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Wanda Sykes

Wanda Sykes has been called one of the funniest stand up comics by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly's 25 Funniest People in America. Her smart-witted stand-up has sent her career in many different areas.

She was last seen co-starring with Luke Wilson and Uma Thurman in the romantic comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend and in the New Line feature Monster-in-Law, opposite Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda, and was recently heard in the animated features Over the Hedge, for DreamWorks, and Barnyard, for Paramount Pictures. She also recently guest starred on The New Adventures of Old Christine and on NBC's Will & Grace. She was seen on Comedy Central's Wanda Does It, where she tried various non-showbiz jobs. Her first book, titled Yeah, I Said It and published by Simon & Schuster, hit bookstores in September 2004. Yeah, I Said It is a hilarious collection of essays touching on life, family and current events.

In fall 2003 she was seen on Fox's Wanda at Large, which she wrote and produced and in which she starred. She also starred in a one-hour Comedy Central special titled Wanda Sykes: Tongue Untied. In addition, she was recently seen on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm and heard on Comedy Central's Crank Yankers as the voice of Gladys Murphy.

Sykes was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and raised in Maryland. She graduated with a bachelor of science degree from Hampton University. Her stand-up career began at a Coors Light super talent showcase in Washington, D.C., where she performed for the first time in front of a live audience.

She spent five years as part of HBO's critically acclaimed The Chris Rock Show. As a performer and writer on the show, she was nominated for three Primetime Emmys and, in 1999, won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program. In 2001, she won the American Comedy Award for Outstanding Female Stand-Up Comic. She won two more Emmys-one in 2002 and one in 2004-for her work on Inside the NFL. In 2003, Sykes earned a Comedy Central Commie Award for Funniest TV Actress. Other writing credits include the MTV 1999 Music Video Awards, the MTV Movie Awards, the 74th Annual Academy Awards, The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show and Wanda at Large.

She has also appeared in the feature films Clerks II, Pootie Tang, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and Down to Earth.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2007.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Wanda Sykes Facts

OccupationComedian, Actress
BirthdayMarch 7, 1964 (60)
SignPisces
BirthplacePortsmouth, Virginia, USA
Height5' 2" (1m57)  How tall is Wanda Sykes compared to you?

Selected Filmography

Not available.