Luenell Live! Bold, Bad
& Uncut! Comedian Luenell's Hot &
Super Funny CD in a specially prepared version for viewing on
YouTube.
Currently available for download purchase
on iTunes. Soon available for
purchase on YouTube. More information at
www.heylunell.com.
ADULT LANGUAGE & CONTENT
Luenell was born in Tollette, Arkansas, a
town whose population barely registers with the U.S. census. According
to the comic diva there were no more than 400 residents when she was
born and in 2007 “There is still no pay phone, wash house or movie
theatre.” She describes it as “rrrrrrrrrruuuural Arkansas.” “No one
has ever been on TV or in films from the town,” says Luenell. Although
she was just a 2 month old babe in diapers when her grandmother came and
took her out of Tollette to live in Berkley, California, because of
family turmoil, that resulted in the murder of her father, Luenell
returned to the sleepy town time and time again for long periods,
usually summer respites to stay with relatives and seven siblings. It
seemed like she was never going to stop the cyclical rewind to Tollette
to fast-forward towards her big dreams.
What were those fantasies? That she
would one day become a “hugely rich” star. At about ten years old she
caught the acting bug when she saw the plays South Pacific and Ain’t
S’posed to Die a Natural Death. After seeing the latter, she had so much
fun at the reception dazzled by the flash of the photographers cameras,
posing for pictures with the cast, sipping on champagne when no one was
looking and eating hors d'oeuvres, Luenell decided “I want the whole
enchilada!” At about the same time Luenell was singing in the church
choir, which gave her confidence to be in the spotlight. She started to
envision a life of luxury in a mansion with maids, a dog and entourage.
Setting out to accomplish those goals to gain fortune and fame, she
enrolled in theatre classes at the grade school level and continued
through college and later performed at the Oakland Ensemble Theatre.
After completing her college education at Chabot Community College in
Hayward, while living in the all white suburb of Castro CA, her next
step was to get to Los Angeles, at all cost.
Her cousin was living on a naval air
base stationed at Point Mugu in Oxnard. In Luenell’s mind the sequence
was to reach Oxnard, which was close to Malibu not far from her target
destination, LA. So, she left the Bay Area to live with her cousin and
became an au pair, making an easy transition to Los Angeles and then
ultimately to Long Beach, which would be the site of the beginning of
her professional comedy career.
However, between the periods from the
Bay to Long Beach, there was a problem. Luenell was employed at a Bank.
Her dreams required money and she yielded to temptation while working at
the financial institution and took some of the mean green. She started
livin’ large.
So, how did Luenell get into comedy?
She had a roommate who was a “call girl” who had a boyfriend/customer
who was a comedian. He told Luenell she was naturally funny and that she
should go to a comedy room in Long Beach called Ms. Whiz. One night
Luenell and a “posse of girlfriends” went to the club. After a few
drinks and feeling very brave, she performed. There she met Robin
Harris. He told her “You’re a funny bitch. You need to see Michael
Williams at the Comedy Act,” which was located in Leimert Park in the
Crenshaw district of LA. Following up on that advice she went and met
D.L. Hughley.
Luenell has had literally hundreds of
people who helped her along the way, but she would like to credit Laura
Hayes who was a regular on Comic View for being so supportive. Luenell
would tag along with Laura and this provided a network opportunity and a
chance to showcase her talent. According to Luenell this association
with Laura had a residual long-term affect. Quintin Salmond, another
friend was handling D.L. Hughley and he paired Luenell and D.L. on gigs.
That was when the ball got some momentum.
In March 1995 Luenell’s mom passed
away and one month after her death, Luenell became pregnant by a man
from Oakland who was a comedian. Luenell confesses that he was more her
best friend than a boyfriend. She tussled with the idea to have or not
to have this child. Uncertain about what she should do, she visited her
mother’s grave for some soul searching and answers. The next day, her
stomach according to Luenell, “went beep” meaning bulged out and she
could feel the child within. That was her sign. She immediately stopped
drinking alcohol and started taking her natal vitamins. She also had the
full support from her baby’s daddy (and still does so to this day). A
few months later, a beautiful daughter Da’Nelle was born and she was the
joy of her life, her “miracle child” as Luenell puts it.
