WHY WE'RE HONORING
TIFFANY HADDISH
The phrase "hardest working actor in show biz" may have found its final home with Tiffany Haddish. Perhaps best known for her breakout role in the smash comedy Girls Trip, where she appeared alongside Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, and Regina Hall, Haddish made history in 2018 by becoming the first Black female stand-up comedian to host Saturday Night Live, a role that earned her an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.” Her meteoric rise has made her one of the most sought-after comedic actresses and performers in Hollywood.
Haddish’s journey and life experiences have inspired her comedy and sense of humor both on and off the stage. While growing up in foster care in South Central Los Angeles, her excessive talking and imaginary friends prompted her increasingly flustered social worker to steer her into stand-up comedy by enrolling her in the Laugh Factory’s Comedy Camp, a place for at-risk and underprivileged children to transform negative energy into something positive. This experience marked the beginning of her comedy career. Her first book, the memoir and New York Times bestseller The Last Black Unicorn, chronicles her unusual path to fame, which included time as a worker at LAX. The subsequent audiobook, narrated by Haddish, was nominated for a 2019 Grammy Award for “Spoken Word Album.” Haddish has been lauded by the City of Los Angeles for sharing her personal story and advocating to improve the lives of foster youth.
Haddish currently stars opposite Tracy Morgan on the TBS comedy series The Last O.G. and opposite Octavia Spencer in the Netflix limited series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker. Additional film and television work includes Like a Boss, The Kitchen, Tuca & Bertie, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, Night School, Nobody’s Fool, The Oath, Uncle Drew, The Carmichael Show, Keanu, and New Girl.
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