Sheryl Underwood

About

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. Underwood was one of the hosts on the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk from September 2011 to December 2024, becoming the show’s longest running co-host. She received a Daytime Emmy Award in 2017 and has been nominated seven times overall.

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.
Following her stand up success, Underwood took a number of minor acting roles, including Bad Mouth Bessie in the 1998 film I Got the Hook Up…