Taraji P. Henson Biography

Taraji Penda Henson (born September 11, 1970) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Yvette in Baby Boy (2001), Shug in Hustle and Flow (2005) and Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2009. Since 2011, she has co-starred in the CBS drama Person of Interest.

Early life

Henson was born in southeast Washington, D.C., the daughter of Bernice Gordon, a corporate manager at Woodward & Lothrop, and Boris Henson, a janitor and fabricator. She is a relative of the Arctic explorer, Matthew Henson, who was with the Peary expedition, thought to have been the first to reach the North Pole, in 1909. (Peary's claim has been disputed.) Her first and middle name are of Swahili origin, taraji meaning hope and penda meaning love.

Henson spent summers at her grandparents' house in suburban southern Maryland. She attended Oxon Hill High School in Oxon Hill, Maryland. She first attended NC A&T, where she started a major in Electrical Engineering. She later transferred to Howard University. She worked two jobs"?in the morning as a secretary at the Pentagon and in the night as a waitress on The Odyssey Cruise Line to pay for Howard University. She won the Triple Threat Award and graduated with a degree in Theater Arts.

Career

Henson has appeared in the films Four Brothers (2005), Talk To Me (2007), Smokin' Aces (2007), The Family That Preys (2008), and Hurricane Season (2009). In late 2008, she starred opposite Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Henson plays the role of Queenie, Benjamin's mother, in a performance which has garnered critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She noted in an interview that, "Queenie is the embodiment of unconditional love."

Henson has also been a cast member on several television shows, including Lifetime Television's The Division and ABC's Boston Legal for one season. Her recurring appearances in television include the character Angela Scott on ABC's Eli Stone in December 2008. She has guest-starred on several television shows, such as the WB Television Network's Smart Guy, playing the role of Monique (1997-98); the Fox series House in 2005; and CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2006. She also starred on an episode of Sister, Sister. In 2011, Henson was cast in the CBS crime-suspense series Person of Interest.

Henson made her singing debut in Hustle & Flow; she provided the vocals for the Three 6 Mafia track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2006, giving Three 6 Mafia the distinction of becoming the first black hip-hop act to win in that category. Henson performed the song at the live Oscar ceremony on March 5, 2006 with the group. Additionally, she performed the song "In My Daughter's Eyes" on the 2006 charity album Unexpected Dreams - Songs From the Stars.

Henson has made several appearances in music videos. For example, she starred in the rapper Common's music video called "Testify" in 2005 as the wife of a soon to be convicted murderer.

Henson joined PETA in its campaign against the use of animal products in clothing, stating, "I don't think a living being should suffer for the sake of fashion, period. End of story... You don't have to kill an animal just because you want to be hot and fly. And I really stand by that". In January 2011, she appeared nude in an ad for the I'd Rather Be Naked Than Wear Fur campaign.

In 2012, Henson starred in the large ensemble cast film Think like a Man, which was based on Steve Harvey's 2009 book Act like a Lady, Think like a Man. Henson will reprise her role in the film's sequel Think Like a Man Too, which is set to be released in June 2014.

Henson joined PETA again for a 2013 campaign stating "Be an Angel for Animals". In the ad Henson poses with her family dog Uncle Willie while wearing a piece of sheer fabric. The ad highlights the issue that, "Chained dogs suffer day in and day out. They are cold, hungry, thirsty, vulnerable, and lonely. Keep them inside, where it's safe and warm."

In the episode entitled "The Crossing" of Person of Interest, Henson's character Carter was killed after co-starring for two years.. It is not yet known if she will return in further episodes in a flashback.

Personal life

Henson's son Marcel was born in 1994. Her son's father was murdered in 1997. He was her high school sweetheart. According to a mitochondrial DNA analysis, her matrilineal lineage can be traced to the Masa people of Cameroun.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle	Left-Wing Student
2000	Satan's School for Girls	Paige
2001	Baby Boy	Yvette
2004	Hair Show	Tiffany
2005	Hustle & Flow	Shug
2005	Four Brothers	Camille Mercer
2005	Animal	Ramona
2006	Something New	Nedra
2007	Smokin' Aces	Sharice Watters
2007	Talk to Me	Vernell Watson
2008	The Family That Preys	Pam
2008	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	Queenie
2009	Not Easily Broken	Clarice Clark-Johnson
2009	Hurricane Season	Dayna Collins
2009	I Can Do Bad All By Myself	April
2010	Date Night	Detective Arroyo
2010	The Karate Kid	Sherry Parker
2010	Peep World	Mary
2010	Once Fallen	Pearl
2011	The Good Doctor	Nurse Theresa
2011	Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story	Tiffany Rubin
2011	Larry Crowne	B'Ella
2011	Laugh at My Pain	Taraji
2011	From the Rough	Catana Starks
2012	Think Like a Man	Lauren
2013	Madly Madagascar	Okapi
2014	No Good Deed		post-production
2014	Think Like a Man Too	Lauren	post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
1997	Sister, Sister	Briana	Episode: "Two's Company"
1997-98	Smart Guy	Monique, Leslie	Episodes: "Big Picture", "Boomerang", and "Break Up Not to Make Up"
2002-04	The Division	Inspector Washington
2004	All of Us	Kim	Episode: "In Through the Out Door"
2005	House	Moira	Episode: "Spin"
2006	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Christina	Episode: "I Like to Watch"
2007-08	Boston Legal	Whitney Rome	17 episodes
2011– 2013	Person of Interest	Detective Jocelyn "Joss" Carter	Last Ep 3x09

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
2001	Baby Boy	Black Reel Award for Best Actress
2005	Hustle & Flow	BET Award for Best Actress
2005		Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress
2005		Black Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress
2005		Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
2005		NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
2005		MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
2005		MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss
2005		Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2005		Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
2005	Four Brothers	Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
2007	Talk to Me	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
2007		Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
2008	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	Austin Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008		BET Award for Best Actress
2008		NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
2008		Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008		Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008		Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008		Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008		Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008		Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008		MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance
2008		St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008		Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
2008		Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2009	I Can Do Bad All By Myself	Black Reel Award for Best Actress
2011	Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story	BET Award for Best Actress
2011		NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
2011		Black Reel Award for Best Actress: T.V. Movie/Cable
2011		Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
2011		Satellite Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film