![]() ![]() as part of a mini-tour to promote her new memoir, "The Mother of Black Hollywood," based on diaries that she has kept since she was in the seventh grade. Last weekend, the energetic 60-year-old actress-dancer-singer blew into D.C. These days, she plays Anthony Anderson's mother on the ABC show "Black-ish." Armed with her penchant for delivering memorable one-liners, Lewis launched a nearly 25-year career of playing the mother, auntie or grandmother to such stars as Will Smith, Tupac Shakur and Whitney Houston. That film established Lewis in what was to become her signature role: the matriarch. "Hell, for that money," Lewis recalled, "I would have played the daddy." That is, until they told her how much she was going to be paid. ![]() So when she got the call, she almost slammed down the phone. The actress, who had done just a few small film and TV parts after arriving in Hollywood via Broadway and cabarets, is only about two years older than the film's star, Angela Bassett. ![]() When casting Tina Turner's mom in the 1993 film "What's Love Got to Do With It?," the director turned to a relative unknown by the name of Jenifer Lewis. (Photo for The Washington Post by Andre Chung) Jenifer Lewis, who now plays the mom of Anthony Anderson's character on "Black-ish," has written a new book called "The Mother of Black Hollywood," recalling her many roles as a mom, aunt or grandmother. ![]()
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