What is Ellen Cleghorne's Net Worth?
Ellen Cleghorne is an American actress and comedian with a net worth of $500 thousand. She gained prominence as a cast member on the iconic TV series Saturday Night Live (SNL), becoming the second African-American female to be a repertory cast member on the show. She was a cast member from 1991 to 1995, known for her character Queen Shenequa and her impressions of various celebrities such as Dr. Dre, Florence Griffith Joyner, Gladys Knight, Mary J. Blige, Patti LaBelle, Tina Turner, Woody Allen, and Whoopi Goldberg among others. She starred in her own television series "Cleghorne!" in 1995 and also appeared in films such as Mr. Wrong, Dear God, Armageddon, The Million Dollar Hotel, Coyote Ugly, Little Nicky, Old School, and Grown Ups 2.
Early Life
Ellen Cleghorne was born on November 29, 1965, in New York City. She grew up in the Red Hook Projects in Brooklyn. From a young age, she exhibited a talent for entertaining others. After high school, she attended Hunter College and graduated in the late 1980s.
Early Career
Upon graduating from college, Cleghorne started performing at local comedy clubs in New York. In 1989, she participated in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search. She was directed in a video by SNL short film producer Neal Marshad for one of her pieces. Over the next few years, she continued performing in clubs and appeared on "Def Comedy Jam" and had minor roles on the second season of "In Living Color." Her performances caught the attention of SNL producers, leading her to join the cast in 1991, where she stayed for four seasons until 1995.
Saturday Night Live
During her time on SNL, Cleghorne performed impressions of famous personalities such as Dr. Dre, Anita Baker, Toni Morrison, Whoopi Goldberg, Marla Gibbs, Natalie Cole, and Mary J. Blige. She also created memorable characters like Zoraida, an NBC page, and Queen Shenequa, who often appeared on the "Weekend Update" sketch. As Queen Shenequa, she often provided commentary on race-related stories while dressed in traditional African attire.
Cleghorne's tenure at SNL was historic. She was the third woman of color to be credited on the show and the first black woman to remain a full-time cast member for more than one season. Although it was reported that she didn't always get along with her fellow cast members, some former colleagues refuted these claims. Cleghorne herself has described the unique challenges she faced as one of the few minority cast members on the show.
During her SNL years, she also made appearances on the Nickelodeon show "The Adventures of Pete and Pete," playing a bus driver who was a love interest of another bus driver.
After SNL
In 1995, Cleghorne left SNL to star in her own show "Cleghorne!" on The WB network, playing the role of Ellen Carlson, a single mother. The show, which also featured Garrett Morris and Sherri Shepherd, aired for one season. Reflecting on the show, Cleghorne mentioned her lack of creative confidence as a reason for its short run.
Cleghorne continued her acting career with roles in films like "Armageddon" (1998), "Coyote Ugly" (2000), "Little Nicky" (2000), and "Old School" (2003). She also wrote comedy skits for Sirius XM Radio's Raw Dog Comedy. In the 2010s, she appeared in "Grown Ups 2" (2013) and competed in "Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition" in 2015, finishing in third place. She attended the 40th anniversary special of SNL in 2015, describing it as a "cleansing" experience, and appeared in the movie "Second Act" in 2018.
Cleghorne pursued further education in the mid-2000s, enrolling in a master's and then Ph.D. program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She earned her Ph.D. in performance studies in 2014 and currently teaches at Graceland University. Despite focusing on academia, she continues to audition and write comedy.
Personal Life
Cleghorne maintains a private personal life. While she hasn't been romantically linked to anyone publicly, she had a daughter named Akeyla from a relationship in the 1980s. Akeyla appeared as an extra in several sketches on SNL during Cleghorne's tenure on the show.
