down the House, with Steve Martin, Taxi, Beauty Shop, Hairspray, and Last Holiday. In 2007, she produced the film The Perfect Holiday starring Morris Chestnut and Gabrielle Union. Her most recent films include Just Wright (2010) and The Dilemma (2011), and she will reprise her role in the next installment of the animated film, Ice Age.