African Celebrities: Mo'Nique

Mo'Nique Imes-Jackson known professionally as Mo'Nique is an American comedian and actress. She was born on December 11, 1967 in Baltimore, Maryland to engineer Alice Imes and drug counsellor Steven Imes Jr. She is best known for her role as Nikki Parker in the UPN series "The Parkers". She is the youngest of four children. She has one sister, Millicent and two brothers, Steve and Gerald. Her sister Millicent is her personal assistant and her brother Steve is her manager.

Mo'Nique graduated from Milford Mill High School in Baltimore County and attended Morgan State University. She is a 1987 graduate of the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland.

Before she was an actress, Mo'Nique worked as a phone operator. She got her start in comedy at the downtown Baltimore Comedy Factory Outlet, when her brother Steve dared her to perform at an open mic night.

She was married to Mark Jackson from 1997 - 2001 and was credited as Mo'Nique Imes-Jackson. Mo'Nique and Mark Jackson have a son named Shalon Jackson.

In 2006 she married Sidney Hicks. The couple have twin sons, Jonathan and David born in October 2005