Early life

King was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in View Park-Windsor Hills, the elder daughter of Gloria, a special education teacher, and Thomas King, an electrician. The two divorced in 1979. Her younger sister is actress Reina King. King attended Westchester High School and the University of Southern California.

Career

King began her acting career in 1985 playing the role of Brenda Jenkins on the television series 227, a role she played until the show ended in 1990. She went on to appear in the John Singleton films Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice and Higher Learning. In 1995, she was featured in the hit comedy film Friday. In 1996, she starred in the Martin Lawrence dark comedy-romance A Thin Line Between Love and Hate as Mia. Later in 1996 she gained fame starring in the blockbuster romantic comedy film Jerry Maguire as Marcee Tidwell, the wife of Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s character.

She played Will Smith's character's wife in Enemy of the State, and was also featured in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Mighty Joe Young, Down to Earth, Daddy Day Care, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, A Cinderella Story, Ray and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.

Beginning in the mid-2000s, she had ongoing roles on several TV series, including acclaimed work as the voice of Huey and Riley Freeman for the animated series The Boondocks and Detective Lydia Adams on the TNT police drama Southland. She also appeared in roles on 24, The Big Bang Theory, and Shameless. In 2007 she played Lisa Moore in This Christmas. She most recently joined the cast of ABC's John Ridley-penned ensemble drama American Crime as a devout member of the Nation of Islam and sister to a drug addict accused of murder. Her performance was praised by television critics. In September 2015, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Boyz n the Hood	Shalika
1993	Poetic Justice	Iesha
1995	Higher Learning	Monet
1995	Friday	Dana Jones
1996	Thin Line Between Love and Hate, AA Thin Line Between Love and Hate	Mia
1996	Jerry Maguire	Marcee Tidwell
1998	Rituals	N/A	Short film
1998	How Stella Got Her Groove Back	Vanessa
1998	Enemy of the State	Carla Dean
1998	Mighty Joe Young	Cecily Banks
1999	Love and Action in Chicago	Lois Newton
2001	Down to Earth	Sontee Jenkins
2002	Turnaround	Rayne
2003	Daddy Day Care	Kim Hinton
2003	Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde	Grace Rossiter
2004	Cinderella Story, AA Cinderella Story	Rhonda
2004	Ray	Margie Hendricks
2005	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous	Sam Fuller
2006	Ant Bully, TheThe Ant Bully	Kreela (voice)
2007	Year of the Dog	Layla
2007	This Christmas	Lisa Moore
2010	Our Family Wedding	Angela
2014	Planes: Fire & Rescue	Dynamite (voice)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985-1990	227	Brenda Jenkins	Main role, 106 episodes
1994	Northern Exposure	Mother Nature	Episode: "Baby Blues"
1994	New York Undercover	Marah	Episode: "Tasha"
1995	Living Single	Zina	Episode: "The Shake-Up"
1999	Where the Truth Lies	Lillian Rose-Martin	Television film
2000	If These Walls Could Talk 2	Allie	Television film
2002	Leap of Faith	Cynthia	Main role, 6 episodes
2002	Damaged Care	Cheryl Griffith	Television film
2005-2014	Boondocks, TheThe Boondocks	Riley and Huey Freeman	Main role, 56 episodes
2006	Women in Law	N/A	Episode: "Pilot"
2007	24	Sandra Palmer	Main role, 9 episodes
2008	Living Proof	Ellie Jackson	Television film
2009-2013	Southland	Detective Lydia Adams	Main role, 42 episodes
2013-14	Big Bang Theory, TheThe Big Bang Theory	Janine Davis	Seasons 6-8 (recurring role; 4 episodes)
2014	The Strain	Ruby Wain	3 episodes
2014	Shameless	Gail Johnson	4 episodes
2014	The Gabby Douglas Story	Natalie Hawkins	Television film
2015-present	American Crime	Aliyah Shadeed	Season 1: Recurring role, (7 episodes)
		Terri LaCroix	Season 2: Main role, (10 episodes)
2015	The Leftovers	Erika Murphy	Main role, 10 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1999	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture	Enemy of the State	Nominated
2001	BET Awards	Best Actress	Down to Earth	Nominated
2002	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture	Down to Earth	Nominated
2005	BET Awards	Best Actress	A Cinderella Story	Won
	BET Awards	Best Actress	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous	Won
	BET Awards	Best Actress	Ray	Won
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Ray	Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture	Ray	Won
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Ray	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Dance Scene	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous	Nominated
2010	BET Awards	Best Actress on Television	Southland	Nominated
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series	Southland	Nominated
2011	BET Awards	Best Actress on Television	Southland	Nominated
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series	Southland	Won
2012	BET Awards	Best Actress on Television	Southland	Nominated
	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Southland	Nominated
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series	Southland	Won
2013	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Southland	Nominated
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series	Southland	Nominated
2014	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series	Southland	Nominated
2015	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie	American Crime	Won
2016	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film	American Crime	Nominated
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	American Crime	Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Cast - Television Series	American Crime	Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film	American Crime	Nominated
	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The Leftovers	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]