Harriet Cleo King is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on television, particularly ''

Mike & Molly ''Mike & Molly'' is an American television sitcom created by Mark Roberts on CBS. It premiered on September 20, 2010, and aired 127 episodes over six seasons. The series stars Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy as the eponymous Mike and Molly ...

'' (2010–2016).

Early life

King was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and was the youngest of seven children. She graduated from

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

and later moved to New York to pursue an acting career, first appearing in theatre productions.

Career

In the mid-1990s, King moved to Los Angeles, California, and began appearing on television shows such as '' The Wayans Bros.'', ''

Living Single ''Living Single'' is an American television sitcom created by Yvette Lee Bowser that aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 22, 1993, to January 1, 1998. The show centered on the lives of six friends who shared personal and profes ...

'', '' Malcolm & Eddie'', ''

Murphy Brown ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for ''FYI'', a ...

'', and '' Any Day Now''. She also appeared on ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

'' as a nurse. King has appeared in a number of films, playing small parts, include ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

'' (1999), ''

Dude, Where's My Car? ''Dude, Where's My Car?'' is a 2000 American stoner comedy film directed by Danny Leiner. The film stars Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott as two best friends who find themselves unable to remember where they parked their vehicle after a nigh ...

'' (2000), '' Bubble Boy'' (2001), ''

The Life of David Gale ''The Life of David Gale'' is a 2003 dramatic crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker and written by Charles Randolph. The film is an international co-production, between the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. It was Parker's fin ...

'' (2003), ''

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,G ...

'' (2006), '' Pineapple Express'' (2008), ''

The Hangover ''The Hangover'' is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips, co-produced with Daniel Goldberg, and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. It is the first installment in ''The Hangover'' trilogy. The film stars Bradley Cooper, E ...

'' (2009), ''

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

'' (2010), and '' Transformers: Age of Extinction'' (2014). She guest-starred on more than 50 shows, including ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensembl ...

'', '' Ally McBeal'', '' Six Feet Under'', ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

'', ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

'', '' NCIS'', and ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombi ...

''. From 2001 to 2002, King had a recurring role as Helene Parks in the Fox drama series ''

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 feature ...

'', created by David E. Kelley. In 2003, she co-starred in the short-lived CBS drama ''

The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire ''The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire'' is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley David Edward Kelley (born April 4, 1956) is an American television writer, producer, and former attorney, known as the creator of '' ...

'', also created by Kelley. In 2006, she played Aunt Lou in the HBO drama series '' Deadwood'' during its third and final season. In 2009, King had the recurring role as Neeta, the nanny of Jax Teller's son in the FX drama series, ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ...

''. In 2010, King was cast in the series regular role as grandmother Rosetta "Nana" McMillan in the CBS sitcom ''

'', even though she is only seven years older than

Reno Wilson Roy "Reno" Wilson (born January 20, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Howard in the sitcom ''The Cosby Show'', Officer Carl McMillan in '' Mike & Molly'' and Stan Hill in '' Good Girls'', Wes in '' The Chronicle'' (200 ...

(who played her grandson, Carl). In 2017 she appeared regularly in

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

's adaptation of ''

A Series of Unfortunate Events ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' is a series of thirteen children's novels written by American author Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The books follow the turbulent lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. After their ...

'', which premiered in 2017. That same year she appeared as Mrs. Watkins in the film ''

The Bye Bye Man ''The Bye Bye Man'' is a 2017 American supernatural horror film directed by Stacy Title (in her final directed film before her death) and written by Jonathan Penner, based on the chapter "The Bridge to Body Island" in Robert Damon Schneck's book ...

''. On February 22, 2021, King made a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

in season 2, episode 6 of Fox's '' 9-1-1: Lone Star.'' She portrayed Paul Strickland's mother, Cynthia Strickland.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Cleo American television actresses American film actresses Living people Actresses from St. Louis University of Missouri alumni African-American actresses 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)