Early life

Shepherd was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of LaVerne (d. 1991) and Lawrence A. Shepherd (born c. 1947), a church deacon. She is the eldest of three sisters.

Careers

Businesswoman

As of 2015, a project includes a line of wigs and hair add-ins.

Acting

In 2009, she starred for one season in Lifetime Television's Sherri, a sitcom about Shepherd's life.

Shepherd has appeared as a special guest host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

She appeared as Daphne in How I Met Your Mother.

Television personality

In 2006, Shepherd was a frequent guest co-host on ABC's The View. She was a permanent co-host from 2007 to 2014. She received several awards for her work on the show. Since leaving The View in 2014, Shepherd has continued to make several appearances on the show as a guest host and "lead contributor" throughout 2015 and 2016.

She co-hosted the 35th Daytime Emmy Awards on June 20, 2008.

On-camera flubs

Shepherd was criticized after one 2007 broadcast of The View. The show was often filmed "live", with little or no editing. She stated that she didn't "believe in evolution. Period." Co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked her, "Is the world flat?" She first responded, "I don't know," and expanded that she "never thought about it". Shepherd continued that it was more important to her that she thought about how she was "going to feed child". Barbara Walters replied by pointing out, "You can do both." However, Shepherd then went on to quote Scripture. Shepherd later referred to her statement as a "brain fart" brought on by nerves. Barbara Walters and Shepherd talked after that episode: Walters said, "Dear, the Earth is round", and Shepherd responded with: "Barbara, I know that!"

Similar criticism erupted after the December 4, 2007, broadcast of The View when, during a discussion initiated by Joy Behar about Epicurus, Shepherd attempted to assert that Christians existed in classical Greece, and that the Greeks threw them to the lions. When confronted on this point, she further claimed that "Jesus came first" (before Greeks and Romans) and stated, "I don't think anything predated Christians", to which Joy Behar responded: "The Jews."

Shepherd garnered ridicule after admitting to never voting partly due to her upbringing as a strict Jehovah's Witness. She was quoted as saying that she just "never knew the dates or anything"; she stated, "I've never voted for anything in my life." In January 2008, Sherri referred to Gospel singer Shirley Caesar as "the black Patti LaBelle." LaBelle, like Caesar, is black.

Sherri said, "I was taught not to confront and interrupt people, but that's what I do every day on The View."

Author

Shepherd wrote the book Permission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break, published in October 2009. Shepherd also has a co-author credit on Plan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes, published in 2013.

Dancing with the Stars

In March 2012, Shepherd participated as a celebrity contestant on the fourteenth season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Her dance partner was Val Chmerkovskiy. The dancing team lasted several weeks.

Week #	Dance/Song	Judges' score			Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli
1	Foxtrot / "Sherry"	8	7	8	No Elimination
2	Jive / "Proud Mary"	8	7	8	Safe
3	Rumba / "If I Could"	8	8	8	Safe
4	Tango / "Come On Feel the Noise"	7	7	7	Eliminated

Charity

Sherri raises funds for the YAI Sherri Shepherd "Believe in Abilities" Fund.

YAI organization encourages autistic and developmentally challenged children to participate in life.

Fundraising efforts include asking members to donate unused AMEX Membership Rewards points.

Personal life

Shepherd was previously married to Jeff Tarpley. Their son Jeffrey was delivered prematurely.

TV writer Lamar Sally proposed to Shepherd on December 26, 2010. They married in August 2011 at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago, and in September 2012, Shepherd said the couple was searching for a surrogate in order to have a child. Sally filed for separation on May 2, 2014, and Shepherd filed for divorce days later. In July 2014, Sally petitioned a Los Angeles court for full legal and physical custody of the child expected via surrogacy, who was born in August 2014. On April 21, 2015, a Pennsylvania court ruled Shepherd is the legal parent of a child born from a surrogate mother. The child has no DNA link to Shepherd.

Shepherd has type 2 diabetes after having had pre-diabetes for years.

