Born Monique Imes on December 11, 1967, in Baltimore, Maryland, Mo’Nique has parlayed an extremely successful stand-up profession into a career that’s seen her become an actress, author, clothing designer, and even the host of her own late night talk show.
Mo’Nique got her start as a young college student when, on a dare from her brother Steven, she took the stage one night during an open mic session at the Comedy Factory Outlet in Baltimore. The audience loved her, and the club owners offered her the chance to host her own show at a local beauty parlor the following week for $25.
In 1989, Mo’Nique got her first significant break when she was selected to appear on It’s Showtime at the Apollo. Other big-ticket appearances soon followed, including Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam and BET’s Comic View. After a handful of appearances on the UPN comedy Moesha, and several other television spots, including an appearance on The Bernie Mac Show, Mo’Nique was launched full-time in the living rooms of American homes in 1999 with a starring role in the UPN sitcom, The Parkers.
To help stay atop her game, Mo’Nique headlined the 2001 smash hit Queens of Comedy, the successful female version of The Original Kings of Comedy tour. The album produced from those Queens shows, which also featured Adele Givens, Laura Hayes, and Sommore, earned a 2002 Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Comedy Album. From there, Mo’Nique returned to the Apollo, this time as host of the program, It’s Showtime at the Apollo, the first female comedian to ever hold that title.
Mo’Nique has had a number of supporting roles in film. She appeared in the 2008 comedy film, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins with Martin Lawrence. She has had roles in Beerfest, 3 Strikes, Two Can Play That Game, Half Past Dead, and Garfield: The Movie, in which she voiced a CGI character but her role was cut from the movie. She also appeared in Soul Plane.
Mo’Nique stepped into her meatiest role yet in Shadowboxer (2006). Starring Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr., and directed by Lee Daniels, the film cast the actress as a drug-ravaged woman, a role that turned the heads of critics and audiences who had grown accustomed to Mo’Nique’s loud-and-proud brand of comedy.
In 2009, Mo’Nique appeared in the film Precious, directed by Lee Daniels, portraying an inner-city teenager’s abusive mother. Time magazine ranked Mo’Nique’s outstanding performance as the “Best Female Performance of 2009,” beating performances by Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, Carey Mulligan, Julianne Moore and Marion Cotillard. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, beating Penélope Cruz, Vera Farmiga, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Anna Kendrick along with a Golden Globe Award.