Profile Text
Cox in 2019, photo by DFree /Bigstock.com
Place of Birth: Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Date of Birth: May 29, 1972
Ethnicity: African-American
Laverne Cox is an American actress and LGBTQ advocate. She is the first openly transgender woman to receive a Primetime Emmy nomination in acting, and the first to appear on the cover of Time magazine. Her roles include the shows TRANSform Me , Orange Is the New Black , The Mindy Project , Doubt , Inventing Anna , and Clean Slate , which she co-created; the films Musical Chairs , 36 Saints , Grandma , Freak Show (2017), Can You Keep a Secret? , Bad Hair , Promising Young Woman , Disclosure (2020), Jolt , Uglies , Animal Farm (2025), and A Very Jonas Christmas Movie ; and the made-for-tv movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again .
She was raised by her single mother, Gloria Cox, and grandmother. Her identical twin brother is composer, performer, and artist M Lamar (Reginald Lamar Cox). Laverne grew up in the AME Zion church.
Laverne’s maternal grandfather was J. P. Cox (the son of Henry C. Cox and Ada L. Jackson). J. P. was born in Alabama. Henry was the son of Emmanuel Cox and Ann Scruggs. Ada was the daughter of Calvin Jackson and Tamar Johnson.
Laverne’s maternal grandmother was Emma Jane “Madea” Jones (the daughter of A. C. Jones and Winnie McGuire). Emma was born in Alabama. Winnie was the daughter of George Washington McGuire and Georgianna/Georgiana Banks.
An AncestryDNA test whose results were displayed on the show Who Do You Think You Are? (2018) stated that Laverne’s genetic ancestry is:
*approx. 92% African ——–*22% Benin/Togo ——–*20% Nigeria ——–*17% Africa Southeastern Bantu ——–*16% Mali ——–*9% Senegal ——–*4% Cameroon/Congo ——–*3% Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers ——–*1% Ivory Coast/Ghana *approx. 6% European ——–*3% Scandinavia ——–*2% Ireland/Scotland/Wales ——–*1% Finland/Northwest Russia ——–*>1% Europe East ——–*>1% Caucasus
*approx. 92% African ——–*22% Benin/Togo ——–*20% Nigeria ——–*17% Africa Southeastern Bantu ——–*16% Mali ——–*9% Senegal ——–*4% Cameroon/Congo ——–*3% Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers ——–*1% Ivory Coast/Ghana *approx. 6% European ——–*3% Scandinavia ——–*2% Ireland/Scotland/Wales ——–*1% Finland/Northwest Russia ——–*>1% Europe East ——–*>1% Caucasus
Source: Genealogy of Laverne Cox – https://www.geni.com