| Celebrated Name: | Taraji Henson |
| Real Name/Full Name: | Taraji Penda Henson |
| Gender: | Female |
| Age: | 51 years old |
| Birth Date: | 11th September 1970 |
| Birth Place: | Washington D.C, USA |
| Nationality: | American |
| Height: | 1.65m |
| Weight: | 58kgs |
| Sexual Orientation: | Straight |
| Marital Status: | In a relationship |
| Husband/Spouse (Name): | N/A |
| Children/Kids (Son and Daughter): | Yes (Marcell) |
| Dating/Boyfriend (Name): | Yes (Kelvin Hayden) |
| Is Taraji Henson Lesbian? | No |
| Profession: | Actress, Author, singer |
| Salary: | N/A |
| Net Worth in 2024: | $30 million |
| Last Updated: | December 2024 |
Taraji Henson is one of the most successful American actresses today. Her acting career started in the late 1990s, making appearances in both film and television dramas. Her breakthrough came in 2001 when she appeared in the film Baby Boy. Later in 2005, she played a prostitute in the Hustle & Flow film, where she got a Screen Actors Guild Award for her outstanding performance.
In television, she has appeared in series like Eli Stone, The Division, and Boston Legal. Her exemplary work as an actress saw Times magazine naming her in the list of 100 most influential persons in the world in 2016. That same year she released her Around the Way Girl autobiography, which became New York Times Best-Selling.
Maybe you know about Taraji Henson very well, but do you know how old and tall is she and what is her net worth in 2024? If you do not know, we have prepared this article about details of Taraji Henson’s short biography-wiki, career, professional life, personal life, today’s net worth, age, height, weight, and more facts. Well, if you’re ready, let’s start.
Early Life & Biography
Taraji Penda Henson was born on 11th September 1970, in Washington, D.C. Her father, Boris Lawrence Henson, was a metal fabricator and a janitor while her mother Bernice Gordon used to work as a corporate manager in a department store chain Woodward & Lothrop in Washington.
She is the firstborn in a family of three, with Shawn and April being her younger siblings. Both her first two names originate from Swahili with Taraji being Swahili word for Hope and Penda Swahili word for love. Taraji names her grandmother Patsy Ballard as one who influenced her life as she had a very close relationship with her.
She traces her roots in West Africa form Masa people of Cameroon. She mentions Mathew Henson-a North Pole explorer- as a brother to her great-great-grandfather. Taraji attended Oxon Hill High School, located in Oxon Hill, Maryland, where she graduated in 1988.
She later joined North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University for her degree in electrical engineering but later transferred to Howard University so that she can study drama. In order to fund her college education, Taraji worked in The Pentagon as a secretary during the day and as a singing-dancing waitress in the evening on a dinner cruise ship.
Personal Life
Taraji met William LaMarr Johnson in high school, and the two fell in love with each other and started dating. Later, Taraji became pregnant with his baby, and their son Marcell was born in 1994. William Johnson was later murdered in 2003. In 2014, she claimed her son had been racially profiled after being arrested in Glendale, California. She later issued a public apology to the Glendale Police Department and the officer she had accused after viewing the footage of the incident and her son’s confession of smoking bhang two hours before driving.
Age, Height, and Weight
Being born on 11th September 1970, Taraji Henson is 51 years old as of today’s date 18th December 2024. Her height is 1.65m tall, and her weight is 58 kg.
Career
Taraji’s first big role as an actress came in 2001 when she played Yvette in the film Baby Boy alongside Tyrese Gibson. Her role opened doors for her as in 2005, and she played Shug in the film Hustle & Flow, which won her an Academy Award.
In 2008, she played Queenie in the romantic drama The Curious-Case of Benjamin Button and received another Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category. Since then, she has gone on to play major roles in numerous films, including two Tyler Perry’s films, 2012 film Think like a Man and Hidden Figures, which remains to be one of her most successful box-office films.
Her television acting career has also been a success, having appeared in numerous television dramas like Crime Scene Investigation and Sister, Sister. In February 2014, Fox television network hired her to star in their musical drama Empire.
She played Cookie Lyon character, which brought wide recognition and won her several awards, among them the Golden Globe Award in the Best Actress category. Besides acting, Taraji made her singing debut in 2005 in the film Hustle &Flow and has since made several music appearances in television and music videos.
Awards & Achievements
With more than twenty years in acting, Taraji is one of the most decorated female actors in the industry today. Her character in Hustle & Flow film gave her first nomination with Screen Actors Guild Awards and won Best Supporting Actress Award with Black Reel Award. In total, Taraji has been nominated eighty times for different awards and has gone on to win twenty-eight record awards. This is a fete that many actresses can only dream of.
Net Worth & Salary of Taraji Henson in 2024
Though a musician and an author, she has built her wealth empire mostly from her acting career where she has built her name. With most of her films commercially doing well, in return, she has earned a fortune being the star actor. Her biography became a New York Best Seller, which also earned her a fortune. As of December 2024, she is estimated to be worth $30 million.
Taraji also has a life away from the film industry, and she is a known supporter of animal rights organization PETA. She appeared in an ad nude for a campaign against wearing animal fur in 2011. She is also a supporter of the LGBT community, wherein in February 2015, she appeared in the NOH8 Campaign in their support. To avoid getting stomach cancer, Taraji switched to a vegan diet in late 2017.