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Name: Taraji P. Henson
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Date of Birth:
September 11, 1970
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Place of Birth:
Washington, D.C.
Mini-bio:
Washington, D.C., native Taraji P. Henson didn't always know that her smoldering charisma and beautiful face would make her a professional actress. On the contrary, she originally studied electrical e... read morengineering when she enrolled at North Carolina Agric & Tech. She later transferred to Howard University, where she attended classes while working as a secretary at the Pentagon, and as a singer and dancer aboard a cruise ship. She eventually changed her academic focus to theater and graduated in 1995. Henson's career began with appearances on Homicide: Life on the Street and ER, but it really took off when she was cast in a major supporting role in 2001's Baby Boy and 2004's Hustle & Flow, in which she also showcased her vocal talents, singing on the track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" for the movie's soundtrack, which took home the Best Song Oscar that year. Henson later moved on to take major roles in Smokin' Aces and Talk to Me. Henson made the most of her work as the mother of the backward-aging man in David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and her performance garnered Best Supporting Actress nominations from both the Screen Actors Guild, and the Academy. She became an in-demand character actress after that success and appeared in a series of films including Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, the remake of The Karate Kid, Date Night, and Larry Crowne. In 2012 he was part of the ensemble in the hit comedy Think Like a Man. ~ Cammila Albertson, Rovi
Taraji P. Henson mini-bio: Henson was born in Washington, DC. Henson's first and middle names are of Swahili origin, meaning "hope" and "love", respectively. She is a relative of Matthew Henson, co-discoverer of the North Pole.[1] Henson, who worked as a cruise ship entertainer and at the Pentagon before becoming an actress, holds a degree in theater arts from Howard University. Henson made her singing debut in Hustle & Flow; she provided the vocals for the Three 6 Mafia track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2006, giving Three 6 the distinction of becoming the first Black hip-hop act to win in the category. Henson performed the song at the Oscars on March 5, 2006 with the group.
