Occupation Actress Years active 1994–present | Name Simbi Khali Role Actress | |
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Born April 28, 1971 (age 53) ( 1971-04-28 ) Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. Spouse Cress Williams (m. 2000–2011) Marriage location Malibu, California, United States Education California Institute of the Arts, Duke Ellington School of the Arts Nominations Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Movies and TV shows 3rd Rock from the Sun, Vampire in Brooklyn, We Were Soldiers, A Thin Line Between Love and, Mississippi Damned Similar People Elmarie Wendel, Jane Curtin, Kristen Johnston, French Stewart, Joseph Gordon‑Levitt | ||
Simbi Khali (born April 28, 1971) is an American actress, singer and songwriter, best known for her roles as Laquita Lumpkins on the FOX sitcom Martin, and as Nina Campbell on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun.
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Her credits include the television show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in a recurring role as Tonya Smith, the feature films Vampire in Brooklyn (directed by Wes Craven), A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, and Plump Fiction. On stage, Khali appeared in Colored Museum, For Colored Girls..., A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Troilus and Cressida. She provided the voice for Varesh Ossa, the antagonist of Guild Wars' Nightfall.
Early life
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Khali was raised in Chicago, the youngest of seven children. She started singing at a young age before moving to acting, and attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and then continued her education at the California Institute of the Arts, where she graduated with a degree in acting. Simbi Khali was previously married to actor Cress Williams from 2000-2011 and they have two children, son Elijah Khali Thomas Williams (born July 20, 2004) and daughter Amika Khali Williams (born August 13, 2007)
Career
Khali made her first TV appearance in a 1987 commercial for Pop-Tarts and went on to do as a celebrity spokesperson on the popular syndicated variety talent show Star Search.
From 1993-1997, she played the most well-known role as Sheneneh's more vocal best friend and later Gina and Pam's best friend Laquita Lumpkins in the FOX sitcom Martin where she a recurring character in season two, but was bumped to a main character shortly after before ended its run, From 1996 to 2001, in addition to her role on Martin, she played the role of Nina Campbell in the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun.
In August 1996, Khali got signed with Capitol Records and released her self-titled debut album Simbi Khali, which was a moderate success, selling 10,000 copies. Three singles from the self-titled album received minor airplay R&B stations: "Strung Out on You", "Love's Got a Hold on Me", and "Anywhere You Want". That next year, she provide guest vocals on the remake of The Emotions's "Don't Ask My Neighbor with Tisha Campbell and Tichina Arnold off the 1997 film, Sprung. She appeared in several music videos in the 1990s, including two for Jesse Powell, "I Wasn't With It" and "Bout It, Bout It", and Toni Braxton ("You're Makin' Me High")
Khali next released her sophomore album in September 1998 entitled I Want You, which spawned three singles "Our Love is Stronger", which was produced by Rodney Jerkins, "Call on Me", and "I Don't Mind", which spawned a number one hit on the Billboard Hot Top 100 charts. Khali would provided guest vocals on other albums for more than a decade than addition to her acting career.
Khali finally left Capitol Records and signed to Motown Records in 2001 to release her third album Love Is the Answer', which features the Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis penned-track uptempo ballad "Anything", which peaked number #2 at
Filmography
Masquerade (2000)