Jamaican American Sheryl Lee Ralph won her first Emmy for her role as a teacher Barbara Howard on the ABC television network program “Abbott Elementary.” Ralph used her Emmy acceptance speech to remind the audience – and viewers everywhere – that she’s got major vocals.
While on stage, Ralph, who won the Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy broke out into Dianne Reeves’ song “Endangered Species.”
“I am an endangered species, but I sing no victim’s song,” she sang at the ceremony, bringing the entire audience to its feet. “I am a woman; I am an artiste. And I know where my voice belongs.”
Ralph was shocked by her win. Upon hearing her name called, she leaned on co-star Tyler James Williams, who led her to the stage. Then she composed herself, sang acapella and launched into a rousing victory speech.
“To anyone, who has ever, ever had a dream and thought your dream wasn’t, wouldn’t couldn’t come true – I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like,” she said to applause. “This is what striving looks like. And don’t you ever ever give up on you.”
Winning the Emmy Award at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, means Ralph has become the first Black woman to win the award in 35 years.
The actress thanked her co-star and “Abbott Elementary” creator, Quinta Brunson, for her support, as well as her husband, Pennsylvania State Sen. Vincent Hughes, and their children.
Ralph was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, the daughter of Stanley Ralph, a college professor, and Ivy Ralph O.D., a Jamaican fashion designer and the creator of the Kariba suit. She has a younger brother, actor, and comedian Michael Ralph. According to a DNA analysis, she descends partly from the Tikar people of Cameroon. She was raised between Mandeville, Jamaica, and Long Island, New York.
Ralph has appeared in a number of movies during her career. In 1991, she received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her role in the drama film To Sleep with Anger. Her other film credits include The Mighty Quinn (1989), The Distinguished Gentleman (1992), Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), and Deterrence (1999).
On television, Sheryl Lee Ralph starred from 1986 to 1989 in the syndicated sitcom It’s a Living, and later had the leading roles in the short-lived ABC sitcom New Attitude (1990), and CBS medical drama Street Gear (1995). From 1996 to 2001, she starred as Dee Mitchell in the UPN sitcom Moesha, and from 2013 to 2015 as Maggie Turner in the Nick at Nite sitcom Instant Mom. As of 2022, Ralph is starring as Barbara Howard on the ABC mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary.
“Abbott Elementary” was nominated for seven Emmys at this year’s ceremony.
