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Laverne Cox was born on May 29, 1972, in Mobile, Alabama, and was raised by her mother and grandmother, according to Wikipedia. Her identical twin brother, M Lamar, played the pre-transition Sophia on Orange Is the New Black. She studied at the Alabama School of Fine Arts and Indiana University Bloomington, then switched from ballet to acting at Marymount Manhattan College in New York.
After competing on VH1's I Want to Work for Diddy, she co-produced and co-hosted the makeover show TRANSform Me, becoming the first African American transgender person to produce and star in her own TV show.
In 2013 she began playing Sophia Burset on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, and in 2014 she became the first transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy in an acting category. In June 2014 she became the first trans person on the cover of Time, and GLAAD gave her its Stephen F. Kolzak Award.
In 2015 she won a Daytime Emmy as executive producer of Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, the first trans woman to win the award. In 2017 she became the first trans actor to play a trans series regular on US broadcast TV, as Cameron Wirth on CBS's Doubt. She was the first trans person on a Cosmopolitan cover (South Africa, 2018), the first openly trans person with a Madame Tussauds wax figure, and executive producer of Netflix's Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen (2020). From 2022 she hosted E!'s Live from the Red Carpet.
When model Alex Consani shared photos from her third Victoria's Secret show, Laverne commented, "Stunning superstar! Supermodel! Angel!", PinkNews reported. Read Who is Alex Consani?, and visit the Alex Consani hub.
Sources: Wikipedia
Our newest Laverne Cox story, from October 19, 2026, is "Who Is Alex Consani? Meet the Trans Supermodel Who Just Walked Her Third Victoria's Secret Show": She started modelling at 12, became a TikTok star, made history as the Fashion Awards' first trans Model of the Year and just walked her third straight Victoria's Secret show. Here's everything to know about Alex Consani.
Sophia Burset (Wikipedia).
In 2014 she became the first transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy in an acting category (Wikipedia).
Yes, her identical twin brother, M Lamar (Wikipedia).
