An attractive, stage-trained, African-American actress, singer, and dancer, Ralph got her professional start in the socially-minded Sidney Poitier/Bill Cosby comic action yarn "A Piece of the Action" (1977). She then moved on to Broadway where she performed in the musical "Reggae" (1980) and in the long-running musical "Dreamgirls" (1981). As Deena Jones, a character loosely based on Diana Ross, Ralph received nominations for both the Tony and Drama Desk Award as Best Actress in a Musical.
Ralph had made her TV debut in 1978 on "The Krofft Komedy Hour". After her Broadway success, she returned to TV as co-star in several series. In the short-lived "Code Name: Foxfire" (NBC, 1985), Ralph was a reformed thief who worked as a government spy. She fared better as Ginger St James, an outspoken and sexy waitress on "It's a Living" (syndicated, 1986-89). In "New Attitude" (ABC, 1990), she played a conservative, sensible beautician partnered with her more outrageous sister (Phyllis Yvonne Stickney). Ralph went on to join the cast of the popular CBS sitcom "Designing Women" in 1992 as Etienne Toussiant Bouvier, the Vegas show-girl wife of Anthony (Meshach Taylor). In 1996, she was the stepmother demanding respect on the popular UPN sitcom "Moesha", starring Brandy Norwood. Ralph has appeared in several TV-movies, including "The Neighborhood" (NBC, 1982) and "Luck of the Draw: The Gambler Returns" (NBC, 1991), and has been a frequent guest on variety and award specials.
Ralph's feature credits include voice work for Disney's cartoon feature "Oliver and Company" (1988). She had her first leading role as Denzel Washington's singing wife in "The Mighty Quinn (1989). In Charles Burnett's "To Sleep With Anger" (1990), she was married to Richard Brooks and trying to live a peaceful, middle-class life. Ralph was Robert De Niro's brash girlfriend in "Mistress" (1992), Eddie Murphy's con-artist cousin in "The Distinguished Gentleman" (1992) and a humorless mother of an aspiring singer in "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" (1993). An exuberant talk show guest, outspoken on equal access for women and minorities, Ralph has also recorded an album, "In the Evening" (1984), and produced and performed in a video called "Sheryl Lee Ralph's Beauty Basics" (1987).