Professional career

Underwood first gained notoriety as the first female finalist in the Miller Lite Comedy Search

Miller Lite Comedy Search

The Miller Lite Comedy Search Contest a nationally known contest which identifies up-and-coming comedians in the Chicago metropolitan area as well as nationwide. Even though the contest is not limited to African-American contestants, the vast majority of those who have competed have been...

 in 1989. She won the BET "Funniest Female Comedian on Comic View" award in 1994 and the BET Comedy Awards' Platinum Mic Viewers Choice Award in 2005.
Following her stand up success, Underwood took a number of minor acting roles including Bad Mouth Bessie in the 1998 film I Got the Hook Up

I Got the Hook Up

I Got the Hook-Up is a 1998 crime comedy film, starring A.J. Johnson and Master P, and directed by Michael Martin. This was No Limit Records first theatrical release.-Plot:...

, and Catfish Rita in the 2005 film Beauty Shop

Beauty Shop

Beauty Shop is a 2005 American comedy film, directed by Bille Woodruff. The film is a spin-off of the Barbershop film franchise, and stars Queen Latifah as Gina, a character which was first introduced in the 2004 film Barbershop 2: Back in Business...

.

Underwood was the host of BET's Comic View and executive producer and host of the limited run comedy/variety series Holla (September 2002 – January 2003).
Underwood was a contributor on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show

Tom Joyner Morning Show

The Tom Joyner Morning Show is a nationally-syndicated program, featuring host Tom Joyner and a team of comedians and commentators reporting and discussing the latest news and sports of the day, playing popular R&B songs from the 1970s through the 1990s as well as contemporary R&B hits, and an...

until June 2010 when she jumped ship to The Steve Harvey Morning Show

The Steve Harvey Morning Show

The Steve Harvey Morning Show is a nationally-syndicated radio program, featuring host Steve Harvey and a team of comedians and commentators.-Broadcast history:...

 to be their contributor . She briefly hosted her own radio program, "Sheryl Underwood and Company" for Radio One-owned Syndication One News/Talk and XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...

's Channel 169 (The Power ). On Tuesday nights, Underwood hosts The Sheryl Underwood Show on Jamie Foxx

Jamie Foxx

Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...

's Sirius Satellite Radio

Sirius Satellite Radio

Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...

 channel, The Foxxhole

The Foxxhole

The Foxxhole is a comedy channel on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio channel 98. Presented by actor/comedian/musician Jamie Foxx, the network broadcasts a variety of comedy and urban music such as hip-hop and R&B in addition to live talk shows broadcast during the weekdays...

 (Sirius 106)

Filmography

Year	Film	Role
1992	Def Comedy Jam Def Comedy Jam Def Comedy Jam is a HBO television series produced by Russell Simmons. The series had its original run from July 1, 1992 to January 1, 1997. The show returned on HBO's fall lineup in 2006. Def Comedy Jam helped to launch the careers of several African-American stand-up comedians...	Frequent Performer
1993	Soul Train Soul Train Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...  Comedy Awards (TV)	Presenter
1997	Make Me Laugh Make Me Laugh Make Me Laugh was an American game show in which contestants watched three stand-up comedians performing their acts, one at a time, earning one dollar for every second that they could make it through without laughing. Each comedian got sixty seconds to try to crack the contestant up...  TV Series
1998	Bulworth Bulworth Bulworth is a 1998 American film co-written, co-produced and directed by the film's star, Warren Beatty. It was loosely based on the life of Beatty's friend, Tennessee political figure John Jay Hooker. It co-stars Halle Berry, Oliver Platt, Don Cheadle, Paul Sorvino, Jack Warden, and Isaiah...	Woman in Frankie's
1998	I Got the Hook Up I Got the Hook Up I Got the Hook-Up is a 1998 crime comedy film, starring A.J. Johnson and Master P, and directed by Michael Martin. This was No Limit Records first theatrical release.-Plot:...	Bad Mouth Bessie
2001	Nikki (TV series) Nikki (TV series) Nikki is an American sitcom that aired on The WB from 2000 to 2002. Nikki was a starring vehicle for Nikki Cox, who had previously starred in another WB sitcom, Unhappily Ever After, which ran for five seasons...  (episode: Working Girl)	Janeth
2002	Holla (TV series)	Host
2005	Beauty Shop Beauty Shop Beauty Shop is a 2005 American comedy film, directed by Bille Woodruff. The film is a spin-off of the Barbershop film franchise, and stars Queen Latifah as Gina, a character which was first introduced in the 2004 film Barbershop 2: Back in Business...	Catfish Rita
	Holla (TV series)	Executive Producer
2000	Oh Drama! (TV Series)	Host
2002	Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn is a comedic talk show that aired on Comedy Central. The show featured roundtable discussions, inviting various guests of many views, mixing mostly comics/entertainers expressing themselves with journalists and political figures. Quinn's regular guests consisted mainly...  (TV Series)	Self
2004	BET Comedy Awards (TV)	Self
2005	The 2nd Annual BET Comedy Awards (TV)	Self
2005	Weekends at the DL
2005	Made You Look: Top 25 Moments of BET History (TV)
2005	Getting Played Getting Played Getting Played is a 2005 film directed by David Silberg, starring Vivica A. Fox, Bill Bellamy, Carmen Electra, and Stacey Dash.-Plot:The film centers around three very attractive women who, after having many guy troubles themselves, decide to play a prank on a random man...
2007	Baisden After Dark	Self
2011	Comics Unleashed Comics Unleashed Comics Unleashed is a half-hour comedic talk show produced by the Entertainment Studios production company and hosted by Byron Allen, with John Cramer as announcer and ' providing music support. The show features a panel of four guest comedians performing their standup bits thinly disguised as a...	Self
2011	The Talk The Talk (U.S. TV series) The Talk is a talk show created by actress Sara Gilbert, who also serves as the executive producer. The show premiered on October 18, 2010, and airs on CBS as a part of CBS Daytime...	Self

Personal life

College educated, she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts from the University Illinois at Chicago and Masters Degrees in Media Management and Mass Communication from Governor State University. Underwood once served in the U.S. Armed Forces, and frequently makes jokes about "all the creative places you can get busy on military base."

Underwood is a lifetime member of Zeta Phi Beta

Zeta Phi Beta

Zeta Phi Beta is an international, historically black Greek-lettered sorority and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council.Zeta Phi Beta is organized into 800+ chapters, in eight intercontinental regions including the USA, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean...

 sorority, first joining in 1990. She served as president of the organization's Omicron Rho Zeta chapter, as the National Chair of Honorary Members, and as the National Executive Board Chair. She also chartered a graduate chapter of Zeta Phi Beta in Inglewood, California

Inglewood, California

Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...

.

In addition to the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, Underwood is also a National Council of Negro Women and the NAACP member. She also founded the African-American Female Comedian Association.

In Fall 2011, Underwood revealed that after dating seven years, her husband -- who may have suffered from clinical depression -- committed suicide after they'd been married three years .

Zeta Phi Beta presidency

Underwood was elected as the 23rd International Grand Basileus (President), during Zeta Phi Beta's biennial business meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 in 2008. Her election as Grand Basileus was disputed, but District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Gerald I. Fisher dismissed a lawsuit against the sorority and Underwood that asked the court to unseat Underwood. Her election made her the first professional entertainer to hold the highest elected office of a National Pan-Hellenic Council

National Pan-Hellenic Council

The National Pan-Hellenic Council is a collaborative organization of nine historically African American, international Greek lettered fraternities and sororities. The nine NPHC organizations are sometimes collectively referred to as the "Divine Nine"...

organization.

External links