A popular black comedienne whose talents enjoyed all-too-brief showcases on several television series and daytime talk shows, Sherri Shepherd’s star was poised on the launching pad in early 2007, thanks to rumors that she would replace Star Jones as co-host of The View (ABC, 1997 -).

Born Sherri Evonne Shepherd on April 22, 1970 in Chicago, IL, Shepherd and her three sisters were raised by her parents in the all-white suburb of Hoffman Estates. A self-confessed class clown, Shepherd harbored an interest in a performing career from an early age, but her father (a fast food restaurant manager)