REGINA KING MY LIFE IN 10 pictures

"I don't think something is a failure if you put your all into it."

GROWING UP in LA, my sister and I were definitely allowed to dream big. My mother put no restrictions on that,” Regina Rene King once shared. And though her mom was disappointed when she changed her dream from dentistry to showbiz, Regina’s teen success on TV’s 227 proved she made the right decision. Since then, she’s won an Oscar and three Emmys, and made her directorial debut with 2020’s One Night in Miami. And yet, her journey wasn’t without struggle, as the suicide death of her son last year proved. But Regina, who turned 52 on Jan. 15, is determined to persevere. I’m very good at choosing what needs to stay with me and what things need to be let go of. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the moment and we don’t ever leave that moment, and that’s how some people get stuck.”

1 1985 SCHOOL DAYS "227

was priceless for me. It was my foundation. I would not be here without it," recalled Regina about getting her big break on the sitcom when she was 14. "Just being with Marla Gibbs (center right), Hal Williams (top right), Alaina Reed (center left) and Jackée (top)- it was a school."

2 1993 DOING JUSTICE 

While initially intimidated by pop icon Janet Jackson on Poetic Justice, Regina realized she was "a normal person. I think it unfair that they build this weirdo family up out of the Jacksons. She has a lot to deal with. Just being a normal person is hard."