Jenifer Lewis
Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American film and television actress and singer.
She is one of Hollywood's most familiar faces, with more than 300 appearances in film and television and was dubbed a "national treasure" by TV Guide.com. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in the films Beaches and Sister Act.
She delivered legendary performances as Tina Turner's mother in What's Love Got to Do With It and in The Preacher's Wife as the mother of Whitney Houston's character.
She starred opposite Matt Damon in Clint Eastwood's Hereafter. For director Tyler Perry, she created unforgettable characters in Madea's Family Reunion and Meet the Browns. In the movie Cast Away, she portrayed Tom Hanks' boss. In animated films, Jenifer's uniquely recognizable voice is adored by Disney fans worldwide in roles such as "Flo" in Cars and Cars 2, and as "Mama Odie" in The Princess and the Frog.
For six seasons, Jenifer portrayed "Lana Hawkins" on Lifetime's hit series Strong Medicine. She starred on the hit show Black-ish (ABC), where her hilarious portrayal of "Ruby Johnson" earned her a nomination for the 2016 Critics Choice Award.
She has also written two books: The Mother of Black Hollywood and Walking in My Joy: In These Streets.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.245 |
| Birthday | 1957-01-25 |
| Place of Birth | Kinloch, Missouri, USA |
| Also Known As |
2006
Cars
6.991/14204
Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself u...
Watch Now
Cars
2008
Prop 8: The Musical
7.2/22
The conflict of the aftermath of Proposition 8 (banning gay marriage in California) is solved by Jesus.
Watch Now
Prop 8: The Musical
2009
The Princess and the Frog
7.219/5722
A waitress, desperate to fulfill her dreams as a restaurant owner, is set on a journey to turn a frog prince back into a human being, but she has to f...
Watch Now
The Princess and the Frog
1988
Beaches
6.7/262
A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years.
Watch Now
Beaches
1992
Sister Act
6.8/3223
A Reno singer witnesses a mob murder and the cops stash her in a nunnery to protect her from the mob's hitmen. The mother superior does not trust her,...
Watch Now
Sister Act
2001
The Brothers
6.551/49
This is the story of four African-American "yuppies" (a banker, a doctor, a lawyer, and a "playboy") who call themselves "The Brothers". When the play...
Watch Now
The Brothers
1996
The Preacher's Wife
5.8/231
Good-natured Reverend Henry Biggs finds that his marriage to choir mistress Julia is flagging, due to his constant absence caring for the deprived nei...
Watch Now
The Preacher's Wife
1998
The Mighty
7.2/254
Kevin, an intelligent guy helps out Maxwell to improve his reading skills. In return, Kevin wants Maxwell to take him out places since he is not autho...
Watch Now
The Mighty
1999
Mystery Men
5.82/843
When Champion City's hero Captain Amazing is kidnapped by the recently paroled supervillain Casanova Frankenstein, a trio of average, everyday superhe...
Watch Now
Mystery Men
2006
Dirty Laundry
5.9/8
After ten years, Sheldon returns from New York City to Paris, Georgia. His mother Evelyn, a laundress who is stubborn, ornery, opinionated, mean-spiri...
Watch Now
Dirty Laundry
1995
Panther
6.3/39
Panther is a semi-historic film about the origins of The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The movie spans about 3 years (1966-68) of the Black Pa...
Watch Now
Panther
1999
Jackie's Back!
7.8/6
A British documentarian profiles washed-up diva Jackie Washington as she prepares for her comeback concert.
Watch Now
Jackie's Back!
2009
Not Easily Broken
6.188/64
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Watch Now
Not Easily Broken
2006
Madea's Family Reunion
6.3/199
Southern matriarch Madea has a lot on her plate. Her nieces, Vanessa and Lisa, have relationship troubles - Vanessa moves into Madea's house with her...
Watch Now
Madea's Family Reunion
2004
The Cookout
4.6/42
When Todd Anderson signs a $30 million deal with his hometown team, the New Jersey Nets, he knows that his life is set for a big change. To keep thing...
Watch Now
The Cookout
1999
Get Bruce!
6.2/10
Affectionate tribute to Bruce Vilanch, who writes material for celebrities who make public appearances, from Oscar hosts and award recipients to Presi...
Watch Now
Get Bruce!
2012
Think Like a Man
6.807/848
The balance of power in four couples’ relationships is upset when the women start using the advice in Steve Harvey’s book, Act Like A Lady, Think Like...
Watch Now
Think Like a Man
2004
Nora's Hair Salon
8/6
Welcome to Nora's Hair Salon. Leave your troubles outside and get set for neighborhood drama, juicy gossip, and the occasional knock-down, drag-out fi...
Watch Now
Nora's Hair Salon
2008
Meet the Browns
6.7/103
A single mother living in inner city Chicago, Brenda has been struggling for years to make ends meet and keep her three kids off the street. When she'...
