Wanda Sykes was born on March 7, 1964 in Portsmouth, Virginia. However, she grew up in Washington D.C. area, because her father worked at Pentagon as a US Army colonel. Her mother was a banker, but not a housewife, which wasn’t typical for women back in those days. Interestingly, Wanda’s mother, Marion Louise, wasn’t the first woman, who advanced her time! Owing to the 2012 PBS Finding Your Roots episode Sykes`s family was able to find out more about their ancestors. They found out that Wanda’s paternal ninth great-mother Elizabeth Banks was a free white woman, who gave a birth to colored child. The child was named Mary Banks and even though she was fathered by a slave, Mary inherited her mother’s free status.
Wanda Sykes was studying in Arundel High School in Gambrills, Maryland. She went to Hampton University for her bachelor’s degree in marketing. She was a talented student, that’s why she found a job quickly. Her first place of employment was at the National Security Agency, where she was a contracting specialist. She worked there for almost five years, but apparently got tired of trying to reach her father’s expectations and decided to become a comedian.
She started up at a Coors Light Super Talent Showcase in Washington D.C. in 1987. In 1992 Wanda moved to the New York City, where she was co-working with the Hal Leonard publishing House as an editor of the Polyrhythm – The Musician’s Guide, by Peter Magadini. Around the same time she got married to music producer Dave Hall in 1991, but a couple divorced in 1998. But after experiencing such a heart break, her career seemed to pull forward! By 1997 she joined The Chris Rock Show writing team. For her contribution to the show she was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Special in 1999.
Since then, she appeared in “Tomorrow’s Night” (1998), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps”(2000), “Down to Earth”(2001), “Pootie Tang”(2001), “Brother Bear 2” (2006), “The Adventures of Brer Rabbit” (2006), “Over The Hedge” (2006), “Clerks II” (2006), “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” (2006), “Barnyard” (2006), and “Condom Nation” (2006). She has also voice many cartoons, such as “Rio” (2011), “Ice Age: Continental Drift” (2012), “The Angry Birds Movie” (2016), “Ice Age: Collision Course” (2016).
Sykes had publicly announced herself a lesbian in November 2008, a month after her wedding ceremony with a French woman Alex Niedbalski. On April 27, 2009 a couple officially became parents of twins named Olivia Lou and Lucas Claude. Wanda acknowledges that it was hard on her conservative parents, who didn’t attend her wedding, but eventually they were happy to become grandparents.
On September 19, 2011 Wanda announced on THE Ellen Show that she was diagnosed with DCIS, which is considered to be a zero breast cancer stage. It was a hard decision for Wanda to remove both of her breasts, but she chose to do that in order to avoid risks of breast cancer in the future.
| Birth Date: | 7 Mar, 1964 |
| Age: | 56 yrs |
| Citizenship: | United States of America |
| Birth Place: | Portsmouth |
| residence: | Los Angeles |
| Education: | Hampton University |
| Gender: | Female |
| Description: | American comedian, writer, actress and voice artist |
| Net Worth 2021: | 10 million |
