as part of a mini-tour to promote her new memoir, 'The Mother of Black Hollywood,' based on diaries that she has kept since she was in the seventh grade. Last weekend, the energetic 60-year-old actress-dancer-singer blew into D.C. These days, she plays Anthony Anderson's mother on the ABC show 'Blackish.' Armed with her penchant for delivering memorable one-liners, Lewis launched a nearly 25-year career of playing the mother, auntie or grandmother to such stars as Will Smith, Tupac Shakur and Whitney Houston. That film established Lewis in what was to become her signature role: the matriarch. 'Hell, for that money,' Lewis recalled, 'I would have played the daddy.'

That is, until they told her how much she was going to be paid. So when she got the call, she almost slammed down the phone. The actress, who had done just a few small film and TV parts after arriving in Hollywood via Broadway and cabarets, is only about two years older than the film's star, Angela Bassett. Written with no-holds-barred honesty and illustrated with more than forty color photographs, this gripping memoir is filled with insights gained through a unique life that offers a universal message: “Love yourself so that love will not be a stranger when it comes.When casting Tina Turner's mom in the 1993 film 'What's Love Got to Do With It?,' the director turned to a relative unknown by the name of Jenifer Lewis. When an undiagnosed menatl illness stymies Jenifer’s career, culminating in a breakdown while filming The Temptations, her quest for wholeness becomes a harrowing and inspiring tale, including revelations of bipolar disorder and sex addiction. Henson, and many more, Jenifer cemented her status as the “Mother of Black Hollywood.” Her movie Jackie’s Back! became a cult favorite, and as the “Mama” to characters portrayed by Whitney Houston, Tupac Shakur, Taraji P. In the audaciously honest voice that her fans adore, Jenifer describes her transition to Hollywood, with guest roles on hits like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Friends. This multitalented “force of nature” landed her first Broadway role within eleven days of her graduation from college and later earned the title “Reigning Queen of High-Camp Cabaret.” With candor and warmth, Jenifer Lewis reveals the heart of a woman who lives life to the fullest. This “Mega Diva” and costar of the hit sitcom black-ish bares her soul in this touching and poignant-and at times side-splittingly hilarious-memoir of a Midwestern girl with a dream, whose journey took her from poverty to the big screen, and along the way earned her many accolades. From her more than three hundred appearances for film and television, stage and cabaret, performing comedy or drama, as an unforgettable lead or a scene stealing supporting character, Jenifer Lewis has established herself as one of the most respected, admired, talented, and versatile entertainers working today.

The mother of black hollywood a memoir