1. Monique Angela Hicks, known mononymously as Mo'Nique, is an American comedian and actress.
43 Facts About Mo'Nique
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Mo'Nique debuted as a member of The Queens of Comedy and earned recognition as a stand-up comedian.
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Mo'Nique transitioned to mainstream roles starring in the UPN series The Parkers and the films Phat Girlz and Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins.
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Mo'Nique was critically acclaimed for her performance in the film Precious, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the fourth African-American woman to win the award, in addition to accolades at the BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
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Mo'Nique was born on December 11,1967, in Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Maryland, the daughter of engineer Alice Imes and drug counselor Steven Imes Jr.
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Mo'Nique graduated from Milford Mill High School in Baltimore County in 1985 and attended Morgan State University.
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Mo'Nique is a 1987 graduate of the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland.
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Mo'Nique got her start in comedy at the downtown Baltimore Comedy Factory Outlet when her brother Steve dared her to perform at an open mic night.
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Mo'Nique was abused by family members and struggled with substance abuse.
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Mo'Nique portrayed Nicole "Nikki" Parker on the UPN television series The Parkers from 1999 to 2004.
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Mo'Nique was featured on many leading stand-up venues such as Showtime at the Apollo, Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam, and Thank God You're Here.
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In 2005, Mo'Nique played a significant role in Tony Scott's thriller Domino, co-starring Keira Knightley and Mickey Rourke.
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In 2006, Mo'Nique was cast as the lead in Phat Girlz, a comedy about an aspiring fashion designer struggling to find love and acceptance.
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Mo'Nique is the author of the best-selling book Skinny Women Are Evil: Notes of a Big Girl in a Small-Minded World.
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Mo'Nique released a 2006 cookbook called Skinny Cooks Can't Be Trusted.
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Mo'Nique was the hostess and executive producer of Mo'Nique's Fat Chance, a beauty pageant for plus-sized women, on the Oxygen cable network.
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Mo'Nique hosted the first season of Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School on VH1 where she crowned Saaphyri as the winner.
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Mo'Nique starred in The Mo'Nique Show, her own late-night talk show.
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Mo'Nique was featured in soul singer Anthony Hamilton's video "Sista Big Bones", the second single from his album Ain't Nobody Worryin'.
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Mo'Nique hosted the 2003 and 2004 BET Awards and appeared as the host again for the 2007 BET Awards.
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Mo'Nique received positive responses in July 2004 with her opening performance of Beyonce's single "Crazy in Love" In 2007, she performed Beyonce's "Deja Vu".
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Mo'Nique has had a number of supporting roles in film.
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Mo'Nique appeared in the 2008 comedy film, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins with Martin Lawrence.
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Mo'Nique has had roles in Beerfest, 3 Strikes, Two Can Play That Game, Half Past Dead, and Soul Plane.
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Mo'Nique voiced a character in Garfield: The Movie, but her role was cut from the movie.
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In 2009, Mo'Nique appeared in the film Precious, directed by Lee Daniels, portraying an inner-city teenager's abusive mother.
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Mo'Nique won the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for her performance in the film.
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Mo'Nique received the AAFCA's first ever unanimous vote in an acting category.
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Mo'Nique won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Independent Spirit Award, and the BAFTA Award.
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Mo'Nique had to stand up to the adversity of black and white [society] at a time when we really weren't accepted.
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In 2014, Mo'Nique starred in Patrik-Ian Polk's drama film Blackbird as Claire Rousseau.
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Mo'Nique next starred as Ma Rainey in the biographical film Bessie in 2015, for which she received critical acclaim, earning her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
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Mo'Nique was married to sportswriter Calvin Watkins who she met in broadcasting school and had son Shalon Watkins, Jr.
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In October 2005, Mo'Nique gave birth to twin sons Jonathan and David Hicks two months before their due date.
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Mo'Nique repeated this view later on The Oprah Winfrey Show when she said that, in her prior marriages, she was constantly searching for "that extra oomph".
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In 2009, Mo'Nique starred in the indie drama Precious directed by Lee Daniels.
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Mo'Nique has since claimed Perry called her to apologize for how she was treated.
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In 2020, Mo'Nique performed a standup segment attacking Perry, Oprah and others involved in the feud.
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Mo'Nique has stated how devastated she was by Oprah's communication and described her as "malicious".
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In 2018, Mo'Nique accused Netflix of racial and gender bias against her after she was paid $500,000 for her comedy special to air on the streaming service.
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Mo'Nique compared herself to Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, and Amy Schumer, who each received multimillion-dollar deals.
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Mo'Nique went on numerous talk shows, including The View, in which she continued to fight against Netflix.
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Mo'Nique has been nominated for several roles, including, a Primetime Emmy Award for her work in the television film, Bessie, and a number of BET Awards for her contribution to comedy productions.