29 Facts About Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox was born on May 29,1972 and is an American actress and LGBT advocate.

Laverne Cox rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, becoming the first transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category, and the first to be nominated for an Emmy Award since composer Angela Morley in 1990.

In June 2014, Laverne Cox became the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine.

Laverne Cox is the first transgender person to appear on the cover of a Cosmopolitan magazine, with her February 2018 cover on the South African edition.

Laverne Cox is the first openly transgender person to have a wax figure of herself at Madame Tussauds.

Laverne Cox was born in Mobile, Alabama, and was raised by a single mother and grandmother within the AME Zion church.

Laverne Cox has an identical twin brother, M Lamar, who portrayed the pre-transitioning Sophia in Orange Is the New Black.

Laverne Cox has stated that she attempted suicide at the age of 11, when she noticed that she had developed feelings for her male classmates and had been bullied for several years for not acting "the way someone assigned male at birth was supposed to act".

Laverne Cox is a graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham, Alabama, where she studied creative writing before switching to dance.

Laverne Cox then studied for two years at Indiana University Bloomington before transferring to Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, where she switched from dancing to acting.

Laverne Cox appeared as a contestant on the first season of I Want to Work for Diddy; afterwards she was approached by VH1 about show ideas.

In 2013, Laverne Cox began her recurring role in the Netflix series Orange is the New Black as Sophia Burset, a trans woman sent to prison for credit-card fraud.

In January 2014, Laverne Cox joined trans woman Carmen Carrera on Katie Couric's syndicated show, Katie.

Laverne Cox was on the cover of the June 9,2014, issue of Time and was interviewed for the article "The Transgender Tipping Point" by Katy Steinmetz, which ran in that issue and the title of which was featured on the cover; this makes Laverne Cox the first transgender person on the cover of Time.

Later in 2014, Laverne Cox became the first transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Sophia Burset in Orange Is the New Black.

Laverne Cox joined a campaign in 2014 against a Phoenix, Arizona, law which allows police to arrest anyone suspected of "manifesting prostitution", and which she feels targets transgender women of color, following the conviction of activist Monica Jones.

Laverne Cox was featured in the annual "Rebels" issue of V in late 2014.

Laverne Cox was on the cover of the October 2014 issue of Essence magazine, along with actresses Alfre Woodard, Nicole Beharie, and Danai Gurira.

Laverne Cox is the cover subject for the June 11,2015, "totally not-straight issue" of Entertainment Weekly, the first issue of the magazine in 15 years to focus exclusively on gay, lesbian, and transgender entertainment.

In 2017, Laverne Cox began her role as transgender attorney Cameron Wirth on Doubt on CBS.

Laverne Cox was nominated in 2017 for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Orange Is the New Black.

That year Laverne Cox became one of the four faces of the fall campaign for the Ivy Park line of clothing.

In February 2019, Laverne Cox headlined the New York Fashion Week show for 11 Honore, a luxury e-retailer focused on plus-sized designer fashion.

Laverne Cox was featured in Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" music video, which was released June 17,2019.

Laverne Cox was one of fifteen women chosen by guest editor Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to appear on the cover of the September 2019 issue of British Vogue; this made Cox the first transgender woman to appear on the cover of British Vogue.

Laverne Cox executive produced the documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen, which premiered on Netflix on January 27,2020.

Laverne Cox has been noted by her LGBT peers, and many others, for being a trailblazer for the transgender community, and has won numerous awards for her activist approach in spreading awareness.

Laverne Cox is the first transgender person to be on the cover of Time magazine, be nominated for a Primetime Emmy, and have a wax work in Madame Tussauds, as well as the first transgender woman to win a Daytime Emmy as an executive producer.

In May 2016, Laverne Cox was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The New School in New York City for her progressive work in the fight for gender equality.