Queen Latifah

As a teen, was nicknamed "Latifah," an Arabic word meaning delicate or sensitive, by a cousin. Won two state championships as a forward on her high school basketball team. Released her debut album,  All Hail the Queen, in 1989. Made her big-screen debut in 1991 in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever. Is co-chairperson of the Lancelot H. Owens Scholarship Fund, founded in memory of her brother Lancelot, who was killed in a motorcycle accident. The fund awards scholarships to economically challenged students.… Show more Was the big winner of a 2000 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire celebrity week, earning $250,000, which she donated to her brother's charity. Fulfilled a promise to a 16-year-old South Carolina girl who quit school after being harassed for being overweight, accompanying the girl to class when she agreed to return to school. Has her own line of CoverGirl cosmetics created for women of color. ~ Rovi

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