Henson with Terrence Howard in Hustle & Flow (2005)

Taraji Penda Henson (born September 11, 1970 in Washington, DC) is an American actress and singer. Henson has appeared in such films as Baby Boy (2001), Hustle & Flow (2005), and Four Brothers (2005), and was a cast member on Lifetime Television's The Division. Henson, who worked as a cruise ship entertainer and at the Pentagon before becoming an actress, holds a degree in theater arts from Howard University. Henson's first and middle names are of Swahili origin, meaning "hope" and "love", respectively. She is a descendant of Matthew Henson, co-discoverer of the North Pole.[1] Image File history File links Hflow. ... Image File history File links Hflow. ... A promo shot of Terrence Dashon Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor. ... Hustle & Flow is an Academy Award-winning film directed by Craig Brewer, and co-produced by John Singleton. ... September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... Ercole de Roberti: Concert, c. ... Baby Boy (2001) is a film written, produced, and directed by John Singleton. ... Hustle & Flow is an Academy Award-winning film directed by Craig Brewer, and co-produced by John Singleton. ... Four Brothers is a jazz standard composed by Jimmy Giuffre and performed by the Woody Herman Orchestra. ... Original logo (1984-1995) 20th Anniversary logo (2004) Lifetime Television, more commonly known as Lifetime, is an American television network which as its tagline notes, is Television for Women. ... The Divisions was a popular Lifetime television series about a team of Felony Division police officers in the San Francisco Police Department headed by Captain Kate McCafferty (Bonnie Bedelia) that includes glimpses into their personal lives as well as their professional lives. ... The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located at 48 N. Rotary Road, Arlington, Virginia 22211 (Map). ... Howard University is a historically black university in Washington, D.C. Howard was established in 1867 by congressional order and named after Oliver O. Howard. ... Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see Kiswahili for a discussion of the nomenclature) is an agglutinative Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa. ... Matthew Henson in Arctic furs Matthew Alexander Henson (August 8, 1866 – March 11, 1955) was an American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary, most famously on an expedition intended to reach the Geographic North Pole in 1909. ... North Pole Scenery When not otherwise qualified, the term North Pole usually refers to the Geographic North Pole – the northernmost point on the surface of the Earth, where the Earths axis of rotation intersects the Earths surface. ...

Henson made her singing debut in Hustle & Flow; she provided the vocals for the Three 6 Mafia track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2006, giving Three 6 the distinction of becoming the first Black hip-hop act to win in the category. Henson performed the song at the Oscars on March 5, 2006 with the group. Hustle & Flow is an Academy Award-winning film directed by Craig Brewer, and co-produced by John Singleton. ... Three 6 Mafia is the first hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee to go platinum, the second hip-hop act to be nominated for and win an Oscar (1st was Eminems Lose Yourself). They are the originators of certain types of crunk music. ... Its Hard Out Here for a Pimp is a 2005 song written for the film Hustle & Flow by Memphis hip hop musicians DJ Paul Beauregarde and Jordan Juicy J Houston (both from rap group Three 6 Mafia), and Cedric Frayser Boy Coleman. ... The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Selected filmography

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2007)
• Smokin' Aces (2006)....Sharice Watters
• Something New (2006)...Nedra
• Animal (2005/II) (V)....Ramona
• Four Brothers (2005)....Camille Mercer
• Hustle & Flow (2005)....Shug
• Hair Show (2004)....Tiffany
• Holla (2002) TV Series....Guest
• Baby Boy (2001)....Yvette
• Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man (2001) (TV)
• All or Nothing (2001)....Kiko
• The Division (2001) TV Series....Inspector Raina Washington
• The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000) (as Taraji Henson)....Left-Wing Student
• Satan's School for Girls (2000)....Paige
• Streetwise (film)(1998)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2007 film directed by David Fincher. ... Smokin Aces is a film written and directed by Joe Carnahan. ... Something New was the Beatles third Capitol release, but fifth American album following the UA release of A Hard Days Night. ... Four Brothers is a jazz standard composed by Jimmy Giuffre and performed by the Woody Herman Orchestra. ... Hustle & Flow is an Academy Award-winning film directed by Craig Brewer, and co-produced by John Singleton. ... Baby Boy (2001) is a film written, produced, and directed by John Singleton. ... Murder, She Wrote is a long-running television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. ... The Divisions was a popular Lifetime television series about a team of Felony Division police officers in the San Francisco Police Department headed by Captain Kate McCafferty (Bonnie Bedelia) that includes glimpses into their personal lives as well as their professional lives. ... The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle was a movie released in 2000. ... Streetwise is a 1998 American action / crime film about drug dealers and gangsters vying for power on the streets of Washington, DC. It was directed by Bruce Brown. ...

External links

• Taraji P. Henson at the Internet Movie Database