Sheryl Lee Ralph, a Connecticut-born Emmy-Award winner who traces her roots to Jamaica, received her well-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after decades of exceptional entertainment performances.

During an April 16 Red Carpet ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard in California, fit for the queen she is, surrounded by family and friends, actor Jerry Neuman welcomed the spectacular Broadway chanteuse and leading lady of the award-winning Abbot Elementary series, a break-out comedy aired weekly on ABC TV.

The elegant, vivacious actress, who is on the mend after being involved in a car accident, during Wednesday’s interview with Hollywood Access TV, quipped, I was in a freaky accident, “but God says no, you will be alive to be on Hollywood Boulevard.
During her spirited speech on the red carpet, the very vocal, articulate, and energetic entertainer recalled when she first started out in the business: “I couldn’t get into the room for the audition. Now I’m literally cemented as part of the industry foundation,” she added.

“I am so electrified; now I know how it feels to have electricity running through your bones,” she said.
Stylishly dressed in a black off-the-shoulder gown, Ralph stuck a sexy post lying down before she strutted across her star of fame, much to the delight of a crowd that had gathered to see the accolade’s unveiling.

The popular screen and television star, whose career began in 1978, won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard on “Abbott Elementary” and was nominated in the category each of the next two seasons.

According to reports, Ralph received a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical in 1982 for her portrayal of Deena Jones, a member of a Black girl group from Chicago.

Ralph’s exceptional career included roles in “The Jeffersons,” “Good Times” and “Wonder Woman.”
Her first series as a cast member was on the NBC daytime drama “Search For Tomorrow” in 1983. The first prime-time series to feature Ralph in the cast was the NBC action-adventure series “Code Name: Foxfire,” which ran for five episodes in 1985.

She was also a cast member of the syndicated comedy “It’s a Living” from 1986-89, the 1990 ABC comedy “New Attitude” and the 2013-15 Nickelodeon and TV Land comedy “Instant Mom.”

In addition to playing the wife of a boxer turned after-school program director George Foster (George Foreman) on the ABC comedy “George,” which ran for nine episodes in the 1993-94 season, Ralph’s best-known television role before “Abbott Elementary” was the mother of the title character (Brandy Norwood) in the 1996-2001 UPN comedy “Moesha.”

She also had recurring roles on the CBS comedy “Designing Women” in the 1992-93 season, the Showtime crime drama, “Ray Donovan” from 2013-14 and 2019-20, the Prime Video comedy “One Mississippi” in 2017, and the Freeform supernatural drama “Motherland: Fort Salem” from 2020-22.
Ralph also starred in “ER,” “LA Law” and “Falcon Crest.”

She received a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical in 1982 for her portrayal of Deena Jones, a Chicago black girl group member. Her other Broadway credits include the 2002 revivals of Thoroughly Modern Millie and Wicked.

According to several news outlets, Ralph began her movie career when she was 20 in the 1977 crime comedy A Piece of the Action, directed by Sidney Poitier and starring Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, and James Earl Jones. Her other film credits include The Distinguished Gentleman, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, and The Flintstones.