A devout Christian, Shepherd discussed the role God has played in her life and career, stating "If I didn't have God, I would have been dead."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	King of the Open Mics	Marci
2003	Pauly Shore Is Dead	Herself
2004	Cellular	Jaded Cashier
2005	Beauty Shop	Ida
2005	Guess Who	Sydney
2007	Who's Your Caddy	Lady G
2007	Transformers	Big Rhonda	(IMAX re-release version only)
2008	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	Florrie	Animated; voice
2009	Madea Goes to Jail	Herself
2009	Precious	Cornrows	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble Nominated - Critics' Choice Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated - Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2011	Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son	Beverly Townsend
2012	One for the Money	Lula
2012	Abducted: The Carlina White Story	Joy White
2012	Think Like a Man	Vicki
2014	Top Five	Vanessa
2015	Woodlawn	Momma Nathan
2016	Ride Along 2	Cori

Television

Year	Title	Role	Episodes	Notes
1995	Cleghorne!	Victoria	6 episodes
1997	Claude's Crib	Lorene	1 episode
1997	Living Single	Comedian	1 episode
1997, 1999-2000	Suddenly Susan	Roni, Miranda Charles	23 episodes
1998	Friends	Rhonda, The Tour Guide	1 episode
1998-1999	Holding the Baby	Miss Boggs	8 episodes
1998-2003	Everybody Loves Raymond	Officer Judy Roseman	9 episodes
1999-2001	The Jamie Foxx Show	Sheila Yarborough	10 episodes
2000	The Trouble with Normal	Nina	1 episode
2001	Emeril	Melva LeBlanc	11 episodes
2001	Rendez View	Herself	1 episode
2002	Holla	Herself	1 episode
2002	Men, Women & Dogs	Dr. Michaels	1 episode
2002	My Adventures in Television	Joanna Walker	8 episodes
2002-2004	Pyramid	Herself	3 episodes
2002-2006	Less than Perfect	Ramona Platt	79 episodes	Nominated - BET Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
2003	Joan of Arcadia	MVA Clerk Good	1 episode
2003-2004	Hollywood Squares	Herself	30 episodes
2003-2005	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	Herself	3 episodes
2004	50 Most Outrageous Moments on TV	Herself	1 episode
2004	My Coolest Years	Herself	Multiple episodes
2004	E! 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment	Herself	1 episode
2004	The Sharon Osbourne Show	Herself	1 episode
2004	The Wayne Brady Show	Herself	1 episode
2004-2006	Brandy & Mr. Whiskers	Cheryl/Meryl (voice)	17 episodes
2004-2006	The Ellen DeGeneres Show	Herself	9 episodes
2004-2005, 2007	Kim Possible	M.C Honey (voice)	3 episodes
2005	Big Time	Herself	1 episode
2006	Capitol Law	Glynda Johnson	TV pilot
2006	The Megan Mullally Show	Herself	1 episode
2007-2014	The View	Herself	600 episodes	Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Talk Series
2007	The Wedding Bells	Debbie Quill	4 episodes
2007	Wheel of Fortune	Herself	1 episode
2007-2008, 2012, 2013, 2014	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno	Herself	10 episodes
2007-2014	Entertainment Tonight	Herself	32 episodes
2007, 2009-2012	30 Rock	Angie Jordan	11 episode
2007, 2009	The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson	Herself	3 episodes
2008	Entourage	Herself	1 episode
2008-2014	Rachael Ray	Herself	9 episodes
2009	Larry King Live	Herself	2 episodes
2009	Sherri	Sherri Robinson	13 episodes	Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Female Lead in a Comedy Series Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
2009	The Bonnie Hunt Show	Herself	2 episodes
2009, 2011	The Joy Behar Show	Herself	2 episodes
2009	The Mo'Nique Show	Herself	1 episode
2009	WWE Raw	Herself	1 episode
2009	WWE Smackdown	Herself	1 episode
2009, 2011	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	Guest Host	5 episodes
2010	The Electric Company	Herself	1 episode
2010	82nd Academy Awards	Red Carpet Commentator
2010	The Emeril Lagasse Show	Herself	1 episode
2010	Nickelodeon MegaMusic Fest	Herself	1 episode
2010-2013	Newlywed Game	Host	195 episodes
2010, 2011	The Nate Berkus Show	Herself	1 episode
2010	Celebrity Holiday Homes	Herself	1 episode
2010	Sesame Street	Herself	1 episode
2010	WWE Tribute to the Troops	Herself	1 episode
2011	Hot in Cleveland	Judge Lesser	2 episodes
2011	The Oprah Winfrey Show	Herself	1 episode
2011	GMA Dove Award	Host
2011	Season 25: Oprah Behind The Scenes	Herself
2011	38th Daytime Emmy Awards	Herself	Presenter
2011	Neicy Nash Wedding Bash	Herself
2011	The Early Show	Herself	1 episode
2011	VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul	Herself	Presenter
2011	Wedding Fabulous: Sherri Shepherd Gets Married	Herself
2011	Top 10 Wedding of 2011	Herself
2012	The Daily Show	Herself	1 episode
2012, 2013, 2014	Wendy Williams Show	Herself	4 episodes
2012	The Colbert Report	Herself	1 episode
2012	Dancing With The Stars	Herself	8 episodes	Contestant
2012	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	Herself	1 episode
2012, 2015	The Soul Man	Nikki	multiple episodes	Guest Season 1, recurring Season 4
2012, 2013	The Chew	Herself	1 episode
2013	The Home and Family Show	Herself	1 episode
2013	Watch What Happens Live	Herself	2 episodes
2013	Good Day L.A.	Herself	1 episode
2013	The Steve Harvey Show	Herself	1 episode
2013	The Dr. Oz Show	Herself	1 episode
2013	The Chew	Herself	1 episode
2013	Showbiz Tonight	Herself	1 episode
2013	How I Met Your Mother	Daphne	8 episodes	Season 9
2013	The Arsenio Hall Show	Herself	1 episode
2013	Fox and Friends	Herself	2 episodes
2013-2014	NickMom Night Out	Host	23 episodes
2014	The Mommy Show	Herself	1 episode
2014	Nashville	Herself	1 episode
2014	Extreme Weight Loss	Herself-Guest	1 episode
2014	E!News	Herself	1 episode
2014	The Insider	Herself	2 episodes
2014	Celebrity Name Game	Herself	1 episode
2014	The Meredith Vieira Show	Herself	1 episode
2014	QVC	Herself	Ongoing	Spokesperson for Sherri Shepherd™ LUXHAIR™ Wigs
2014	Steve Harvey	Herself	1 episode
2015	K.C. Undercover	Agent Beverly	3 episodes
2015	Tanked	Herself	1 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella	Madame, the Evil Stepmother	Broadway musical

