Sharon Ann Leal is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles in movies such as ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,Gro ...

'', '' This Christmas'', ''

Why Did I Get Married? ''Why Did I Get Married?'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film adaptation written, produced, directed, and starring Tyler Perry. It was inspired by Perry's play of the same name. The film also stars Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Malik Yoba, Shar ...

'', ''

Why Did I Get Married Too? ''Why Did I Get Married Too?'' is a 2010 American comedy-drama film directed by Tyler Perry and starring Janet Jackson, Tyler Perry, Tasha Smith, Jill Scott, Louis Gossett Jr., Malik Yoba, Michael Jai White, Sharon Leal, Richard T. Jones, Lamman ...

'' and her roles on the television shows ''

Legacy In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property. Legacy or legacies may refer ...

'', ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'' and ''

Boston Public ''Boston Public'' is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox. Set in Boston, the series centers on Winslow High School, a fictional public high school in the Boston Public Schools district. It features ...

Early life

Leal was born in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. Her mother, Angelita, is Filipina. Her father was an African-American military policeman who broke up with her mother before Sharon was born. Shortly after, her mother married Jesse Leal, a Master Sergeant in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and a police officer at

Clark Air Base Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located west of Angeles City, about northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was previously a United States military facility, operated by the U.S. Air Forc ...

, Philippines; he legally adopted Sharon.

Career

Leal's career began with the role of Dahlia Crede in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

daytime serial ''

''. Later, she joined the Broadway company of ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

''. Soon after, she was cast as Mimi for the San Francisco leg of the first national tour of ''

''. Leal appeared on the 1999 original cast recording of the Off-Broadway musical '' Bright Lights, Big City'' alongside

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...

and

Jesse L. Martin Jesse Lamont Martin ('' né'' Watkins; January 18, 1969) is an American actor and singer. He originated the role of Tom Collins on Broadway in the musical ''Rent'' and performed on television as NYPD Detective Ed Green on '' Law & Order'' and ...

. She also appeared on the 2001 cast recording of ''

Making Tracks ''Making Tracks'' is an Asian American musical theater production by Second Generation, a New York-based theater company, with music by Woody Pak, lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and concept and book by Welly Yang. ''Making Tracks'' tells the story of ...

''. From 2000 to 2004, Leal starred in the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

TV series ''

''. She also had a role in the theatrical release ''Face the Music''. She then appeared in a recurring role in the short-lived

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

series ''

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

'', as the wife of airport co-director, Roger de Souza. In 2006, she co-starred in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical ''

'' as Michelle Morris,

Effie White ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of Rhythm and blues, R&B acts such as The Supremes, The S ...

's replacement in the pop group The Dreams, with

Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Throughout her career, she has received various accolades for her works in recorded music, film, televisio ...

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

and

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film '' Ray'', for which he won the ...

. In 2007, Leal was cast in the

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmak ...

production ''

'' and '' This Christmas''. In 2010, she starred in Perry's sequel production ''

''. She also portrayed the character Vanessa Lodge in the series ''

Hellcats ''Hellcats'' is an American cheerleading comedy-drama television series that originally aired on The CW in the United States from September 8, 2010, to May 17, 2011. Based on the book ''Cheer: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders'' b ...

'', until it was cancelled in 2011. In 2013, Leal played the supporting role in the movie ''

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

'', which tells a story of a drug addicted mother and a father's fight to protect his daughter. Leal appears in seasons 2, 3, 5 and 6 of ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' as M'gann M'orzz (Megan in human form).

Personal life

In October 2001, Leal married Bev Land. Their son Kai Miles Land was born in September 2001. The couple divorced in 2009. Former ''Guiding Light'' co-star Yvonna Wright has said that she and Leal are close friends; the two starred together in a community production of ''

'' in their hometown.

Filmography

Film and TV Movies

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leal, Sharon Actresses from Arizona African-American actresses American adoptees American film actresses American soap opera actresses American actresses of Filipino descent Actresses from Tucson, Arizona Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people Year of birth missing (living people)