Monique Angela Hicks
December 11,1967
Academy award-winning actress, producer, comedian
Queen of Comedy
First Black Comedian to have a residency in Las Vegas “ MONIQUE DOES VEGAS”
First Black Woman to host a late-night talk show.
Monique is an American comedian and Academy Award-winning actress. She first gained fame as a member of The Queens of Comedy, as well as her role as Nicole “Nikki” Parker in the UPN series The Parkers while making a name as a stand-up comedian hosting a variety of venues, including Showtime at the Apollo. Mo’Nique transitioned to film with roles in such films as Phat Girlz (2006) and Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008). In 2002, she, along with several other female comedians, earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album.
In 2009, she garnered critical acclaim for her performance as the abusive Mary Lee Johnston in the film Precious and won numerous awards, She won the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for her performance in the film. The African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) awarded Mo’Nique with the Best Supporting Actress Award in December 2009. It also announced that Mo’Nique received the AAFCA’s first ever unanimous vote in an acting category. Moreover, she received Best Supporting Actress awards from the Stockholm International Film Festival, the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Online, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association, the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, the Utah Film Critics Association, the Detroit Film Critics Society, the Indiana Film Critics Association, the Online Film Critics Society, the National Society of Film Critics Awards, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and the Critics Choice Awards. Time magazine ranked Mo’Nique’s outstanding performance as the Best Female Performance of 2009. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Independent Spirit Award, and the BAFTA Award including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She hosted The Mo’Nique Show, a late-night talk show that premiered in 2009 on BET; it was canceled in 2011. In 2015, she drew rave reviews for her performance as Ma Rainey in the HBO biopic Bessie and earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 2014, Mo’Nique starred in Patrik-Ian Polk drama film Blackbird as Claire Rousseau.
At a May 2017 performance, she claimed Daniels, Oprah Winfrey, and Tyler Perry have been blackballing her ever since she did not promote Precious in 2009. With all the controversy surrounding this with Winfrey and Perry, she never gave up nor settled because contractually she was all the way right and in the eyes of the public she is justified which led to yes her being the first black woman comedian to have a residency in Las Vegas.
Mo’Nique is the author of the best-selling book Skinny Women Are Evil: Notes of a Bigg Girl in a Small-Minded World. She also released a 2006 cookbook called Skinny Cooks Can’t Be Trusted. In 2008, Radio One signed her to her own radio show: Mo’Nique in the Afternoon (or The Mo’Nique Show), which premiered on several Radio One-owned Urban Adult Contemporary-formatted R&B/soul radio stations in July 2008. It mainly aired on these stations that had a local lineup because some Radio One stations did not carry it due to their contracts with Michael Baisden. The show lasted until March 18, 2009.
Monique is married to Sidney Hicks with four handsome children. Monique you are a true leader with integrity and passion you are an inspiration to me for everyone never give up nor give into anyone and never settle for less.