Watch Now
Meet the Browns
2004
Shark Tale
6.025/6389
Oscar is a small fish whose big aspirations often get him into trouble. Meanwhile, Lenny is a great white shark with a surprising secret that no sea c...
Watch Now
Shark Tale
2011
When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren
6.9/14
The remake of 'When Harry Met Sally' that everyone has been waiting for is finally here.
Watch Now
When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren
2022
black-ish: A Celebration – An ABC News Special
10/1
An exclusive look at final table read and original audition tapes; interviews with cast, crew and guest stars of the show's eight seasons.
Watch Now
black-ish: A Celebration – An ABC News Special
2014
Think Like a Man Too
6.4/557
All the couples are back for a wedding in Las Vegas, but plans for a romantic weekend go awry when their various misadventures get them into some comp...
Watch Now
Think Like a Man Too
1993
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
6.4/1825
Deloris Van Cartier is again asked to don the nun's habit to help a run-down Catholic school, presided over by Mother Superior. And if trying to reach...
Watch Now
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
2000
Partners
4.8/2
After stealing a briefcase, a drifter finds himself caught in the middle of an international crime caper.
Watch Now
Partners
1994
Deconstructing Sarah
3/2
Thriller about an advertising executive Kelley who leads a double life, looking for men in dive bars at night. However, when she goes missing, it caus...
Watch Now
Deconstructing Sarah
2015
The Wedding Ringer
6.468/1591
Doug Harris is a loveable but socially awkward groom-to-be with a problem: he has no best man. With less than two weeks to go until he marries the gi...
Watch Now
The Wedding Ringer
2013
Baggage Claim
5.3/203
Although she has traveled all over the world, flight attendant Montana Moore has yet to find a man with whom she wants to settle down. However, with h...
Watch Now
Baggage Claim
2024
Spellbound
6.7/236
When a powerful spell turns her parents into giant monsters, a teenage princess must journey into the wild to reverse the curse before it's too late.
Watch Now
Spellbound
2001
Dancing in September
6.5/1
A black female TV producer struggles in Hollywood.
Watch Now
Dancing in September
1993
Undercover Blues
6/156
When fun-loving American agents Jeff and Jane Blue are called back from maternity leave for a special assignment in New Orleans, the spy parents decid...
Watch Now
Undercover Blues
2012
Zambezia
6.2/304
Set in a bustling bird city on the edge of the majestic Victoria Falls, "Zambezia" is the story of Kai - a naïve, but high-spirited young falcon who t...
Watch Now
Zambezia
1983
Bette Midler: No Frills
0/0
Bette Midler’s “No Frills” Cinemax Special
Watch Now
Bette Midler: No Frills
The Temptations Le film de leur ascension vers la gloire
0/0
Watch Now
The Temptations Le film de leur ascension vers la gloire
1998
An Unexpected Life
4.5/4
A single woman has her idyllic life disrupted when she takes in orphans. But, soon she comes to depend on the sound of little feet and couldn't think...
Watch Now
An Unexpected Life
1994
Shake, Rattle and Rock!
6.2/10
In 1950s America, teenage rebellion comes easy when something like rock 'n' roll is viewed as sinful. Looking to have a good time while they're young,...
Watch Now
Shake, Rattle and Rock!
2005
Earth to America
8/2
Tom Hanks is the host of this show with a comic approach to raise awareness concerning the environment.
Watch Now
Earth to America
2024
This Is Me…Now
5.3/80
An intimate, fantastical and narrative-driven reflection of Jennifer Lopez's journey of self-healing and self-love in an immersive world where music a...
Watch Now
This Is Me…Now
2011
Cars 2
6.137/7914
Star race car Lightning McQueen and his pal Mater head overseas to compete in the World Grand Prix race. But the road to the championship becomes rock...
Watch Now
Cars 2
2024
The Greatest Love Story Never Told
6.2/10
Follow Jennifer Lopez as she attempts her most daring project yet: independently producing a new album and cinematic original that explore her twenty-...
Watch Now
The Greatest Love Story Never Told
2021
Finding Kendrick Johnson
7.8/4
A filmmaker cracks a major case dealing with the racially charged murder of a teen.
Watch Now
Finding Kendrick Johnson
2006
Cars Wal-Mart Exclusive Geared UP
0/0
The Making of "Life is a Highway". A musical Road Trip with Rascal Flatts.
Watch Now
Cars Wal-Mart Exclusive Geared UP
1993
What's Love Got to Do with It
7.1/324
Singer Tina Turner rises to stardom while mustering the courage to break free from her abusive husband Ike.
Watch Now
What's Love Got to Do with It
2011
Five
7.063/32
An anthology of five short films exploring the impact of breast cancer on people's lives.
Watch Now
Five
1992
Frozen Assets
4/10
A man is hired to run a bank which turns out to be a sperm bank.
Watch Now
Frozen Assets
1995
Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan
5/1
Inspired by the the life of Pulitzer Prize-winning, Miami-based journalist, Edna Buchanan, who investigates the murder of a man with ties to the Miami...