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Award and Nominations

• 2008 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show Host(s) (The View)
• 2009 Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host(s) (The View)
• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show Host(s) (The View)
• 2011 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show Host(s) (The View)
• 2012 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show Host(s) (The View)
• 2013 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show Host(s) (The View)
• 2014 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show Host(s) (The View)

People's Choice Award Nomination

• 2013 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show Host(s) (The View)

Screen Actors Guild Award Nomination

• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Precious (Shared with rest of cast)

Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award Nomination

• 2009 Nomination for Best Ensemble, Precious (Shared with all cast members)

Boston Society of Film Critics Award

• 2009 Award for Best Ensemble Cast (Precious)

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Nomination

• 2010 Nomination for Best Acting Ensemble, Precious (Shared with rest of cast)

Black Reel Award Nomination

• 2010 Nomination for Best Ensemble Cast, Precious (Shared with rest of cast)

BET Comedy Award Nomination

• 2005 Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Less than Perfect)

NAACP Image Awards and Nominations

• 2009 Award for Outstanding Talk Series (The View)
• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (Sherri)
• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Series (The View)
• 2011 Award for Outstanding Talk Series (The View)

Gracie Award

• 2010 Award for Leading Actress in a Comedy Series (Sherri)

Braveheart Award

• 2010 Powerful Women in Hollywood Award

Charities

Sherri Shepherd supports the following charitable causes: Children, Disabilities, Special Education.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]