Lena Waithe Biography

Lena Waithe is a television writer and producer who is also known for her acting role in the TV series Master of None.

Waithe also produced and wrote the 2019 feature film Queen & Slim (starring Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya).

She grew up in Chicago and moved to Los Angeles after college to become a TV writer in 2006.

Waithe worked on a number of series, including writing for the kids’ show How to Rock (2012) and the cop show Bones (2014-15).

She also worked as a producer on Dear White People (2014), and as an actress — most famously as Denise in Master of None (2015-17). In 2017 Waithe won a Primetime Emmy for writing the episode “Thanksgiving” (she shared the award with series creator Aziz Ansari).

By 2018 Waithe had a show of her own creation, The Chi (short for Chicago, her home town); the show’s producers included Oscar winner Common.

Waithe’s first feature film was 2019’s Queen & Slim, directed by Melina Matsoukas.