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Jennifer Hudson

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Jennifer Hudson
NameJennifer Hudson
CaptionHudson at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival
Birth nameJennifer Kate Hudson
Birth date12 September 1981
Birth placeChicago, Illinois, U.S.
OccupationSinger, actress, talk show host
Years active2004–present
SpouseDavid Otunga, 2008, 2017
AwardsAcademy Award, Golden Globe Award, Grammy Award, Daytime Emmy Award

Jennifer Hudson. Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American singer, actress, and television personality who rose to fame as a finalist on the third season of American Idol. She achieved widespread recognition for her Academy Award-winning performance as Effie White in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical *Dreamgirls*. Hudson is one of the few artists to have won an EGOT, having received an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Oscar, and a Tony Award.

Early Life and Education

Born and raised in Chicago, she was the third child of siblings Samuel and Darnell. Her early musical education came from singing in the choir at the Baptist church her family attended. She attended Dunbar Vocational High School before later graduating from Langston University. Her formative years were heavily influenced by the gospel music tradition of the American South and the vibrant soul scene of her hometown, which shaped her powerful vocal style.

Career

Her national breakthrough came in 2004 as a contestant on the Fox reality competition series *American Idol* (season 3), where she finished in seventh place. This exposure led to her being cast in the 2006 film *Dreamgirls*, a role for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She subsequently launched a successful music career with her self-titled debut album in 2008 on Arista Records. She expanded into television as a coach on the British version of *The Voice UK* and later launched her own nationally syndicated talk show, The Jennifer Hudson Show, which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award.

Music

Her debut studio album, *Jennifer Hudson* (2008), featured the Grammy Award-winning single "Spotlight" and was certified gold by the RIAA. Her subsequent albums include *I Remember Me* (2011) and *JHUD* (2014), which showcased her range across R&B, pop, and soul genres. She performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XLIII and delivered a tribute to Whitney Houston at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2022, she earned a Tony Award as a producer for the Broadway musical A Strange Loop, completing her EGOT.

Filmography

Her notable film roles include the aforementioned *Dreamgirls* (2006), for which she also won a Golden Globe Award. She starred as Carrie White in the 2022 film adaptation of the Stephen King novel *The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete*. Other credits include *Sex and the City* (2008), *The Secret Life of Bees* (2008), Winnie Mandela in *Winnie Mandela* (2011), and the voice of Mother Nature in the animated film *Cats* (2019). She also appeared in the David O. Russell film *Joy* (2015).

Awards and Nominations

She has received numerous accolades across entertainment fields. For *Dreamgirls*, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In music, she has won two Grammy Awards from multiple nominations. Her talk show, The Jennifer Hudson Show, won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host in 2023. Her EGOT status was cemented with a Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for A Strange Loop.

Personal Life

She became engaged to Harvard Law School graduate David Otunga in 2008, with whom she has a son; the couple separated in 2017. She is a dedicated philanthropist, founding the Julian D. King Gift Foundation in memory of her nephew, which provides school supplies and support to children in Chicago. A longtime resident of Burr Ridge, Illinois, she has been an advocate for LGBT rights and performed at events for the Human Rights Campaign. In 2013, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Category:American singers Category:American actresses Category:EGOT winners