Acting
Jennifer Hudson
1981-09-12 · Chicago, Illinois, USA
Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Hudson rose to fame in 2004 as a finalist on the third season of American Idol, placing seventh. She made her film debut as Effie White in the musical Dreamgirls (2006), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the youngest African-American to win in a competitive acting category. After signing to Arista Records, Hudson released her self-titled debut studio album in 2008, which was certified Gold in the US and the UK, and won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. Hudson's subsequent studio albums, I Remember Me (2011) and JHUD (2014), both charted within the top ten of the Billboard 200, with the former also being certified Gold in the US. Meanwhile, her other acting roles include the films Sex and the City (2008), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), Winnie Mandela (2011), Black Nativity (2013), Sing (2016), Cats (2019) and Respect (2021), the television shows Smash (2012), Empire (2015) and Confirmation (2016), and her Broadway debut with the musical The Color Purple. Hudson also contributed as a coach on the UK and the US version of The Voice from 2017 up to 2019, becoming the first female coach to win the former.
Known for
Sing
Sex and the City
Dreamgirls
GOAT
Cats
Empire
The Three Stooges
Sandy Wexler
The Secret Life of Bees
Respect
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
The Color Purple
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
HOMECOMING: A film by Beyoncé
Breathe
The Graham Norton Show
Movie credits · 62
Pierre the Pigeon-Hawk
PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie
AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy
GOAT
2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Grace for the World
The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl
Diane Warren: Relentless
92nd Annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center
Josh Groban & Friends: Home for the Holidays
American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special
Breathe
The Color Purple
Christmas at Graceland
Tell It Like a Woman
2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Respect
Monster
Roll Up Your Sleeves
Baba Yaga
Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special
In Search of the Sanderson Sisters: A Hocus Pocus Hulaween Takeover
Global Goal: Unite for Our Future | The Concert
The Disney Family Singalong - Volume II
One World: Together at Home
Cats
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons"
HOMECOMING: A film by Beyoncé
Aretha! A Grammy Celebration for the Queen of Soul
Happy Hour with Olly Murs
Q85: A Musical Celebration for Quincy Jones
A Very Pentatonix Christmas
Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives
Sandy Wexler
Hairspray Live!
Sing
Confirmation
Chi-Raq
The Concert for Valor
Lullaby
TV credits · 36
Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
The Jennifer Hudson Show
Sherri
The Kelly Clarkson Show
American Idol
Forensic Justice
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Celebrity Family Feud
The Late Late Show with James Corden
Empire
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Steve Harvey
The Voice
The Voice UK
Smash
The Jonathan Ross Show
The Voice
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
The Graham Norton Show
Project Runway
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
American Idol
Live from E!
The Early Show
The View
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
MTV Video Music Awards
Entertainment Tonight
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
The Grammys
The Oscars
Today
Golden Globe Awards
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