Profile Text
Hudson in 2011, image via Joe Seer /bigstock.com
Birth Name: Jennifer Kate Hudson
Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Date of Birth: September 12, 1981
Ethnicity: African-American
Jennifer Hudson is an American singer, actress, producer, talk show host, and philanthropist. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Dreamgirls (2006). Her roles also include the films Sex and the City (2008), Winged Creatures , The Secret Life of Bees , Winnie Mandela (2011), The Three Stooges (2012), The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete , Black Nativity , Lullaby (2014), Chi-Raq , Sing (2016), Sandy Wexler , Monster (2018), Cats (2019), as Aretha Franklin, in Respect (2021), Tell It Like a Woman , Breathe (2024), and GOAT (2026); the series Smash and Empire , the made-for-tv movies Call Me Crazy: A Five Film and Confirmation (2016); the tv special Hairspray Live! ; and many roles on stage. She has hosted The Jennifer Hudson Show since 2022; and was a contestant on season 3 of American Idol . She is also known as J.Hud.
She is the daughter of Darnell Donerson and Samuel Simpson, a bus driver. Her brother, Jason Hudson, her nephew, Julian King, and her mother, were murdered in a triple-homicide in October 2008. Jennifer has a son with her former partner David Otunga, a professional wrestler in the WWE.
Jennifer’s maternal grandfather was named Eugene Hudson. Eugene was born in Mississippi.
Jennifer’s maternal grandmother was Julia Kate Buckner (the daughter of Clarence Lee Buckner and Julia Johnson). Jennifer’s grandmother Julia was born in Mississippi.
Source: Jennifer’s maternal grandmother, Julia Kate Buckner, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org