---
name: "Lena Waithe"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/lena-waithe"
roles: ["Actor","Writer"]
born: "17 May 1984"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T02:59:55.688798+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Lena Waithe

Actor and writer. Born 17 May 1984 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor, Writer
- **Born:** 17 May 1984, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- **Active:** 2014–2015
- **Also known as:** Lena D. Waithe, 麗娜·維特

## Biography

Lena Waithe is an American actress, producer and screenwriter. She was born on 17 May 1984 in Chicago, Illinois.

She gained recognition for her role as Denise Watkins and as a writer on the Netflix series *Master of None* (2015–2021). In 2017 she became the first African-American woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, for the episode "Thanksgiving". Waithe created the Showtime drama series *The Chi* (2018–present) and wrote and produced the film *Queen & Slim* (2019). She has also appeared in *Ready Player One* (2018) and the series *Westworld* (2016).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Transparent* (2014), Fi1m 82, as Jane — [page](https://film.one/tv/transparent.md)

## Also credited on (not yet reviewed)

- *Master of None* (2015), Actor, Writer

## Also known for

- *Ready Player One* (2018), Aech / Helen
- *Onward* (2020), Officer Spector (voice)
- *Bones* (2005), Writer
- *This Is Us* (2016), Animal Shelter Clerk
- *Big Mouth* (2017), Lena (voice)
- *Queen & Slim* (2019), Screenplay
- *The Chi* (2018), Camille Hallaway, Writer
- *Dear White People* (2017), P. Ninny

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/lena-waithe