Biography
Regina King distinguished herself as a skilled actress in the 1990s with a number of supporting roles in prominent films. Born and raised in Los Angeles, King first made her mark as a TV actress when she was cast in the sitcom
227 in 1985. During her five seasons on TV, King also played small parts in the
Bill Murray comedy
Scrooged (1988) and
Charles Burnett's domestic drama
To Sleep With Anger (1990). After
227 ended in 1990, King moved to films full-time with a role in
John Singleton's acclaimed directorial debut Boyz N the Hood (1991). King worked with Singleton again in
Poetic Justice (1993) and
Higher Learning (1995). Showing her ability with film comedy as well as drama, King appeared in F. Gary Gray's cult-hit comedy
Friday (1995) and co-starred opposite
Martin Lawrence in
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996).
After drawing attention with her performance as Cuba Gooding Jr.'s wife in the critically praised hit
Jerry Maguire (1996), King landed substantial parts in the adaptation of Terry McMillan's
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), the hit action-thriller
Enemy of the State (1998), and the family friendly animal adventure
Mighty Joe Young (1998). Though her 1999 film
Love and Action in Chicago was not nearly as successful as her trio of 1998 movies, King began the new decade with parts in HBO's widely watched telefilm
If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000) and the
Chris Rock romantic comedy
Down to Earth (2000).
King continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, the family-friendly
Eddie Murphy film
Daddy Day Care, and the teen comedy
A Cinderella Story. King appeared in her most celebrated film to date in 2004 playing Margie Hendrix opposite
Jamie Foxx in
Ray. She also found steady work in animated efforts including
The Ant Bully, and the confrontational television version of the comic strip
The Boondocks.
In 2006, King joined the cast of the Fox action drama
24, playing the heretofore unseen sister of slain President David Palmer. The part of a smart, tough advocacy lawyer from a powerful family immediate seemed like a good fit for the actress, whose career was populated with such strong and complex roles.
~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide