Thea R. Vidale (born November 20, 1956) is an Americanstand-up comedian and actress.^[1] Vidale is perhaps best known for her role as Thea Armstrong-Turrell in theABC sitcomThea, which originally aired from 1993 until 1994. Vidale is noted as the first African American female comedian to have a television series named after her.

Vidale was born inWashington, D.C. into a military family with three sisters and moved around frequently. Her family moved toVictoria, Texas when she was 12 years old.^[2] She graduated from Victoria High School in 1975 or 1976.^{[2][citation needed]} After high school, Vidale worked as a waitress inPasadena, Texas^[2] before friends encouraged her to be a comedian.^[3][2]

Vidale began her career in 1986 performing at amateurstand-up comedy nights inHouston^[2] before quickly progressing to comedy clubs in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles. She appeared in thecable comedy specialRodney Dangerfield: Opening Night at Rodney's Place onHBO in 1989. On the same special were such notables asTim Allen,Jeff Foxworthy, andSam Kinison. She performed onLate Night with David Letterman and toured internationally.^[2] Vidale's most prominent featured role on a TV series was as the title character, a single mother, on the short-lived 1993 sitcomThea.^[4] The show lasted only one season in which it was noted to be "ranked near 50 out of approximately 75 shows in the weekly Nielsen ratings"^[4] Nevertheless, she was nominated for aPeople's Choice Award as Favorite Female in a New Series.^{[citation needed]} She was regularly a judge on theBET comedy competition TV seriesComic View.^[2] She has performed on numerous sitcoms, includingEllen,The Wayans Bros.,The Drew Carey Show, andMy Wife and Kids. Vidale made a guest appearance, playing a hairdresser, in the episode "Queens for a Day" (2007) of the television seriesUgly Betty. That same year, she played the part of Helen's grandmother on theDrake & Josh episode "Really Big Shrimp". Vidale provided the voice ofMammy Two Shoes in re-dubbed versions of 19Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1989 to 2001. She has performed infeature films such as 1995'sDr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde,Jerry Springer'sRingmaster^[2] in 1998, and the 2006Master P comedyRepos.

Her national comedy tour in 1999 was titledThea Vidale, Down & Dirty.^[2] In 2007, she competed on the reality television showLast Comic Standing, making it to the second round.^[5] In 2009, Vidale was part of theHot Tamales Live! presented by Kiki Melendez comedy tour, which was filmed forShowtime.^[6] On December 12, 2012, she appeared onStandup in Stilettos, a standup comedy show on theTV Guide Network.^[7] She performed on the third and seventh episode of the first season of theGabriel Iglesias stand-up seriesStand Up Revolution. In 2022 and 2024, Vidale worked with Carnival Cruise Lines as one of their comedians, and still works with Carnival cruises line as of April 3, 2025.

In 1999, Vidale appeared at thePhiladelphia LGBT Pride Fest, her first LGBT event, with comicEtta May. Both were honored by the city's mayor, who officially named the day simultaneously "Thea Vidale Day" and "Etta May Day".^[8] Vidale served as co-host for both the 2005 and 2009AVN Awards.^[9]

Vidale performed onWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2006. She appeared as the mother to wrestlerShelton Benjamin, who had been going through difficulties in the preceding weeks. Her first appearance was on the January 2 episode ofRaw.^[10] Over the next several weeks, "Momma Benjamin" was involved in several backstage skits resulting in her challenging wrestlers to matches on Shelton's behalf. Shelton won the majority of these matches, breaking his losing streak that existed before her arrival.^[11][12][13]

On the February 6, 2006, episode ofRAW, Momma Benjamin attempted to interfere in Shelton's match with theBig Show, only to have the Big Show turn to her and scream in her face. After he turned back to finish the match (which he won), Momma Benjaminfainted to the ground, promptingEMTs to rush to her side and wheel her backstage.^[14] The official WWE website later announced that she was resting at home after suffering from aheart arrhythmia, which was what caused her to pass out. Momma Benjamin returned toRaw the next week,^[15] but with an oxygen tank attached to her wheelchair that started being used as aweapon, especially on the February 20 episode when she led Shelton to winning theWWE Intercontinental Championship, in the process turning them both heel.^[16] Momma Benjamin was mentioned for the final time on WWE television on March 13, with Shelton announcing to the crowd that she was having heart surgery, and had no plans to return to WWE.^[17]

Vidale has spoken often about her troubled marriage where she suffered physical abuse from her husband.^[4] She has four children^[18] from that marriage and later left the children with her ex-husband when she was touring.^[4] She has spoken frequently about her faith in God.^[4]

On October 21, 2010, Vidale was a guest onThe Howard Stern Show, where she announced she had decided to havegastric bypass surgery because she had developed complications resulting fromtype 2 diabetes. She stated, "I have four children. This is not about vanity...I want it to be like a rebirth. A new me. A healthier me."^[18]

• Thea Vidale atIMDb

• 1956 births
• Living people
• American television actresses
• American stand-up comedians
• African-American stand-up comedians
• Professional wrestling managers and valets
• African-American women comedians
• 21st-century American comedians
• Actresses from Washington, D.C.
• American women comedians
• 21st-century American actresses
• 21st-century African-American actresses
• 20th-century African-American actresses
• 20th-century American actresses
• Comedians from Washington, D.C.

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