Regina King
American actress, director, and producer with an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and four Primetime Emmy Awards.
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In 1995, she was featured in the comedy film Friday, and the next year she starred in Jerry Maguire as Marcee Tidwell.[1] King won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 2004 film Ray.[2] From 2009 to 2013, she played Detective Lydia Adams on the TNT police drama Southland.[3] King made her directorial debut with One Night in Miami, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 7, 2020.[4]
She starred in the 2019 limited series Watchmen, winning her fourth Primetime Emmy Award.[5] King's first acting job was playing Brenda Jenkins on the TV series 227, starting in 1985 and continuing until the program ended in 1990.[6]
What the cited sources add
TheGrio account states that King began studying acting under coach Betty Bridges, who urged her to begin auditioning.[7] King called her time on 227 her "acting school," learning professionalism from seasoned performers.[7] The Golden Globe Awards record lists King's film credits including Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice, Friday, Jerry Maguire, and If Beale Street Could Talk.[8] The same source confirms King's directorial debut was One Night in Miami from the 2013 play by Kemp Powers.[8]
A BuzzFeed article reports that King stated her ancestors are from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Senegal, and that both her parents are from the South.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Regina King" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: TheGrio, "The Resilient Journey of Regina King: Career and Heartbreak", TheGrio, July 19, 2025; "Regina King's Most Memorable Roles"; "Regina King's Most Memorable Roles"; "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate", March 31, 1996; "Regina King's Most Memorable Roles"; Morris, "Regina King Has So Many Stories to Tell", The New York Times, March 6, 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Regina King" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Russo, "It's Time For a More Inclusive "Cinderella Story", August 11, 2019; "Ray", Metacritic; "NAACP Hollywood Bureau", NAACP Image Awards; "Satellite Awards (2005)", IMDb (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Regina King" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Review: Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous", Slant magazine, March 23, 2005; Eldredge, "Regina King shares secrets from Southland, The Boondocks", February 13, 2013; "This Christmas", Metacritic; "Regina King is the queen of 'Southland'", February 25, 2010; "Critics' Choice TV Awards Noms: 'Community' At Top Of List", Deadline Hollywiood; "Big Bang, Horror Story, Parks & Rec, Good Wife, The Americans Lead Critics Choice Nominations", TVLine, May 22, 2013; Frankel, "The 42nd NAACP Image Awards: Complete Winners List", March 6, 2011; "N en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Regina King" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jones, "Regina King Wants People to Know Shirley Chisholm's Good Fight", Rolling Stone, 2024-03-21; Bakare, "Regina King makes history at Venice film festival with One Night in Miami", The Guardian, September 7, 2020; "Golden Globe Awards: Regina King", Golden Globe Awards; Lewis, "Film Independent Spirit Awards: 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always', 'Minari', 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', 'Nomadland' Top Nominations", January 26, 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Regina King" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Travers, "'Watchmen' Review: Damon Lindelof's Spectacular HBO Series Is Equal Parts Insightful and Exciting", IndieWire, October 15, 2019; D'Addario, "The Best TV Performances of the Decade", December 20, 2019; Day-Ramos, "Regina King To Direct Adaptation Of One Night In Miami", Deadline Hollywood, July 9, 2019; Fleming, "Regina King Directing Debut One Night In Miami Underway With Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge & Leslie Odom Jr As '60s Icons", Deadline Hollywood, January 7, 2020 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Regina King" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "It's Evening in America". Vanity Fair. May 2012. p. 155. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- TheGrio, "The Resilient Journey of Regina King: Career and Heartbreak", TheGrio, July 19, 2025. facts only, no text reused. thegrio.com
- "Golden Globe Awards: Regina King", Golden Globe Awards. facts only, no text reused. goldenglobes.com
- Stewart, "Jennifer Garner Is Going Viral After Her Question About Regina King's Family Ancestry Resurfaced Online", BuzzFeed, August 4, 2023. facts only, no text reused. buzzfeed.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Regina King (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Regina King (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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