Taraji Penda Henson was born September 11, 1970 in Southeast Washington, D.C. Her first and middle name are of Swahili origin, with her first name meaning "hope" and her middle name meaning "love." She attended Oxon Hill High School in Maryland. Henson first attended NC A&T, where she started a major in Electrical Engineering then later transferred to Howard University where she graduated with a degree in Theater Arts. Henson has appeared as a cast member on several television shows, including Lifetime Television's The Division and ABC's Boston Legal for one season. Her recurring appearances in television include the character Angela Scott on the ABC television show Eli Stone in 2008. She has guest-starred on several television shows, such as The WB’s Smart Guy playing the role of Monique (1997–1998), the Fox Television show House in 2005 and the CBS Television show CSI in 2006. She also starred on an episode of Sister, Sister. Henson has starred in several films and her most noteworthy performances were in Baby Boy (2001), Hustle and Flow (2005), for which she made her singing debut providing the vocals for the Three 6 Mafia track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2006, giving Three 6 Mafia the distinction of becoming the first Black hip-hop act to win in that category. She also played Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2009. In 2010, she appeared in The Karate Kid and Date Night which were well received at the box-office.