Sheryl Lee Ralph

Sheryl Lee Ralph is one of the most well liked, respected and recognizable celebrity faces. A triple threat Dreamgirl, this award winning actress, singer, and producer has added motivational speaker to her impressive list of credits, addressing churches, businesses, professional and women’s groups with her own unique blend of passion and inspiration.

Her exceptional abilities extend from TV, concert halls, to feature films and the Broadway stage. Nominated for the coveted Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for creating the role of “Deena Jones” in the landmark Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” Ralph has starred in such feature films as The Distinguished Gentleman with Eddie Murphy, The Mighty Quinn with Denzel Washington, Mistress with Robert DeNiro, and Sister Act 2 with Whoopi Goldberg. Ralph won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in To Sleep with Anger with Danny Glover. She found immense popularity on TV starring in hits such as It’s a Living, Designing Women and Moesha. She broke new ground in the Showtime series, BarberShop, as the popular, post operative transsexual, Claire. Ralph brought a new face to the sufferings of war in the NBC hit series ER.

Ralph is also the creator/producer of DIVAS Simply Singing! which after seventeen years of commitment has become one of the most important AIDS fundraisers in Hollywood, headlining such talent as Chaka Khan, Brenda Russell, Oleta Adams, Roberta Flack, Raven Symone, Melissa Manchester, Dianne Reeves, The PussyCat Dolls, Stacey "Fergie" Ferguson and many more. Ralph also is founder and creator of the very successful Jamerican Film Festival which has produced five Showtime Filmmaker Finalists in five years.

As a filmmaker, Ralph’s award winning film short, Secrets, starring Alfre Woodard, Robin Givens, Victoria Rowell and Ralph herself, screens to private audiences around the world. Ralph has added a one-woman show Sometimes I Cry, to her list of credits. Written, directed and performed by Ralph, this complex and thought-provoking play, illustrates the heartbreaking, yet inspiring real life stories of culturally diverse women whose lives unravel as they cope with their HIV/AIDS reality. Ralph is an AIDS advocate and celebrity spokesperson for The National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the challenges of HIV/AIDS.

As a national speaker, Ralph has the magic to captivate and motivate audiences on such topics as motherhood, success, health, well being and the joy of living. Ralph consistently creates a contagious positive energy with her spontaneous humor and quick wit which has made her very popular on the speaking circuit. She has the distinction of being the first and youngest female graduate of Rutgers College at the age of 19. A favorite on college campuses and women’s groups, Ralph’s delivery of the universities commencement speech in 2003 was named "One of the Best of the Season" by Tom Brokaw.