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Sheryl Lee Ralph (born December 30, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and activist. Raised between Mandeville, Jamaica, and Long Island, New York, Sheryl Lee Ralph was born in Waterbury, Connecticut to an African American father and a Jamaican mother. Sheryl attended Uniondale High School in Uniondale, NY. She starred in the High School musical Oklahoma! and played Ado Annie. Sheryl graduated in 1972. In 1973, she was crowned Miss Black Teen-age New York. At 19, Ralph was the youngest female to ever graduate from Rutgers University. During her time at Rutgers she dated fellow student... MORE

Sheryl Lee Ralph (born December 30, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and activist. Raised between Mandeville, Jamaica, and Long Island, New York, Sheryl Lee Ralph was born in Waterbury, Connecticut to an African American father and a Jamaican mother. Sheryl attended Uniondale High School in Uniondale, NY. She starred in the High School musical Oklahoma! and played Ado Annie. Sheryl graduated in 1972. In 1973, she was crowned Miss Black Teen-age New York. At 19, Ralph was the youngest female to ever graduate from Rutgers University. During her time at Rutgers she dated fellow student Jeffrey Kleinbaum. Also that year she was named as one of the top 10 college women in America by Glamour magazine. Initially she hoped to study medicine, but after dealing with cadavers in a premed class and winning a scholarship in a competition at the American College Theater Festival, she quit medicine for the performing arts. Many years later, she served as the commencement speaker at Rutgers for the Class of 2003. Ralph is married to Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes. Ralph began her career on the stage and was nominated in 1982 for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her LESS