“I love what I do. I absolutely love it,” said Cleo King. “Love it. Love it. Love it.”
She might not be a household name, but she’s indeed a household face thanks to the countless commercials and character roles in some of the biggest film and television projects in the entertainment industry.
And another thing that plenty of people probably don’t know is that she’s from St. Louis – and like so many others the “aha moment” that led to her life’s work was sparked in the corridors of Sumner High School.
“My 11th grade social studies teacher Travis Brown really challenged me,” said Cleo King, who is currently a series regular as the grandmother on the CBS hit comedy “Mike and Molly.” “He made us bring in a current event and read it in front of class EVERY WEEK – I hated that class.”
An unlikely place to birth the dream of an acting career, but the path that ultimately led King to 25 years of film and television roles with a resume that reads like a wish list began with something as seemingly insignificant as a guest speaker in the class she despised.
“He brought in a guy from a TV show called “The White Shadow” to talk to our classroom,” King said. “That man had gone to the middle school I went to and Sumner High and he is on television. Something in me clicked. I thought, ‘this man went to Turner and Sumner and he’s on TV.’ I thought to myself ‘I can do it.’”
The class, the teacher and the moment are now among her treasures as she reflected on that day.
She was so moved that she now does the same thing – and can drop a classroom full of teenage jaws with credits like “The Hangover,” “The Cosby Show,” “Deadwood,” “Boston Public,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “The West Wing,” and “Friends” to name a few.
King was clueless when it came to choosing a major when she enrolled at the University of Missouri-Columbia, but ultimately chose theatre. She had never auditioned for a play before when she selected her major.
But her first audition she was cast in a play called “Young, Gifted and Black.”
“I stood up there and felt the energy, heard the applause and knew that I was in the right place. I knew I needed to go that route.”
Her defining moment in that crowded classroom was one of fearless faith, and would be the recurring theme as she moved forward with the pursuit of establishing herself as a successful working actress when the world echoed otherwise.
“Even my dad said to me, ‘honey there are too many people cuter than you and smaller than you. You’ve got to choose a career that you can flourish in. You can’t be no actress,” King said. “When people tell you that you can’t do it, you have to be able to prove them wrong. Success is the best revenge. You have to keep your eye on that prize. You have everything that you need. Be prepared and let your talent shine through.”
A made for TV moment
After graduating from Mizzou, King moved to New York City – a place she had never even visited – with one trunk and roughly $300 left of the $500 she borrowed from her big sister (the rest went to bus fare and food).
She had done some work in theatre by the time she got the tip for the audition of a lifetime.
“There was an audition for the Cosby Show and a friend of mine said ‘you’ve got to go in,’” King said. “The line was down the block and around the corner. Debbie Allen was leading the audition it was a dance audition – and honey I am a full-figured doll. I had my leotard – my one piece. I had my leg warmers, I had my girls pushed up and I was ready to go. All of those little 88 pound girls were in there twisting and pulling and walking and reaching and stretching – and I was too.
Allen taught them the dance combination and she went and got Bill Cosby after selecting King and a few other young ladies.
“He shook everybody’s hand and told us welcome. We had the job,” King said. “Baby I want you to know my hair blew back. This was the day you had to pay long distance to call. They put us all in the room with a telephone. I probably used my whole first paycheck paying for that phone bill.”
Being cast in one of the most iconic television shows of all time was a message to King that was yet another message that this is what she is supposed to be doing. And throughout the course of her career she says that had so many of those messages along with the love and support of her large St. Louis family that have led her to share a special blend of wit and humor to the world through the countless roles she has brought to life.
“I am coming with all of this personality and we are going to have some fun up in here because that’s just who I am,” King said. “Can’t nobody do it like me.”
Mike and Molly can be seen Monday nights on CBS. For more information about Cleo King, visit www.cleoking.com
