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September 26, 2025 74 mins

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Legendary Actress, Singer, Author & Activist, Jenifer Lewis


About Harvey's guest:


Today’s guest, Jenifer Lewis, is an immensely popular and beloved, multi-award-winning actress, singer, producer, author and activist who’s conquered every medium in the entertainment world. On Broadway, she appeared in 4 shows including “Eubie” and “Hairspray”, in which she was unforgettable as “Motormouth Maybelle”. She’s also starred in a whole slew of fabulous one-woman shows like “Jenifer Lewis in the Cosmos”, “Jenifer Lewis on the Couch”, “Jenifer Lewis Broke and Freaking Out”, “Bipolar, Bath and Beyond”, and my favorite, “The Diva is Dismissed”, for which she received 2 NAACP Awards. She’s performed at some of the most prestigious concert venues in the world including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She toured with Bette Midler as one of the staggering Harlettes. 


On the big screen, she played Tina Turner’s mother in “What’s Love Got to Do With it?”, she played Whitney Houston’s Mom in “The Preacher’s Wife”, and she’s appeared in great blockbuster movies like “Beaches”, “Sister Act 1 and 2”, “Renaissance Man”, “Corrina, Corrina”, “Cast Away”, “Madea’s Family Reunion”, “Hereafter”, “Christmas on the Square”, and many more. And her instantly recognizable voice is adored by Disney fans for her portrayal of "Flo" in “Cars”, “Cars 2” and “Cars 3”, and as "Mama Odie" in “The Princess and the Frog”. 


And on television, she’s been immortalized as “Judge Rosetta Reide” in “Courthouse”, “Aunt Helen” in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, everybody’s best friend “Lana Hawkins” in “Strong Medicine”, and of course, the spicy, saucy, loveable and hilarious grandmother, “Ruby Johnson” in “Black-ish”, for which she was nominated for 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critic’s Choice Award, a Satellite Award, and 3 NAACP Image Awards, as well as winning 2 Black Reel Television Awards. She’s also guest starred in dozens of classic TV shows like “Murphy Brown”, “Friends”, “Touched by an Angel”, “Girlfriends”, “Boston Legal”, “Meet the Browns” and “I Love That For You”, to name just a few. 


And she’s appeared in a whole slew of great TV movies and miniseries including “Deconstructing Sarah”, “An Unexpected Life”, “The Temptations”, “Jackie’s Back”, “Little Richard”, “It Had to be You”, “History of the World: Part 2”, and many more. 


And if all of that weren’t enough, our guest is also a best-selling author of 2 highly compelling books: the first is a heartfelt, unfiltered and inspirational 2017 memoir entitled “The Mother of Black Hollywood”, and in 2022 she released an equally captivating sequel called “Walking in my Joy in These Streets”, which is one of the funniest, most laugh-out-loud books I’ve ever read. Let me tell you, the chapter about our guest’s rather unusual relationship with wheat grass during her stay at a health spa in California, had me laughing for a week. 


In addition to the accolades I’ve already mentioned, our guest has been nominated for 6 NAACP Image Awards, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Essence Black Women in Hollywood, she received an Honorary Satellite Award, and the American Black Film Festival honoured her with the Career Achievement Award. And well beyond all of that, she received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Webster University in St. Lewis. 


And in 2022, she received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And to top it all off, a few years ago, her home state of Missouri honoured her with a star on the St. Lewis Walk of Fame. 


For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/


To learn more about Jenifer Lewis, go to:

https://www.instagram.com/jeniferlewisforreal/

https://www.facebook.com/JeniferLewisForReal/


@harveybrownstone,#harveybrownstone,@harveybrownstoneinterviews,#harveybrownstoneinterviews,#JeniferLewis,@JeniferLewis,#jeniferlewisforreal,@jeniferlewisforreal,#BetteMidler,#OprahWinfrey,#WhitneyHouston,#TinaTurner,#Bipolardisorder,#MerylStreep,#DollyParton,#Blackish,#StrongMedicine

 



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