Taraji P. Henson

Introduction

Taraji Penda Henson is best known for her role as pregnant prostitute Shug in Craig Brewer's Hustle & Flow (2005) and the mother of the title character in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).

Biography

Henson was born in Washington, DC, and attended Oxon Hill High School in Oxon Hill, MD. Henson's first and middle names are of Arabic origin, meaning "hope". She claims to be a descendant of Matthew Henson, co-discoverer of the North Pole However, Henson had no American children with his wife, and only one Eskimo child with his companion Akatingwah All of Matthew Henson's Inuit descendents live in Greenland.

She first attended NC A&T where she attempted to study Electrical Engineering. She failed Pre-Calculus so she transferred to Howard University.

Henson worked two jobs --in the morning as a secretary at the Pentagon; and in the night as a singing and dancing waitress on a dinner cruise ship-- to pay for Howard University. She graduated with a degree in Theater Arts. Her son Marcel was born in 1995; his father died unexpectedly in 1997. Her father died in 2006.

Career

She has appeared in the films Baby Boy (2001), Hair Show (2004), Hustle & Flow (2005), Four Brothers (2005), and Talk to Me, and 2007 film Smokin Aces and was a cast member on Lifetime Television's The Division.

Henson made her singing debut in Hustle & Flow; she provided the vocals for the Three 6 Mafia track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2006, giving Three 6 the distinction of becoming the first Black hip-hop act to win in the category. Henson performed the song at the Oscars on March 5, 2006 with the group.

Henson was in the music video Testify in 2005 as the wife of a soon to be convicted murderer, but she was the one who really committed the crime. Throughout the video she keeps pleading "Before you lock my love away".

She is currently playing a detective on the CBS drama "Person of Interest".

Oscars 2009

Taraji was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).