Home > Today's Christian > People of Faith > Profiles
Today's Christian, November/December 2003
As Seen on TV
You've seen her on Everybody Loves Raymond and Less Than Perfect, but actress Sherri Shepherd had to learn hard lessons before finding fame.
By Dan Ewald
If you watch prime time TV, you've probably had a Sherri Shepherd sighting. The actress/comedienne has played feisty supporting characters on everything from Friends to the short-lived Emeril. Before landing a regular role last year on ABC's workplace sitcom Less Than Perfect, she was best known for her guest shots on the hit Everybody Loves Raymond, where she plays Sergeant Judy Potter, Robert Barone's partner on the police force.
In her dressing room on the Less Than Perfect set, Shepherd relaxes on a leopard-print chaise lounge. Several photos of her husband, comedian Jeff T., are scattered about the room. An outspoken Christian, Shepherd feels God has given her the "gift of laughter" so she can spread his love. But her life hasn't always been funny.
Shepherd, 33, grew up near Chicago with a Baptist dad and a Jehovah Witness mom. During high school, her parents divorced and Shepherd and her three sisters moved to California with their mother.
Her early 20s were filled with confusion and bad decisions. "I felt God's presence but chose to ignore him," she says. As a result, she bounced from one unhealthy relationship to another.
One day, she was riding on a city bus and saw a young man help an elderly woman. Shepherd thought to herself, He's so kind. I'd sleep with that guy. She introduced herself to him. He asked her if she knew Jesus. Finally, God got her attention. She became a Christian in 1993.
After seeing a comedian perform onstage, Shepherd was inspired to put together her own standup act. Soon, she was appearing on the 1995 sitcom Cleghorne! It was a nice gig, but Shepherd blew all her earnings from the show. "I didn't tithe any of it. I kept telling God, 'I'll hit you next month, God, don't worry.' But I never did. When the show was canceled, I was broke." From prime time TV she went back to working as a secretary. "It taught me a big lesson, to always give to God first. I tell people, 'Humble yourself so God doesn't have to do it for you.'"
Her roles on Everybody Loves Raymond and Less Than Perfect have been dreams come true, but she never wants to lose grip of her convictions. For instance, she refuses to curse or do sex scenes. Still, that hasn't hindered her popularity with audiences—or her showbiz colleagues. Colleagues like her Less Than Perfect costar Andy Dick, who pokes his head through the dressing-room door to say hi.
Dick, the funny but troubled actor who has had an entire episode of E! True Hollywood Story focused on his bizarre life, has a dressing room adjacent to Shepherd's. "Andy likes to say, 'God must love me because I have Christians on either side of me,'" Shepherd says.
The other believer on the set is actor Zachary Levi, who plays up-and-comer Kipp Stedman. "Zach's dressing room is on one side and mine is on the other," Shepherd explains.
Shepherd has a tender spot for her friend Andy Dick. She was grieved, recently, while attending a particularly raunchy nightclub performance by Dick and his band. "My husband and I went to see Andy, and I started crying. Jeff looked at me and said, 'Okay, we have to go.' But my heart breaks for Andy, and my spirit was weeping as I watched what he was doing on stage. That's how much I love him."
Sherri Shepherd now sees loving people as her mission. "I believe God put me on this show—if for no other reason—to love Andy and everyone else around me. That's clearly why I'm here."
A Christian Reader original article. Dan Ewald is a writer living in Venice, California.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
Click here for reprint information.
November/December 2003, Vol. 41, No. 6, Page 50
Browse More Today's Christian
Home | People of Faith | Stories of Hope | Today's Culture
Build Your Faith | Laughing Matters | Archives | Contact Us
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Try an Issue of Today's Christian
Free!
|
 |
|
No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders.
If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless.
Give Today's Christian as a gift
Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
