Lena Waithe

Lena Waithe

Born 1984-05-17 (age 42) Chicago, Illinois, USA
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Biography

Lena Waithe (/weɪθ/; born May 17, 1984) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She is the creator of the Showtime drama series The Chi (2018–present) and the BET comedy series Boomerang (2019–20) and Twenties (2020–21). She also wrote and produced the crime film Queen & Slim (2019) and is the executive producer of the horror anthology series Them (2021–present).

Waithe gained recognition for her role in the Netflix comedy-drama series Master of None (2015–2021) and became the first African-American woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 2017 for writing the show's "Thanksgiving" episode, which was loosely based on her personal experience of coming out to her mother. She has also appeared in Steven Spielberg's 2018 adventure film Ready Player One and the HBO series Westworld. In 2023, she was nominated for Best Play at the 76th Tony Awards, her production work on the sketch-comedy play Ain't No Mo'.

Waithe was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018 and was included on Fast Company's Queer 50 list in 2021 and 2022.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Lena Waithe, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Photos

Known For

Ready Player One
Ready Player One

2018

as Aech / Helen

Onward
Onward

2020

as Officer Spector (voice)

House Party
House Party

2023

as Self

Bad Hair
Bad Hair

2021

as Brook-Lynne

The One and Only Dick Gregory
Being Mary Tyler Moore
Being Mary Tyler Moore

2023

as Self (voice)

🎦
It's Dorothy!
It's Dorothy!

2025

as Self

Reclaim the Flag
Reclaim the Flag

2025

as Self