Watch Now
Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan
2002
Juwanna Mann
5.16/94
A basketball star is booted out of the NBA when his on-court antics go too far, so he poses as a woman and joins the WUBA.
Watch Now
Juwanna Mann
2017
Cars 3
6.85/5956
Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in th...
Watch Now
Cars 3
1999
Blast from the Past
6.8/1111
Following a bomb scare in the 1960s that locked the Webers into their bomb shelter for 35 years, Adam now ventures forth into Los Angeles to obtain fo...
Watch Now
Blast from the Past
1984
Bette Midler: Art or Bust
6/2
The Divine Miss M is featured in a concert filmed at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, at the culmination of her most recent cross-country tou...
Watch Now
Bette Midler: Art or Bust
2010
Hereafter
6.109/1690
Three people — a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy — are touched by death in different ways.
Watch Now
Hereafter
2000
Little Richard
6.385/13
The story of Little Richard Penniman, from his poor Southern upbringing to dealing with the trials and tribulations of being a Black singer in the 195...
Watch Now
Little Richard
2013
Hiccups
6.21/62
When Lightning McQueen gets the hiccups, everyone in Radiator Springs thinks they have the cure.
Watch Now
Hiccups
2014
The Radiator Springs 500½
6.289/90
A 'leisurely drive' planned in honor of Radiator Springs’ town founder, Stanley, turns precarious as Baja pros descend on the town and challenge Light...
Watch Now
The Radiator Springs 500½
2017
Jewel's Catch One
7/7
With four strikes against her (black, female, poor and a lesbian), our trailblazer, Jewel Thais-Williams, helped changed laws, save lives and influenc...
Watch Now
Jewel's Catch One
2018
Forbidden
8.2/8
A musical set in the North-American city of Nacirema Falls, in the country of Nacirema, which black LGBT people rule, promoting and conducting white...
Watch Now
Forbidden
1996
Girl 6
5/109
A struggling actress in New York City takes a job as a phone sex operator.
Watch Now
Girl 6
1991
Sunday in Paris
0/0
A pilot for an unsold NBC series. A single woman with three children realizes that her family has lost sight of their values and gives up her career a...
Watch Now
Sunday in Paris
1994
Corrina, Corrina
6.7/431
When Manny Singer's wife dies, his young daughter Molly becomes mute and withdrawn. To help cope with looking after Molly, he hires sassy housekeeper...
Watch Now
Corrina, Corrina
2019
The Addams Family
6.61/2361
The Addams family's lives begin to unravel when they face-off against a treacherous, greedy crafty reality-TV host while also preparing for their exte...
Watch Now
The Addams Family
2000
Cast Away
7.659/11554
Chuck Nolan, a top international manager for FedEx, and Kelly, a Ph.D. student, are in love and heading towards marriage. Then Chuck's plane to Malays...
Watch Now
Cast Away
1995
Dead Presidents
6.7/298
On the streets they call cash dead presidents. And that's just what a Vietnam veteran is after when he returns home from the war only to find himself...
Watch Now
Dead Presidents
2015
Secrets of the Magic City
5.5/2
The Magic City, by Director R. Malcolm Jones, is a motion picture based on hope and resilience played out in a coming of age story laced with sometime...
Watch Now
Secrets of the Magic City
2007
Who's Your Caddy?
3.4/64
Superstar rap mogul C-Note wants to join the Carolina Pines Golf & Country Club, but faces stiff opposition from the establishment's snooty members. C...
Watch Now
Who's Your Caddy?
2007
Redrum
1.5/4
A bored couple rejuvenate their marriage by turning to murder.
Watch Now
Redrum
2020
Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square
5.8/70
A rich and nasty woman returns to her hometown to evict everyone but discovers the true meaning of Christmas thanks to the local townsfolk – and an ac...
Watch Now
Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square
1994
Renaissance Man
6.106/301
An advertising man is slowly sliding downhill. When he is fired from his job in Detroit, he signs up for unemployment. One day they find him a job: te...
Watch Now
Renaissance Man
2021
All Boys Aren't Blue
0/0
Actors Bernard David Jones, Dyllon Burnside, Thomas Hobson, and Jenifer Lewis bring to life the words of Black non-binary author George Matthew Johnso...
Watch Now
All Boys Aren't Blue
1993
Poetic Justice
6.9/254
Still grieving after the murder of her boyfriend, hairdresser Justice writes poetry to deal with the pain of her loss. Unable to get to Oakland to att...
Watch Now
Poetic Justice
1993
The Meteor Man
5.8/177
One night Jefferson Reed gets hit in the chest by a souped-up chunk of meteor. So he can fly, but he's scared of heights. He can master the informatio...
Watch Now
The Meteor Man
2019
Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back
5/2
Maurice Hines, a charming, gay African-American entertainer navigates the complications of show business while grieving the loss of his more famous, o...
Watch Now