Demetria McKinney | |
|---|---|
| McKinney in August 2015 | |
| Born | Demetria Dyan McKinney August 27, 1979 Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Other names | Dee Dee McKinney, Demi |
| Education | Fort Walton Beach High School |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, model, singer |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | artistecard.com |
Demetria Dyan McKinney (born August 27, 1979 [1] ) is an American actress, model, and singer. From 2006 to 2012, during its original run, she starred in the TBS sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne , and a BET revival of the show was announced in 2020. Her other series regular roles include TV One sitcom The Rickey Smiley Show , Bounce TV prime time soap opera Saints & Sinners and Syfy horror drama Superstition , as well as Motherland: Fort Salem on Freeform.
Her stage credits include playing Coretta Scott King in the Rhythm and Blues Opera I Dream (2010), and starring as Deena Jones in a 2012 production of Dreamgirls at The Muny. [2] In 2017, McKinney played Whitney Houston in the TV One film Bobbi Kristina . She released her debut album Officially Yours in 2017.
McKinney has performed in a number of Tyler Perry's stage plays, including Meet The Browns, Why Did I Get Married and Madea's Family Christmas. She starred as Janine Shelton-Payne on the TBS comedy series Tyler Perry's House of Payne from 2006 to 2012. She was nominated for a 2009 National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) Vision Award for Best Performance in a Comedy, in recognition of her work on House of Payne. [3] She returned for the House of Payne spin-off The Paynes in 2018. [4] McKinney has guest starred on Necessary Roughness , Drop Dead Diva , Devious Maids , Chicago Med , and Being Mary Jane . She also appeared on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta , as a recurring cast member during the seventh season, and a guest star on the eighth season.
From 2012 to 2014, McKinney had a series regular role on the TV One comedy series, The Rickey Smiley Show . In 2016, she was cast as Tamara Austin in the Bounce TV prime time television soap opera Saints & Sinners . In 2017, she was cast opposite Mario Van Peebles and Robinne Lee in the Syfy horror drama Superstition . [5] The series was canceled after one season. Also in 2017, McKinney starred in the TV One movie Bobbi Kristina as Whitney Houston, the late icon and mother to Bobbi Kristina. [6] [7]
McKinney had a recurring role in the BET drama series The Quad from 2017 to 2018. She also played a leading role in the 2018 Christmas themed romantic film A Stone Cold Christmas. In 2019, she starred in the Urban Movie Channel family drama series A House Divided alongside Paula Jai Parker. [8] She was later cast in the Freeform drama series Motherland: Fort Salem . [9] [10] In 2022, she began starring on The Winchesters. [11]
McKinney has performed in a number of musicals. In 2010, she performed in the Rhythm and Blues opera I Dream . She appeared in Dreamgirls and performed with Jennifer Holliday in 2012, and lent vocals to R&B singer Anthony David's album Love Out Loud. [12] In 2015, her single "Trade It All" charted on Billboard's Adult R&B Songs. [12]
In 2017, McKinney released her debut album Officially Yours. [13] She received a nomination for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist. [14] From this album, she released three singles: "Is This Love", "Happy" and "Easy" which peaked at #4 on the Adult R&B Songs chart. [15]
McKinney faced homelessness at the age of 17 and has one child. [16]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Tyler Perry’s Meet The Browns | Kim Brown | Video |
| 2006 | Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? | Trina | Video |
| 2007 | Daddy's Little Girls | Club Lady | |
| Standing Reign | Reign | Short | |
| 2008 | Before I Wake | Tracy Mason | Short |
| 2010 | Breaking Up Is Hard to Do | Shonda | |
| 2011 | Church Girl | Emily | |
| 2012 | Raising Izzie | Singer | TV movie |
| 2013 | In the Meantime | Felicia | TV movie |
| Let the Church Say Amen | Tawny | TV movie | |
| 2017 | Bobbi Kristina | Whitney Houston | TV movie |
| Providence Island | Mary Dunbar | ||
| 2018 | A Stone Cold Christmas | Mia Stone | |
| 2021 | Coins Forever | Althea | |
| Kirk Franklin's A Gospel Christmas | Olivia | TV movie | |
| 2022 | Sons 2 the Grave | Vanessa Bishop |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–12 | Tyler Perry's House of Payne | Janine Shelton–Payne | Recurring Cast: Season 1, Main Cast: Season 2-8 |
| 2011 | Necessary Roughness | Leanne | Episode: "Whose Team Are You On?" |
| 2013–14 | The Rickey Smiley Show | Monica | Guest Cast: Season 2-3 |
| 2014 | Let's Stay Together | Shauna | Episode: "Date My Wife, Please" |
| Drop Dead Diva | Lisa | Episode: "Cheers & Jeers" | |
| Devious Maids | Natasha Jones | Episode: "Private Lives" | |
| 2014–15 | The Real Housewives of Atlanta | Herself | Recurring Cast: Season 7, Guest: Season 8 |
| 2015 | Mann & Wife | Lisa Lovejoy | Episode: "Mann-ditory Counseling" |
| 2016 | Chicago Med | Mrs. James | Episode: "Win Loss" |
| 2016–19 | Saints & Sinners | Tamara Austin Calloway | Recurring Cast: Season 1 & 4, Main Cast: Season 2-3 |
| 2017 | Being Mary Jane | Jessie Lords | Episode: "Feeling Lost" |
| 2017–18 | Superstition | May Westbrook | Main Cast |
| The Quad | Beretta Hobbs | Recurring Cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 2 | |
| 2018 | The Paynes | Janine Shelton–Payne | Recurring Cast |
| 2019–23 | A House Divided | Carissa Walker | Main Cast |
| 2020 | American Soul | June Pointer | Episode: "Satisfaction" |
| 2020–present | Tyler Perry's House of Payne | Janine Shelton–Payne | Recurring Cast: Seasons 9-12, Main: Season 13–present |
| 2020–22 | Motherland: Fort Salem | Anacostia Quartermaine | Main Cast |
| 2022-23 | The Winchesters | Ada Monroe | Main Cast |
| Title | Album details | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|
| US Indie [17] | ||
| Officially Yours |
| 48 |
| Title | Year | Peak chart position | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Adult R&B [15] | |||
| "Get Yo ..Ish" | 2011 | — | — | — |
| "Take Away This Love" | 2012 | — | — | |
| "Still Believe in Love (feat. Musiq Soulchild)" | 2013 | — | — | |
| "Work With Me" | — | — | ||
| "100 (feat. da Brat)" | 2015 | — | — | |
| "Trade It All" | 2015 | — | 25 | |
| "Unnecessary Trouble (feat. Kandi Burruss)" | — | — | ||
| "Easy" | 2017 | — | 4 | Officially Yours |
| "Is This Love" | — | — | ||