Wanda Sykes

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Birthday:

7 March 1964, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA

Birth Name:

Wanda Y'vette Sykes

Height:

157 cm

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 recently seen in Comedy Central's Wanda Does It (2004), where she tried various non-showbiz jobs. Her first book, "Yeah I Said It," published by Simon and Schuster, hit bookstores in September 2004, which is a hilarious collection of essays touching on life, family, and current events.In 2003, she was seen on Fox's Wanda at Large (2003), in which she wrote, produced, and starred. She also has a one-hour Comedy Central special called Wanda Sykes: Tongue Untied (2003). In addition, she can be seen on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) or heard on Comedy Central's Crank Yankers (2002) as the voice of Gladys Murphy.Wanda was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and raised in Maryland, the daughter of Marion Louise (Peoples), a banker, and Harry Ellsworth Sykes, a US Army colonel. 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, DC, where she performed for the first time in front of a live audience.She spent 5 years as part of the HBO's critically acclaimed The Chris Rock Show (1997). As a performer and writer on the show, she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and in 1999 won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Special. In 2001, she won the American Comedy Award for Outstanding Female Stand-Up Comic. She won a second Emmy in 2002 for her work on Inside the NFL (1977). In 2003, Wanda earned a Comedy Central Commie Award for Funniest TV Actress. Other writing credits include the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards (1999), The MTV Movie Awards, The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002), The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show (1997), and Wanda at Large (2003).She also appeared in the feature films Pootie Tang (2001), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), Down to Earth (2001), and Monster-in-Law (2005). Show less «

[on Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003) after the passage of Proposition 8, which took away the right to gay marriage in California] Here...Show more »

[on Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003) after the passage of Proposition 8, which took away the right to gay marriage in California] Here in California, the one that's important to me is Prop 8. What broke my heart, you know--I'm watching the news, and there were, you know, like, a lot of the black churches got together, and they were rallying, you know, they were FOR Prop 8; I'm like, come on--it's discrimination! I mean, discrimination is discrimination. And of all people, black people should know discrimination and you're going to vote and get discrimination in the Constitution? I mean, that's . . . I know African-Americans, they get upset. They're like, "Black and gay, that's totally different things. We had it hard." And I'm like, "Yeah, I get it. I'm black. I know. I get it". You know. But there's things that gay people have to go through that black people didn't have to go through. I never had to come out black. Never had to sit my family down and tell them about my blackness. Have a little talk with my employer, let him know about my "black lifestyle". Mom, dad, I gotta tell you something. Hope you still love me. I'm black. You know, and my mother: "Not black, Lord! Anything but black, Jesus! Anything but black! What did I do, what did I do? It was Soul Train (1971), wasn't it? I shouldn't have let you watch 'Soul Train'." "No, ma, that's just me--I mean, I just feel like I was born black". "No, you weren't born black. The bible says Adam and Eve; it doesn't say Adam and Mary J. Blige". Show less «

[on the Ellen Degeneres show, talking about revealing that she had breast cancer and a double mastectomy] I was like I don't know, should I ...Show more »

[on the Ellen Degeneres show, talking about revealing that she had breast cancer and a double mastectomy] I was like I don't know, should I talk about it or what. How many things could I have? I'm black, then lesbian. I can't be the poster child for everything. Show less «

If you feel like there's something out there that you're supposed to be doing, of you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do i...Show more »

If you feel like there's something out there that you're supposed to be doing, of you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it. Show less «

[on the upcoming 2016 US federal election] I think they should make everyone vote. Everyone should have to vote. Maybe everyone gets a Power...Show more »

[on the upcoming 2016 US federal election] I think they should make everyone vote. Everyone should have to vote. Maybe everyone gets a Powerball ticket if you vote. I don't know. Vote and you get a scratch-off. Show less «

Kids get in the way of the couple. It's hard to be a couple and then kids come and shatter that whole thing. You have to work hard to be a c...Show more »

Kids get in the way of the couple. It's hard to be a couple and then kids come and shatter that whole thing. You have to work hard to be a couple. If something happens in the night, we have to put our pajamas on like we're volunteer firemen. Show less «