Tia Mowry

Family and early life

Mowry was born in Gelnhausen in West Germany. Her mother, Darlene Renée Mowry (née Flowers), managed her children's careers when they were in the group Voices, and also worked as a security guard. Her father, Timothy John Mowry, was in the U.S. Army at the time of her birth, and later became a custody officer/jailer with the City of Glendale Police Department, when the family moved to California.

Her father, who is white, has Irish ancestry, and her mother is of Afro-Bahamian descent. Her parents met in high school, in Miami, Florida. Both joined the U.S. Army, and both would eventually reach the rank of Sergeant. Her family is "close-knit" and "very spiritual", as the sisters became born-again Christians when they were eight.

Tia is two minutes younger than her twin sister, Tamera. Tamera was born first, at 4:30pm, followed by Tia at 4:32pm. She also has two younger brothers, actor Tahj Mowry and Tavior Mowry, who plays college football for University of California, Davis.

Career

Mowry and her sister began entering pageants and talent shows while their family was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. At age 12, they convinced their mother to move to California with them so they could pursue acting. She agreed, on the condition that they land an acting job within the first month of their stay. In 1990, their family moved to California permanently, settling in Los Angeles, and she and her sister began appearing in commercials and small roles.

She is well known for playing Tia Landry, a twin separated at birth and reunited with her sister as a teenager in the show Sister, Sister. The series was developed for them after a producer spotted them on the set of Full House, a show on which their brother made regular appearances. Sister, Sister was initially on ABC but was cancelled by the network after two years and picked up by The WB, where it ran for another four years. During its run, they appeared on an episode of their brother Tahj Mowry's show Smart Guy. They also did voice-over work for the Kids' WB cartoon series Detention.

After the show ended, both Mowry and her sister studied psychology at Pepperdine University. She also went to Europe to study humanities and Italian for a period. Both she and her sister appeared in the Rob Schneider comedy film The Hot Chick, playing cheerleaders. Mowry also did voiceovers for the Bratz cartoon series as the voice of Sasha. In 2005, Mowry and her sister both starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Twitches and reprised their roles in its sequel, Twitches Too and before co-starred in the 2000 movie Seventeen Again. Tia also appeared on an episode of her sister's television show, Strong Medicine, in January 2006, playing the role of Keisha, the twin sister of Tamera Mowry's character, Dr. Kayla Thornton. Mowry has a starring role in the BET television series The Game as Melanie Barnett. Mowry has been nominated for a Teen Choice Award and a NAACP Image Awards for best actress in a comedy.

In the Blue's Clues episode "Blue's Birthday", Mowry and her sister make a cameo appearance as two of the celebrities wishing Blue a happy birthday. Their only line is said in unison: "Happy Birthday, Blue!"

Beginning in July 2011, the Style Network began airing Tia & Tamera, a reality show which follows the day-to-day lives of the twins; Tia being pregnant and Tamera planning her wedding.

Mowry and her sister are both singers. They have showcased their vocal abilities on episodes of Sister Sister, including covers of "You Can't Hurry Love", "Amazing Grace" and "I'm Going Down", which Tamera performed. They also sang the theme song during season five and six.

In May 2012, Mowry published her first book, Oh, Baby: Pregnancy Tales and Advice from One Hot Mama to Another, about her pregnancy and being a working mother. In May 2012, Mowry stated via her Twitter account that she would not be returning to The Game, for a sixth season. In August 2013 it was announced that she was cast in the lead role in a new Nick at Nite comedy series Instant Mom alongside Michael Boatman and Sheryl Lee Ralph.

In 2015, Mowry starred in the Cooking Channel series Tia Mowry at Home.

In 2016, Mowry started a podcast on PodcastOne called Mostly Mom with Tia Mowry.

On April 29, 2016, she appeared and reunited with her twin sister on the daytime talk show The Real which she promoted her new book Twintution.

Personal life

Mowry met actor Cory Hardrict on the set of a movie they filmed together. They dated for six years; became engaged on Christmas 2006, and married on April 20, 2008 in California. On January 11, 2011, People announced that Mowry and Hardrict were expecting their first child; Mowry made the announcement herself on 106 & Park. The pregnancy was documented on the show Tia & Tamera featuring her sister, Tamera Mowry, on the Style Network. The couple welcomed their only child, a son, Cree Taylor Hardrict, on June 28, 2011.

Mowry is the head coach of the Entertainment Basketball League celebrity team. She coaches the Atlanta team whose players include her husband, Cory Hardrict, and ex co-star, Pooch Hall. She recently coached at the battle of the sexes game in Chicago against the Sky of the WNBA.

Although at one point she did decide to become vegan even posing for a magazine cover dressed in a dress that was made out of vegetables she is now currently hosting and starring in her own cooking show called Tia Mowry At Home which aired on the Cooking Channel April 29th, 2015 where she makes everything from macaroni and cheese, cake, pie, curry chicken, collard greens, shakshuka, potato, galette and various types of cocktails.

Some of her guest stars have included her Game co-stars Pooch Hall, Hosea Sanchez, Wendy Raquel Robinson, and Brittany Daniel, and Lilly Singh from YouTube and Kelly Rowland from Destiny's Child.

Awards and nominations

NAACP Image Awards

Teen Choice Awards

People's Choice Awards

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards

Young Artist Awards