Sherri Shepherd | |
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 Shepherd in 2025 | |
| Born | Sherri Evonne Shepherd (1967-04-22)April 22, 1967 (age 58) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1995–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | sherrishepherd |
Sherri Evonne Shepherd (born April 22, 1967)[1] is an American actress, comedian, author, podcaster, television presenter and talk show host. She currently hosts the daily syndicated daytime talk showSherri. From 2007 to 2014, Shepherd was a co-host of the daytime talk showThe View, for which she received multipleDaytime Emmy Award nominations, winning one in 2009. She hostedDish Nation from 2019 to December 2022, with her final months in limited episodes due to her talk show. She also starred in the sitcomsThe Jamie Foxx Show (1999-2001),Less than Perfect (2002–2006),Sherri (2009),Trial & Error (2017–2018), andMr. Iglesias (2019–2020).
In 2009, she published the bookPermission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break. In 2012, she appeared as a contestant on the14th season of the reality competition seriesDancing with the Stars. Shepherd had a recurring role asAngie Jordan on theNBCsitcom30 Rock, a recurring role on theHBO Max seriesThe Sex Lives of College Girls, and hosted the game showBest Ever Trivia Show.
Shepherd was born inChicago. She is the eldest of three girls. Her parents are LaVerne (1941-1991) and Lawrence A. Shepherd (born c. 1947). Her parents became Jehovah's Witnesses when Shepherd was a child. Due to many religious and non-religious issues, her parents divorced when Sherri was very young. Due to her mother's untimely death in 1991 after the divorce, her father became the sole parent for all three girls.[2]
Shepherd's first television acting job was starring as Victoria Carlson in the short lived sitcomCleghorne!, which aired for one season onThe WB in 1995.[3] She toldEbony in 2018, "That was the first job that I booked and I was still a legal secretary. My agent told me, 'You can quit your job.' I had that big break ... and then it was canceled. I lost my apartment, my car was repossessed and I was homeless for a year. I slept on everybody's couch. In this business, it's very uncertain. You can be working one day and not working the next."[3]
Shepherd later became recognized for her role as Sheila Yarborough onJamie Foxx's own sitcomThe Jamie Foxx Show from 1996 to 2001 and for recurring roles on the sitcomsSuddenly Susan andEverybody Loves Raymond in the late 1990s, while starring in the showLess Than Perfect in the lead role of Ramona Platt from 2002 to 2006. From 2005 to 2009, Shepherd had a recurring role as Sandra, the girlfriend of character Lenny Davidson, on theFox sitcomThe War at Home. In 2007, she played Rhonda in the IMAX rerelease version ofTransformers.[4] From 2007 – 2013, she had a recurring role as Angie, the wife of character Tracy Jordan, on the NBCsitcom30 Rock. In 1998 she played in an episode ofFriends. In 2009, she starred for one season inLifetime Television'sSherri, a sitcom about Shepherd's life.[5] She recurred as Daphne during the final season ofHow I Met Your Mother in 2013.[6] In the same year, Shepherd appeared onBroadway inRodgers and Hammerstein's musical production ofCinderella.[7] From 2017 to 2018, Shepherd portrayed Anne Flatch in NBC's mockumentary legal comedy series,Trial & Error.[8] She will produce and star in the comedy series pilotBlack Don't Crack.[9]
Shepherd has appeared as a guest host and contestant on several television shows such asWho Wants to Be a Millionaire,Rachael Ray, andTo Tell the Truth.[10] She co-hosted the35th Daytime Emmy Awards on June 20, 2008. She became host of theGame Show Network version ofThe Newlywed Game in 2010, replacingCarnie Wilson, and would host that show until it ended in 2013.[11] Shepherd also hostedNickelodeon'sNickMom Night Out special from 2013 to 2014,[12] Shepherd hostedBest Ever Trivia Show onGame Show Network for 65 episodes, beginning on June 10, 2019. She has appeared regularly as a panelist onFunny You Should Ask since 2017.[citation needed]
In 2006, Shepherd became a frequent guest co-host onABC's daytime talk showThe View.[13] She became a permanent co-host in 2007, debuting in September, when she replacedStar Jones.[14] After leavingThe View in 2014, Shepherd continued to make several appearances on the show as a contributor throughout 2015 and 2016.[15]
