Biography

Wanda Yvette Sykes (born 7 March 1964), also known as Wanda Sykes, is a renowned stand-up comedian, actress, and author from the United States. 

She rose to prominence after winning a Primetime Emmy Award for her work as a writer on The Chris Rock Show in 1999. 

Wanda Sykes was rated one of the 25 funniest persons in America by Entertainment Weekly in 2004.

Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes: History ‧ Bio ‧ Photo
Wiki Facts & About Data
Full Name:	Wanda Yvette Sykes
Stage Name:	Wanda Sykes
Born:	7 March 1964 (age 59 years old)
Place of Birth:	Portsmouth, Virginia, United States
Nationality:	American
Height:	1.57 m
Parents:	Marion Louise Sykes, Harry Ellsworth Sykes
Siblings:	Harry Sykes
Wife • Husband • Spouse:	Alex Sykes (m. 2008), Dave Hall (m. 1991–1998)
Girlfriend • Boyfriend • Partner:	N/A
Children:	Olivia Lou Sykes, Lucas Claude Sykes
Occupation:	Comedian • TV Personality
Net Worth:	US$5,000,000-US$12,000,000

Early Life

Wanda Sykes was born in the city of Portsmouth in the state of Virginia, United States. When she was in third grade, her family relocated to Maryland. She was born on the 7th of March, 1964.

Marion Louise Sykes (née Peoples), her mother, was a banker, and Harry Ellsworth Sykes, her father, was a U.S. Army colonel at the Pentagon. Harry Sykes, her older brother, is her only sibling.

Wanda Sykes‘ family history was examined for an episode of the 2012 PBS genealogy, Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr. 

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Her lineage may be traced back to a court case in 1683 involving her foremother, Elizabeth Banks, a free white woman and an indentured servant who gave birth to a biracial child, Mary Banks, who acquired her mom’s free status.

Education

Wanda Sykes graduated from Arundel High School in Gambrills, Maryland. She went to Hampton University, where she received a Bachelor of Science in marketing and was inducted into Alpha Kappa Alpha. 

Her first employment after college was with the National Security Agency as a contracting specialist, where she remained for five years.

Career

After working for the National Security Agency (NSA), Wanda Sykes began her stand-up career in 1987 at a Coors Light Super Talent Showcase in Washington, DC, when she performed in front of a live audience for the first time.

While at the NSA, Wanda Sykes continued to play at local venues until 1992, when she relocated to New York City. Russell Simmons‘ Def Comedy Jam in the early 1990s was one of her first TV appearances, where she collaborated with J. B. Smoove and Bernie Mac. 

While working for the Hal Leonard publishing business, she edited Peter Magadini‘s book Polyrhythms – The Musician’s Guide. Her big break came when she was asked to open for Chris Rock at Caroline’s Comedy Club.

Wanda Sykes has since acted in films such as Pootie Tang and on television shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm. She at Large, a Fox network sitcom she starred in 2003, was a short-lived success. The same year, she starred in Tongue Untied, a one-hour Comedy Central special. She was also voted No. 70 on the network’s list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time. Wanda Does It, her Comedy Central show, was also short-lived. 

Wanda Sykes is a well-known actress who has been featured in several films and movie series and has several credits to her name. She has also lent her voice to several animations and cartoons.

Wanda Sykes is a novelist in addition to her career in film and television. Yeah, I Said It, a collection of witty insights on a variety of themes, was published in September 2004.

Filmography

• Monster-in-Law (2005)
• My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)
• Evan Almighty (2007)
• License to Wed (2007)
• Over the Hedge (2006)
• Barnyard (2006)
• Brother Bear 2 (2006)
• Rio (2011)
• Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)
• Ice Age: Collision Course (2016), 
• Ugly Dolls (2019).

Personal Life

From 1991 to 1998, Wanda Sykes was married to record producer Dave Hall. She came out as a lesbian in November 2008 at a same-sex marriage event in Las Vegas in support of Proposition 8. 

She had married Alex Niedbalski, a French lady she had met in 2006, a month before. Alex Sykes gave birth to a set of fraternal twins, Olivia Lou Sykes and Lucas Claude Sykes, in April 2009, making the couple parents for the first time.

Wanda Sykes didn’t come out to her conservative mother, Marion Louise Sykes, and father, Harry Ellsworth Sykes until she was 40, and they both struggled to accept her homosexuality at first. They were estranged for a short time after refusing to attend her wedding with Alex Sykes; they have since mended Wanda Sykes.

Wanda Sykes revealed that she had been diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) earlier in the year during an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on September 19, 2011. Despite the fact that DCIS is a non-invasive “stage zero breast cancer,” she chose to have a double mastectomy to reduce her risk of developing breast cancer. 

Wanda Sykes lives in Media, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, and Cherry Grove, New York.

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Social Media

Wanda Sykes is active on Instagram and Twitter. She has a large fanbase consisting of black Americans.

Net Worth

Wanda Sykes has an estimated net worth of US$5,000,000 to US$12,000,000.