Gabourey Sidibe

Sidibe in 2015, photo by DFree/Bigstock.com

Place of Birth: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.

Date of Birth: May 6, 1983

Ethnicity:
*Senegalese (father)
*African-American (mother)

Gabourey Sidibe is an American actress and author. She has starred in the film Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and on the show American Horror Story.

Her name is pronounced GAB-ə-ray SID-i-bay. Her father, Ibnou Sidibe, is a Senegalese-born taxi driver. The surname Sidibe is of Fulani origin. Her mother, Alice Tan Ridley, is African-American, originally from Georgia, and was an R&B singer. Her aunt is activist, public speaker, author, and pioneering African-American small business owner Dorothy Pitman Hughes. She was studying for a psychology degree at Mercy College when the opportunity to audition for Precious came up.

Gabourey is married to talent manager Brandon Frankel, with whom she has two children.

Gabourey’s maternal grandparents likely are named Ray Ridley and Lessie.

Sidibe in 2009, photo credit: gdcgraphics