• Cruise’s Katie Holmes big screen return
• Queen Latifah to adopt like Jolie, Madonna or Ryan
• Justin Timberlake stole John Travolta dance moves
• Queen Latifah enlarges upon notion of beauty
• 'Secret Life of Bees' movie on

Dana Elaine Owens was born on March 18, 1970 in Newark, New Jersey. She is a Grammy-winning American rapper/singer, model, and Academy Award-nominated actress. She is better known as Queen Latifah.

One of the first female stars of hip-hop, Queen Latifah's first album, All Hail the Queen (1989), proved that there was room for feminism in rap. After establishing herself as a rapper, she moved into acting, appearing in a small role in Spike Lee's movie Jungle Fever (1991), and more significant roles in Set it Off (1996) and Living Out Loud (1998).

She also became a television star during the 1990s, first in the sitcom Living Single (1993), then as the host of her own talk show (1999). And through it all, Queen Latifah was still making records and winning Grammys.

In 2003 she co-starred with Steve Martin in the feature film Bringing Down the House and she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Chicago (2002). Her other films include Beauty Shop (2005) and Last Holiday (2006).

Filmography

• Mad Money (2008)
• Perfect Christmas (2007)
• Hairspray (2007)
• Life Support (2007)
• Lost Historical Films on the Ice Age Period (2006)
• Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
• Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (2006)
• Last Holiday (2006)
• Glamour Magazine's Women of the Year Awards (2005)
• The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005)
• Beauty Shop (2005)
• Taxi (2004)
• The Cookout (2004)
• Crash Nebula (2004)
• "The Fairly OddParents" (1 episode, 2004)
• "Eve" (1 episode, 2004)
• Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004)
• Scary Movie 3 (2003)
• Bringing Down the House (2003)
• "Kung Faux" (2003)
• Chicago (2002)
• Pinocchio (2002)
• Brown Sugar (2002)
• The Country Bears (2002)
• Living with the Dead (2002)
• "Spin City" (2 episodes, 2001)
• Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
• The Bone Collector (1999)
• Mama Flora's Family (1998)
• Living Out Loud (1998)
• Sphere (1998)
• "Living Single" (115 episodes, 1993-1998)
• Hoodlum (1997)
• Set It Off (1996)
• My Life (1993)
• Sisters in the Name of Rap (1992)
• Juice (1992)
• "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (2 episodes, 1991)
• House Party 2 (1991)
• Jungle Fever (1991)

Awards

• BET Award Best Actress 2003
• Grammy Best Rap Solo Performance "U.N.I.T.Y" 1994