Sheryl Underwood

American comedian, actress and television host

Sheryl Patrice Underwood (born October 28, 1963) is an American comedian, actress and television host. She first rose to prominence in the comedy world as the first female finalist in 1989's Miller Lite Comedy Search. Currently, Underwood is one of the hosts on the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk, becoming the show's longest running co host, a role she first stepped into in September 2011. She has received one Daytime Emmy Award from seven nominations.

Underwood was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and later moved to Atwater, California, where she attended high school. Her sister, Frankie, was diagnosed with polio. Sheryl is now Frankie's caregiver.

After graduating college, Underwood joined the United States Air Force, where she served two years in the reserves. She later gained public notice as the first female finalist in the Miller Lite Comedy Search in 1989. She won the BET "Funniest Female Comedian on Comic View" award in 1994 and the BET Comedy Awards' Platinum Mic Viewers Choice Award in 2005. Underwood was a contributor on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show until June 2010 when she joined The Steve Harvey Morning Show as a contributor. She briefly hosted her own radio program, Sheryl Underwood and Company, for Radio One owned Syndication One News/Talk and XM Satellite Radio's Channel 169 (The Power). On Tuesday nights, Underwood hosts The Sheryl Underwood Show on Jamie Foxx's Sirius Satellite Radio channel, The Foxxhole (Sirius 106)

In 2011, Underwood became a co host of the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk in its second season, replacing Leah Remini. More recently, Underwood signed a multi year development deal with CBS Studios.

Underwood holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago and master's degrees in media management and mass communication from Governors State University. Underwood once served in the U. S. Armed Forces, and frequently makes jokes about "all the creative places you can get busy on a military base." Underwood is a lifelong Republican. However, she campaigned for Barack Obama's re election in 2012 United States presidential election. Underwood also campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election "because we have to protect the legacy of President Obama. Low voter turnout benefits Donald Trump and the Republicans. He can't win." Underwood is a lifetime member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority, first joining in 1990.

Underwood was elected as the 23rd International Grand Basileus (President) during Zeta Phi Beta's biennial business meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2008. Her election as Grand Basileus was disputed, but District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Gerald I. Fisher dismissed a lawsuit against the sorority and Underwood that asked the court to unseat her.