QUEEN LATIFAH (Gina/Producer): musician; television and film actress; a label president; an author and entrepreneur. Blessed with style and substance, Queen Latifah has blossomed into a one-woman entertainment conglomerate. Heralded by the press and the industry as a force to be reckoned with, Latifah has quite simply done it all and shows no sign of slowing down.
Latifah has had amazing success in Hollywood in recent years. She received rave reviews, an Oscar® nomination for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe nomination and a SAG Award nomination for her portrayal of Mama Morton in Chicago. Following Chicago, Latifah starred in the box office hit Bringing Down the House, on which she also acted as executive producer. Latifah continued her string of successes this year with a starring role in Taxi with Jimmy Fallon, and upcoming she has the action film Bad Girls and the remake of the Korean film My Wife is a Gangster.
To most people, releasing four movies would be enough, but Queen Latifah wasn’t satisfied. On September 28 of last year, Latifah returned to the music scene with a brand new album demonstrating her singing talent. She teamed up with Grammy Award-winning producer Arif Mardin as well as Ron Farin to release her first vocal album, Queen Latifah – The Dana Owens Album. As Latifah demonstrated both in Living Out Loud (1998) and in Chicago (2002), her vocal talent is as impressive as her acting. This album is a collection of timeless classics chosen and covered by the Queen herself.
Queen Latifah is also one of music’s most well respected rappers. From her ground breaking 1989 debut All Hail the Queen, which set the visual and contextual standard for female rappers, to her bold foray into R&B, Latifah continues to define what a woman in the music industry should be. She has earned three Grammy nominations as well as a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap Performance in 1994.
And then there’s Flavor Unit Entertainment, a production company owned and operated by Queen Latifah and her partner Shakim Compere. The company, based in New Jersey, is quickly establishing itself as one of the most important production companies in the film industry. They began by executive producing the box office hit Bringing Down the House. After that, Latifah will star in and Flavor Unit will produce My Wife Is A Gangster. They are also co-producing Bad Girls with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Overbrook. This action-comedy will star Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith. Then there are a number of projects that Flavor Unit is producing in which Latifah will not star, including The Cookout, My People My People, and Just Right.
Latifah is also not a stranger to the small screen. Her first television series, Living Single, was a huge success and is currently in syndication. From the small screen Latifah made a leap to film and her acting skills have earned her the status of leading lady.
Since her screen debut in Spike Lee’s 1992 film Jungle Fever, her film career has taken off. She starred in Set it Off, which earned her a nomination for a Spirit Award in the Best Actress category and co-starred with Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito in the critically acclaimed Living Out Loud. In 1999, she was seen in The Bone Collector directed by Philip Noyce starring Denzel Washington. In 2002 she co-starred with Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan in Brown Sugar.
In addition to music, film and television, Queen Latifah has also written a book on self-esteem entitled Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman.
Queen Latifah is diligent in her pursuit of excellence, as evidenced by the awards she has received for her work in film and music. Her sincere concern for others is revealed by the generous amount of time and money that she donates to worthwhile charitable organizations. Every year Queen Latifah serves as co-chairman for the Lancelot H. Owens Scholarship Foundation, Inc. Established by her mother, Rita Owens, to perpetuate the memory of a loving son and brother, the foundation provides scholarships to students who excel scholastically but are limited in financial resources.
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