Mo’Nique (born Monique Imes on December 11, 1967 in Woodlawn, Maryland) is an African American comedian, actress, and reality television host. She is also the main host of the BET Awards.

She’s 40!

She is best known for the role of Nicole “Niki” Parker on the UPN television series The Parkers.

The show ran from 1999 to 2004. Mo’Nique was subsequently featured on a number of leading stand-up venues, including stints on Showtime at the Apollo, Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam, and Thank God You’re Here.

She was also named host of Showtime at the Apollo. She is currently the host and executive producer of Mo’Nique’s Fat Chance, a beauty pageant for plus-sized women, on the Oxygen cable network. She can currently be seen hosting Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School on VH1, where she recently crowned Saaphyri as the winner.

Her 2007 documentary Mo’Nique Behind Bars focuses on women who are incarcerated. Mo’Nique touches on the common factors that bring many women into the penal system while interviewing women one-on-one. In the interviews, she does not shy away from the facts of what happened or excuse the actions of the inmates but she attempts to help the women see the worth they still hold. The documentary was in conjunction with the filming of a comedy special at the Ohio Reformatory for Women also known as The Farm.

Mo’Nqiue now has a regular role in the hit television series, Ugly Betty. She plays L’Amanda, the weekend secretary for MODE.

Personal Life:

Mo’Nique was born in December 11, 1967 in Woodlawn, Maryland. She is one of four children born to Steven Imes Jr. and Alice Imes. Mo’Nique graduated from Milford Mill High School in Baltimore, Maryland. She got her start in comedy when her brother dared her to perform at an open mike night and she was a big hit. Not long after she realized this was the path she wanted to pursue and would quit her job at the phone company in Baltimore.

She married Mark Jackson on December 25, 1997 and appended his surname to hers professionally to be known as Monique Imes-Jackson, but they separated after four years of marriage, and divorced 2001. With Mark she has sons Mark Jr(adopted from Mark’s previous relationship) and Shalon(1990). Her oldest son was in a singing group with R&B singer Mario. In 2006, she married her childhood friend Sidney Hicks. She and Hicks have twins, Jonathan and David, born on October 3, 2005.

Always outspoken, Mo’Nique is not shy when talking about the unique arrangement she has with Sidney Hicks. She and her husband have an open marriage, as she mentioned in a profile in The New York Times. “We have an agreement that we’ll always be honest, and if sex happens with another person, that’s not a deal breaker for us, that’s not something where we’ll have to say, ‘Oh God, we’ve got to go to divorce court because you cheated on me.’ Because we don’t cheat.”

Other December 11th Birthdays:

Rita Moreno-Actress -76
Donna Mills-Actress -65
Lynda Day George-Actress -63
Teri Gar-Actress -59
Bess Armstrong-Actress -54
Jermaine Jackson-Singer -53
Gary Dourdan-Actor -41
Rider Strong-Actor -28