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Lena Waithe

Acting

Born May 17, 1984 · Chicago, Illinois, USA

Also known as Lena D. Waithe · 麗娜·維特

Biography

Lena Waithe (/weɪθ/; born May 17, 1984) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She is the creator of the Showtime drama series The Chi (2018–present) and the BET comedy series Boomerang (2019–20) and Twenties (2020–21). She also wrote and produced the crime film Queen & Slim (2019) and is the executive producer of the horror anthology series Them (2021–present). Waithe gained recognition for her role in the Netflix comedy-drama series Master of None (2015–2021) and became the first African-American woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 2017 for writing the show's "Thanksgiving" episode, which was loosely based on her personal experience of coming out to her mother. She has also appeared in Steven Spielberg's 2018 adventure film Ready Player One and the HBO series Westworld. In 2023, she was nominated for Best Play at the 76th Tony Awards, her production work on the sketch-comedy play Ain't No Mo'. Waithe was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018 and was included on Fast Company's Queer 50 list in 2021 and 2022. Description above from the Wikipedia article Lena Waithe, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Awards & recognition

  • Time 100 · 2018
  • Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Writing for a Comedy Series · 2017
  • Primetime Emmy Award

Filmography44 titles

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

2020as Self - Contestant

Hollywood Black

2024as Self

This Is Us

2016as Animal Shelter Clerk

Bones

2005Writer

Grey's Anatomy

2005as Evynn Moore

Mating Season

2026as Alex (voice)

Westworld

2016as Ash

The Chi

2018as Camille Hallaway

The One and Only Dick Gregory

2021as Self

Them

2021Executive Producer

Onward

2020as Officer Spector (voice)

Ready Player One

2018as Aech / Helen

Big Mouth

2017

RuPaul's Drag Race

2009as Self - Guest Judge

Master of None

2015as Denise Watkins

The Comeback

2005as Summer

Amend: The Fight for America

2021as Self

Queen & Slim

2019Producer, Screenplay, Story

A Black Lady Sketch Show

2019as Office Employee

Chang Can Dunk

2023Producer

Kokomo City

2023Executive Producer

The Forty-Year-Old Version

2020Producer

A Thousand and One

2023Producer

Being Mary Tyler Moore

2023as Self (voice)

Step Sisters

2018Producer

Transparent

2014as Jane

The Daily Show

1996as Self

Visible: Out on Television

2020as Self - Narrator (voice)

Dear White People

2014Producer

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

as Self

Dear White People

2017as P. Ninny

#BlackAF

2020as Lena Waithe

Bad Hair

2020as Brook-Lynne

House Party

2023as Self

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder

2022as College Maya (voice)

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

2003as Self - Guest

The Shop

as Self

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

2009as Self - Guest

Beauty

2022Producer, Writer

Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration

2022

The View

1997as Self

It's Dorothy!

2025as Self

Sherri

2022as Self - Guest

Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television

as Self