Shepherd encountered public criticism after a September 2007 broadcast ofThe View when she stated she did not "believe in evolution. Period."[16] Co-hostWhoopi Goldberg asked her, "Is the world flat?" Shepherd responded, "I don't know," and expanded that she "never thought about it".[17] 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!"[18][19]
The View was often filmed "live", with little or no editing, so more criticism erupted after the December 4, 2007, broadcast when, during a discussion initiated byJoy Behar aboutEpicurus, Shepherd attempted to assert that Christians existed in classical Greece, and that the Greeksthrew 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 Behar responded: "The Jews."[20]
Shepherd garnered further criticism after admitting to never voting partly due to her upbringing as a strictJehovah'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."[21] In January 2008, Sherri referred to Gospel singerShirley Caesar as "the blackPatti LaBelle." LaBelle, like Caesar, is black.[22]
In 2008, she created more controversy onThe View due to "flippant" remarks regarding abortion. She later clarified her position, saying her remarks weren't meant to be "flippant" but rather to inspire other women who may be dealing with guilt after abortions. She cited having multiple abortions herself in her 20s, which caused her to suffer from shame and guilt due to those experiences. She also revealed she later converted to Evangelical Christianity.[23] In 2009, Shepherd won theDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host alongside Behar, Goldberg, Walters, andElisabeth Hasselbeck.[24]
In March 2012, Shepherd participated as a celebrity contestant on thefourteenth season of ABC'sDancing with the Stars finishing tenth; her dance partner wasVal Chmerkovskiy.[25]
In 2019, Shepherd participated in thesecond season of Fox'sThe Masked Singer as "Penguin".[26]
From October 2021 to June 2022, Shepherd was among the recurringguest hosts of the syndicated daytime talk showThe Wendy Williams Show, as its namesakeWendy Williams had been on an indefinite absence from the program due to her medical issues. On February 22, 2022, the show's distributorDebmar-Mercury announced that Shepherd had been signed on to host a new talk show,Sherri, which premiered in the 2022–23 television season as a replacement forWendy.[27][28] The series premiered on September 12.[29] In January 2023, the series was renewed for its second and third seasons through 2025.[30]
Shepherd wrote the bookPermission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break, published in October 2009.[31] Shepherd also has a co-author credit onPlan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes, published in 2013.[32]
Sherri raises funds for the YAI Sherri Shepherd "Believe in Abilities" Fund.[33] YAI[34] supports people of all ages with intellectual and developmental disabilities in achieving the fullest life possible by creating new opportunities for living, loving, working, and learning. YAI is a network of agencies with programs that empower and enhance the lives of thousands of people we support and their families.
In 2009, Shepherd appeared on an episode ofWWE SmackDown as the guest manager for professional wrestlerMVP, who competed againstDolph Ziggler in a match defending theWWE United States Championship.[35] In 2011, Shepherd offered to pay six months' rent and utilities of homeless formerAmerican Gladiators star Debbie Clark (Storm).[36] As of 2015, a project includes a line of wigs and hair add-ins.[37]
Shepherd was married to Jeff Tarpley from 2001 to 2010.[38][39] They have a son, Jeffrey, born in April 2005.[40] Shepherd became engaged to writer Lamar Sally on December 26, 2010.[41] The couple married inChicago in August 2011 and separated in May 2014.[42][43] Following the May, 2014 split, Shepherd and Sally welcomed a son, Lamar Jr., via surrogacy in August 2014. However, Shepherd does not have a biological connection to the child, as he was conceived using a donor egg.[43] During the following year, 2015, they finalized their divorce. Along with the initial divorce petition, Shepherd had also challenged the surrogacy contract and sought to remove her name from Lamar Jr.'s birth certificate. A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled against Shepherd, stating she was legally responsible for the child.[44][45]
Shepherd hastype 2 diabetes[46] after having hadpre-diabetes for years.[47] Formerly a Jehovah's Witness,[14] Shepherd is currently anevangelicalChristian.[48]
Her mom died in 1991, but her father, Lawrence, 60....
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