Gabourey Sidibe ( ; born May 6, 1983) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the 2009 film '' Precious'', a role that earned her the

Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead The Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead wass one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards to honor an actress who has delivered an outstanding lead performance in an independent film. It was first presented in 1985 with Geraldine Page bein ...

, in addition to nominations for the

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

and

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...

. Her other film roles include '' Tower Heist'' (2011), '' White Bird in a Blizzard'' (2014), ''

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

'' (2016), and ''

Antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ar ...

'' (2020). From 2010 to 2013, she was a main cast member of the Showtime series '' The Big C''. Sidibe co-starred in the television series ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' is an American anthology horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the '' American Story'' media franchise, each season is conceived as a ...

'' arcs ''

Coven A coven () is a group or gathering of witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English until 1921 when Margaret Murray promot ...

'' (2013–2014) as Queenie and ''

Freak Show A freak show, also known as a creep show, is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with ...

'' (2014–2015) as Regina Ross, and later reprised her role as Queenie in ''

Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

'' (2015–2016) and ''

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

'' (2018). From 2015 to 2020, she starred in the Fox musical drama series ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' as Becky Williams.

Early life

Sidibe was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the

Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Bedford–Stuyvesant (), colloquially known as Bed–Stuy, is a neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Bedford–Stuyvesant is bordered by Flushing Avenue to the north (bordering Williamsburg), Classon Av ...

neighborhood, and was raised in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

. Her mother,

Alice Tan Ridley Alice Tan Ridley (born December 21, 1952) is an American gospel and R&B singer and the mother of actress Gabourey Sidibe. Ridley advanced to the semi-finals of the NBC television series ''America's Got Talent'', after previously winning $25,00 ...

, is an American R&B and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

singer who appeared on the fifth season of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribu ...

'', on June 15, 2010. Her father, Ibnou Sidibe, is from

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

and is a cab driver. Growing up, Sidibe lived with her aunt, feminist activist

Dorothy Pitman Hughes Dorothy Pitman Hughes (born Dorothy Jean Ridley; October 2, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American feminist, child-welfare advocate, activist, public speaker, author, and small business owner. Pitman Hughes co-founded the Women’s Action A ...

. She holds an associate degree from

Borough of Manhattan Community College The Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is a public community college in New York City. Founded in 1963 as part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, BMCC grants associate degrees in a wide variety of vocational, busines ...

and attended but did not graduate from

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

and Mercy College. She worked at

The Fresh Air Fund The Fresh Air Fund is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit agency founded in 1877. At sleepaway camps in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley, visiting volunteer host families along the East Coast and in NYC-based programs, children have new experiences, learn ...

's office as a receptionist before pursuing an acting career.

Career

In ''Precious'', Sidibe played the main character, Claireece "Precious" Jones, a 16-year-old mother of two (the result of Precious being raped by her father) who tries to escape abuse at the hands of her mother. The film won numerous awards, including two

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

, and

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

Grand Jury Award. On December 15, 2009, she was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for her performance in ''Precious''. The next month she received an Academy Award nomination for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

. Her next film, ''

Yelling to the Sky ''Yelling to the Sky'' is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by Victoria Mahoney and starring Zoë Kravitz. The film premiered In Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear. Pl ...

'', was a Sundance Lab project directed by Victoria Mahoney and starring Zoe Kravitz, in which she played Latonya Williams, a bully. In 2011, Sidibe was in the film '' Tower Heist'' and voiced a character in "Hot Water", the first episode of season 7 of ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'' She appeared in the season 8 ''American Dad!'' episode "Stanny Tendergrass" early in 2013, and starred in the music video for "

Don't Stop (Color on the Walls) "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)" is a song by American indie pop band Foster the People from their debut studio album ''Torches''. Written by the band's frontman Mark Foster, the song was released as the fourth single from the album on January 1 ...

" by the

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band

Foster the People Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members are singer Mark Foster, guitarist Sean Cimino, and keyboardist Isom Innis. Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending several years in ...

. Sidibe also appeared in the Showtime network series '' The Big C'' as Andrea Jackson. Sidibe said in 2012 that before she was hired for the 2009 film ''Precious'', she was advised by

Joan Cusack Joan Mary Cusack (; born October 11, 1962) is an American actress. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the comedy-drama '' Working Girl'' (1988) and the romantic comedy '' In & Out'' (1997 ...

not to pursue the

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousan ...

, advising Sidibe to quit the business since "it's so image-conscious." By April 2013, Sidibe had joined the cast of ''

season 3 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In tempera ...

, portraying Queenie, a young witch. She returned to the series for its fourth season, '' American Horror Story: Freak Show'' as a secretarial school student, Regina Ross. From 2015, she stars in

Lee Daniels Lee Daniels (born December 24, 1959) is an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter. His first producer credit was ''Monster's Ball'' (2001), for which Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making Daniels ...

' Fox musical series ''

'' as Becky Williams alongside

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films ''Dead Presidents'' and '' Mr. Holland's Opus'', Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and cinema roles ...

and

Taraji P. Henson Taraji Penda Henson ( ; born September 11, 1970) is an American actress. She studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career in guest roles on several television shows before making her breakthrough in '' Baby Boy'' (2001). Sh ...

. Sidibe portrays the head of A&R in the Empire company. As of April 2015, Sidibe was promoted to a series regular in season 2. She also starred in the Hulu series '' Difficult People'' as Denise. In 2015, publisher

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Boston Fina ...

announced Sidibe would be writing a memoir set to be published in 2017. On January 6, 2016, Sidibe appeared in the penultimate episode of '' American Horror Story: Hotel'', reprising her ''Coven'' role as Queenie, marking her third season in the series. After sitting out subsequent seasons ''Roanoke'' and ''Cult'', Sidibe returned to ''American Horror Story'' in 2018, appearing once again as her character Queenie in its eighth season, ''

''.

Personal life

In March 2017, Sidibe revealed that she had been diagnosed with

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinatio ...

and that as a consequence she underwent laparoscopic

bariatric surgery Bariatric surgery (or weight loss surgery) includes a variety of procedures performed on people who are obese. Long term weight loss through the standard of care procedures ( Roux en-Y bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and biliopancreatic diversio ...

in an effort to manage her weight. In November 2020, Sidibe announced her engagement to Brandon Frankel, a

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-da ...

with Cameo. The couple married in March 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

: "

" (2011) *

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film '' Step Up''. He gained wider attention for his leading rol ...

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 A ...

: " (I Wanna) Channing All Over Your Tatum" (2014)

Awards and nominations

Bibliography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sidibe, Gabourey 1983 births Living people Actresses from New York City American people of Senegalese descent Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead winners Mercy College (New York) alumni People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn People from Harlem 21st-century American actresses American television actresses African-American actresses American film actresses American voice actresses Washington Irving High School (New York City) alumni Borough of Manhattan Community College alumni 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women