Sherri Shepherd Biography

Sherri Evonne Shepherd was born on April 22, 1967, in Chicago, Illinois, US, to LaVerne and Lawrence A. Shepherd. Her father worked as a food service manager at Sambos Restaurant and was a church deacon, and her mother cleaned homes.Sherri relocated to the suburb Hoffman Estates with her family at age 11. She has two younger sisters.

She studied at the Winston Churchill Elementary School and Eisenhower Junior High School of Community Consolidated School District 54. She also attended Hoffman Estates High School of District 211. Following her high school graduation, she attended trade school and learned secretarial skills before commencing her career working for different companies.

Sherri Shepherd was working as a legal secretary in Beverly Hills when she began her stand-up career in 1990. She gave up her secretarial job to make her television debut with the role of Victoria Carlson, part of main cast of the sitcom series ‘Cleghorne!’. The series aired for a season on The WB from September 10 to December 17 in 1995 and following its cancellation, Sherri strived to make ends meet. She lost her apartment and car and remained homeless for a year. The financial hardships led her to return to the law firm and work for the next three years.

Sherri gradually garnered attention with different recurring roles in television series like ‘Suddenly Susan’ (1997, 1999–2000), ‘Holding the Baby’ (1998–1999), ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ (1998–2003) and ‘The Jamie Foxx Show’ (1999–2001).

Her big break came when she landed up with the starring role of Ramona Platt in the sitcom series ‘Less Than Perfect’ that ran for four seasons on ABC from October 1, 2002, to June 27, 2006, and fetched Sherri a BET Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Sherri Shepherd contributed voice roles in the animated television series ‘Brandy & Mr. Whiskers’ (2004–2006) and ‘Kim Possible’ (2004–2005, 2007). Starting with ‘Up All Night’, the February 8,2007 aired episode, till 2013, Sherri portrayed the recurring role of Angie in the satirical-sitcom television series ‘30 Rock’.

One of her most notable television features includes co-hosting the daytime talk show ‘The View’. She became a frequent guest co-host of the show in 2006 and debuted as a permanent co-host on September 10, 2007. She announced her departure from the show in June 2014 and made her final appearances on August 11 that year. She later made several appearances on the show as a guest host and lead contributor during 2015 and 2016. She bagged nomination for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host for the show in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and won the one in 2009.

Sherri Shepherd starred in the sitcom ‘Sherri’ that was based on her life and ran on Lifetime for a season from October 5 to December 1 in 2009, marking the first comedy series ever to be owned by the channel. It fetched her NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series.

Meanwhile on June 20, 2008, she co-hosted the 35th Daytime Emmy Awards with Cameron Mathison. She featured in the talk show ‘Rachael Ray’ (2008–2014); appeared as Red Carpet commentator during 82nd Academy Awards (2010); guest hosted the television game ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ (2009; 2011); and hosted television game show ‘Newlywed Game’ (2010–2013), the GMA Dove Award (2011) and Nickelodeon's ‘NickMom Night Out’ special (2013-2014) among others.

She took part in ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in its fourteenth season that premiered on March 19, 2012. She and her professional dance partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy ended up in the third place and got eliminated on April 10, 2012.

Sherri Shepherd essayed the role of Madame, the Evil Stepmother in the Broadway musical Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella in 2014.

She played one of the main roles of Anne Flatch in the sitcom series ‘Trial & Error’ (2017-2018).Starting from June 10, 2019, she hosted 65 episodes of Best Ever Trivia Show on Game Show Network. She stars as Paula Madison in the comedy streaming television series ‘Mr. Iglesias’ that premiered on Netflix on June 21, 2019; and will be seen playing the recurring role of Sharon in the upcoming television multi-camera sitcom ‘Call Your Mother’. The latter is set to premiere on ABC on January 13, 2021.

Over the years, Sherri also left her mark on big screen appearing in films like ‘Cellular’ (2004), ‘Guess Who’ (2005), ‘Transformers’ (IMAX re-release version only, 2007), the Oscar-winning ‘Precious’ (2009), and ‘Jean of the Joneses’ (2016) to name a few.

While furthering her acting career on-screen, Sherri Shepherd continues to hold her stand-up roots performing regularly at the Comedy Store, the Improv and the Laugh Factory.

In October 2009, she published her book ‘Permission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break’. She also co-authored the 2013 published book ‘Plan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes’ with Billie Fitzpatrick.

She has partnered with and raises funds for the YAI National Institute to raise awareness for and support children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities by creating new living, learning, working and loving opportunities for them so that they can achieve a fulfilling life.

After getting aware of situation of the homeless former American Gladiators star Debbie Clark (Storm), in 2011, Sherri offered to pay rent and utilities for the star for six months.

Sherri has a passion for wearing wigs that led her to create a high fashion wig collection called ‘Luxhair Now by Sherri Shepherd’. It includes twelve wigs of varied lengths, starting from short pixies to long and luscious waves, and is available in eighteen colours.

Sherri married Jeff Tarpley on March 10, 2001. Their son Jeffrey Tarpley Jr. born in 2010 shares his birthday with Sherri. The couple divorced on October 7, 2010.

On December 26, 2010, Sherri got engaged to writer Lamar Sally and married him on August 13, 2011 in Chicago. The Style Network covered the couple’s wedding and ‘Wedding Fabulous: Sherri Shepherd Gets Married’ got the highest ratings for a wedding special on the network. The two separated in May 2014 and in August that year, they welcomed a son through surrogacy. The boy was conceived using a donor egg and thus Sherri and the child does not have a biological connection. Sherri later challenged the surrogacy contract seeking withdrawal of her name from the boy’s birth certificate. A Pennsylvania appeals court however ruled in 2015 that Sherri was legally responsible for the boy. Sherri’s divorce with Lamar was finalised on July 1 that year.

Sherri had pre-diabetes for years and presently suffers from type 2 diabetes. A devout Christian, Sherri was earlier a Jehovah's Witness.In 2008, she revealed that she had had several abortions in her 20s.

Sherri Shepherd is not only a talented actress and comedian, but she is also an accomplished author, with several books to her name.

In addition to her work in entertainment, Sherri Shepherd is a dedicated philanthropist, supporting various charitable causes and organizations.

Sherri Shepherd is known for her infectious sense of humor and quick wit, which have endeared her to fans around the world.

Despite her busy schedule, Sherri Shepherd is a devoted mother to her son and is actively involved in his upbringing.

Sherri Shepherd's journey to success in Hollywood was not always easy, but her determination and resilience have made her a role model for many aspiring artists.