Profile Text
Ralph in 2016, photo by Joe Seer /www.bigstockphoto.com/
Place of Birth: Waterbury, New Haven County, Connecticut, U.S.
Date of Birth: December 30, 1956
Ethnicity: * father – African-American * mother – Jamaican [African, small amount of Scottish]
Sheryl Lee Ralph is an American actress, singer, author, and activist. She stars on the show Abbott Elementary . She has also been credited as Sheryl L. Ralph.
Sheryl is the daughter of Ivy May (Lewis) and Stanley Lee Ralph. Her father was African-American. Her mother was Jamaican. Some of Sheryl’s roots can be traced back to the Tikar people of Cameroon.
Sheryl is married to Vincent Hughes, a Pennsylvania State Senator. She has two children with her former husband Eric Maurice.
Sheryl’s paternal grandfather was George Ralph (the son of Rufus Ralph and Mary Rebecca Benton). George was born in Sunbury, Gates, North Carolina. Rufus was the son of George Thomas Ralph and Winnie Riddick. Mary was the daughter of Timothy Benton and Easter Lee. Sheryl’s great-great-grandfather George and his mother Penny were free persons of colour before the Civil War.
Sheryl’s paternal grandmother was named Julia Ward.
Sheryl’s maternal grandfather was Lorenzo Fitz Lorane Lewis (the son of Robert Henry Lewis, Jr. and Catherine Emily McClymont). Catherine was the daughter of James McClymont. James was the son of Hugh McClymont, who was white; and of Mary Robinson, who was black/mixed-race black. Hugh and Mary were married in 1837 in Jamaica.
Sheryl’s maternal grandmother was named Adina Melvina Dixon.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2025) stated that Sheryl’s genetic ancestry consists of:
*92% Africa ——–*37% Nigeria ——–*25% Cameroon, Congo & Western Bantu Peoples ——–*20% Ivory Coast & Ghana ——–*7% Benin & Togo ——–*3% Mali *7% Europe ——–*3% England & Northwestern Europe ——–*2% Scotland ——–*1% Norway ——–*1% Wales *1% Native American ——–*1% Native American From The Yucatan Peninsula
*92% Africa ——–*37% Nigeria ——–*25% Cameroon, Congo & Western Bantu Peoples ——–*20% Ivory Coast & Ghana ——–*7% Benin & Togo ——–*3% Mali *7% Europe ——–*3% England & Northwestern Europe ——–*2% Scotland ——–*1% Norway ——–*1% Wales *1% Native American ——–*1% Native American From The Yucatan Peninsula
Genetically, she was found to have a common ancestor with actor Samuel L. Jackson .
Sources: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com
Marriage record of Sheryl’s parents – http://www.familysearch.org