Luenell had met her now manager,
William Hanford Lee Jr. fifteen years prior to coming to LA. His
family, publishers of a newspaper group in Sacramento produced a Black
Expo. He had shown interest in her early days when she entered the
comedy competition part of the Expo. Luenell did well and was a fixture
at the expo for a few years. They always chatted and they were like
“amoebas”. “He’s had my back ever since I met him. He was the first
person who really had expendable
income to invest in me.” Whatever she needed, pictures business cards,
headshots Bill made it happen. Luenell says, “Bill and I are connected
forever. “ We’d never leave each other. I’d kill him first. I’m like
his sister, girlfriend, momma, conscience.”
Luenell has continued to grow on a
personal level and to grow professionally. The mansion is within grasp.
She is becoming increasingly popular from her appearances in television
film and videos. She is recognized by the mainstream and urban sectors
of the population from her numerous BET Comic View appearances, DVDs
such as Laffapalooza with Jamie Foxx, 2 Bees from Oakland and Comedy
After Dark. The hip-hop cult classic film “Never Die Alone” in which
she co-starred with DMX, playing a feisty bartender named Jasper has
catapulted her to international fame. Since its release, she developed
her signature look bearing a short cropped
platinum blonde haircut, perfectly
manicured long fingernails sporting her little diamond clustered pimp
goblet. Hip Hop fans also recognize her from the film “So Fresh So
Clean.” Luenell is now in HUGE demand. She is currently on a 60-city
tour with “Money Mike” Katt Williams, who states. “Luenell is dynamic.
We couldn’t do it (the tour) without her. When she is not around, we
really miss her, so we decided we shouldn’t miss her at all. Hollywood
you’re sleepin’ but you’ll catch up.” –Katt Williams
Well, Hollywood has opened their eyes
as Luenell just completed shooting two films in a row “Divine
Intervention” by Van Elder for Bullzeye Productions and “Spring
Breakdown” starring Parker Posey and Rachel Dratch. However, the Golden
Globe winning and Oscar contender feature “Borat: Cultural Learnings of
America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhastan” in which she
co-starred as a sassy bronco riding hooker released November 03rd 2006
and the number one film in America during it’s release period, has
awakened the once sleepy mainstream audience. Borat has been a
significant career boost because the producers of the film chose to name
the character after Luenell. Now, the world knows who Luenell is and she
is embraced everywhere she goes. The Tolucan Times recently stated,
“Luenell is a red carpet must have.”
Luenell is living her dream. She has
conquered fame and earns big paper from her work in films and comedy
shows. With such an intriguing past, one would wonder how can she be so
funny, but it’s just that…life. With every little snag, and she has had
many, she somehow manages to poke fun of her experiences making
audiences howl with laughter, even though at the time, she was in great
distress. Through it all, help has been there along the way from
relatives, friends and her faith in God to ease the pain. Her
reputation as a comic superstar continues to flourish, “…comedy
demolition machine” (Eurweb report) “a sidesplitting high wired act
without a net…” (Comedy Reviewer Buddy Sampson), “…comedy to die for.”
(Metro LA) “…one of the top 25 funniest people in LA (Los Angeles
Magazine) and the accolades continue to roll.
There is no question about it, Luenell
is a comic genius. She is the only female comedienne that can swear on
stage like Richard Pryor and get away with it. But the girl from
Tollette with a tale that reads like The Perils of Pauline would like
everyone to know, that deep down inside,
Luenell has recently been featured
on: EXTRA, Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed, TMZ, Young Hollywood TV with
Chudney Ross, Star Media TV, Rebolex TV, Kush TV, Reelz TV, The John
Kerwin Show, The Big J. Company TV, Mocha City TV, VJTV, BET’s Black
Carpet, Comedy Central, E! The True Hollywood Story, The Dallas Weekly,
EURweb.com, Celebrity Extra TV and many others. Luenell has been seen on
ET/The Insider for her celebrity participation in The Black Aids
Institute HIV/AIDS Testing campaign held at the Screen Actors Guild July
’07.
