Wanda Sykes

She publicly came out as lesbian in 2008 and married her girlfriend Alex.

She is a supporter of gay rights and same-sex marriages. She also volunteers with PETA.

Wanda Sykes was born to Marion Louise and Harry Ellsworth Sykes. Her father was a U.S. Army colonel while her mother was a banker.

She graduated from Arundel High School and attended Hampton University from where she earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.

She started her career as a procurement officer at the National Security Agency (NSA) after her graduation. She held this government post for five years. However, this job did not provide her much satisfaction.

She participated at the Coors Light Super Talent Showcase in 1987 where she performed stand-up comedy for the first time in front of a live audience. It was during this performance that she realized her love for comedy.

She spent the next few years honing her skills and performance and moved to New York City in 1992 in order to pursue a career in comedy.

She met the comedian Chris Rock and opened for him at the Caroline’s Comedy Club. Soon she joined the writing team on ‘The Chris Rock Show’ in 1997. Her collaboration with Chris Rock proved to be very productive for her and she also got the opportunity to make several appearances on his show.

Starting from 2001, she made several appearances on various episodes of the improvised comedy television series ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’.

Her best known role is that of Barb Baran in the sitcom series ‘The New Adventures of Old Christine ‘where she played the protagonist’s funny best friend. She initially played a recurring character which was later converted into a main cast member because of her popularity.

She wrote 33 episodes of ‘The Chris Rock Show’. Her writing was widely appreciated and won her several nominations and awards.