Simbi Khali | |
---|---|
Born | Simbi Khaliebum Waters April 28, 1971 Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
Other names | Simbi Kali [1] Simbi Kali Williams |
Education | Duke Ellington School of the Arts California Institute of the Arts |
Occupation(s) | Actress, voice actress, singer, songwriter, rapper |
Years active | 1990–present |
Spouse | [2] |
Children | 2 |
Simbi Khali (born April 28, 1971), sometimes credited as Simbi Kali Williams, is an American actress and singer best known for her role as Nina Campbell on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun . [3] Her credits include the television show Martin and the feature films Vampire in Brooklyn , A Thin Line Between Love and Hate , and Plump Fiction . On stage, Khali has appeared in Colored Museum, For Colored Girls..., A Midsummer Night's Dream , and Troilus and Cressida . She also had a career in voice acting, most notably Varesh Ossa in the video game Guild Wars Nightfall , and Amanda in the video game Detroit: Become Human .
Khali was born in Jackson, Mississippi, [3] the youngest of five girls and two boys. When she was two, Khali's family moved to Chicago's South Side. [4] [5] Khali started singing at a young age.
She became interested in theatre at Chicago's ETA Creative Arts Foundation. [4] At age 15, she went to live in Alabama with her sister, Hamidah Elmore, and experienced her first "onstage rush" in a high school talent show. [5]
For her junior and senior years of high school, she moved to Washington, DC, to live with her mother Amerah Shabazz. She transferred to the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where she committed to acting. Khali won admission to the California Institute of the Arts and graduated in 1993 with a degree in acting. [4]
At a performance during her senior year at Cal Arts, she was spotted and signed by a talent agent. That summer, she performed as part of a Ben & Jerry's troupe that visited hospitals and other charities, passing out samples of ice cream. It paid well and gave her time to audition, leading to her first job in the FOX sitcom Martin . [5]
From 1993 to 1997, she played Sheneneh's vocal best friend in Martin. From 1996 to 2001, she played Nina Campbell in the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun . She was initially cast a recurring character, but was bumped to a main character in season 3.
In 2016, Khali's career, performances, character portrayals and other accolades were officially recognized and commended by the Mississippi legislature. [3]
Khali initially met actor Cress Williams at a Los Angeles club in 1994, then again in the fall of 1999 while filming the BET movie Masquerade. Within a month they were engaged, and they married in Malibu in the fall of 2000. [6]
This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Filmography out of date, doesn't list newer roles since 2017..(August 2022) |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993–1995 | Martin | Laquita | 4 episodes |
1994 | The Sinbad Show | Carmen | Episode: "Girls Unda Hoodz" |
1994 | She TV | Various | 1 episode |
1996–2001 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Nina Campbell | Recurring (season 1–2), main cast (season 3–6) |
2000 | Men in Black: The Series | Voice | Episode: "The J is For James Syndrome" |
2000 | Masquerade | Joi Scott | TV movie |
2002 | That '80s Show | Venus | Episode: "After the Kiss" |
2002 | Clifford the Big Red Dog | Voices of Monique and Mrs. Young | 3 episodes |
2003 | Stuart Little | Voice | Episode: "No Job Is Too Little" |
2004 | The Bernie Mac Show | Therapist | Episode: "Five Stages of Bryana" |
2009 | Special Agent Oso | Voice | Episode: "Live and Jump Rope / A View to a Kitten" |
2012 | Weeds | Mary | Episode: "Unfreeze" |
2017 | Better Things | Museum Director | Episode: "Phil" |
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | Vampire in Brooklyn | Nikki | |
1996 | A Thin Line Between Love and Hate | Adrienne | |
1997 | Plump Fiction | Sister Sledge | |
2002 | We Were Soldiers | Alma Givens | |
2009 | Mississippi Damned | Anna | |
2017 | Girl Minus | Auntie | Short film |
2019 | Gothic Harvest | Voice | |
2020 | Buck | Mom | Short film |
2020 | -Ship: A Visual Poem | Aunt Julia | Short film |
2021 | A Savannah Haunting | Josephine | |
2023 | Ricky | Winsome | Short film |
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2006 | Guild Wars Nightfall | Varesh Ossa / Additional Voices |
2008 | The Incredible Hulk | Ceres Leader |
2018 | Detroit: Become Human | Amanda |
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She was a cast member and head writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1997 to 2006. After her departure from SNL, she created the NBC sitcom 30 Rock and the Netflix sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2020), the former of which she also starred in. Fey is also known for her work in film, including Mean Girls (2004), Baby Mama (2008), Date Night (2010), Megamind (2010), Muppets Most Wanted (2014), Sisters (2015), Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016), Wine Country (2019), Soul (2020), A Haunting in Venice (2023), and Mean Girls (2024).
Mae Margaret Whitman is an American actor. She began her career as a child actor, starring in the films When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), One Fine Day (1996), Independence Day (1996), and Hope Floats (1998), and the television series Chicago Hope (1996–1999) and JAG (1998–2001). She earned mainstream recognition for her performances in the Fox sitcom Arrested Development, the NBC drama series Parenthood (2010–2015)—for which she was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award—and the NBC crime comedy series Good Girls (2018–2021). She also had roles in the films Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), and The DUFF (2015), the latter earning her a Teen Choice Award nomination.
Joan Mary Cusack is an American actress. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988) and the romantic comedy In & Out (1997). Her other starring roles include those in Toys (1992), Addams Family Values (1993), Nine Months (1995), Cradle Will Rock (1999), Where the Heart Is (2000), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), School of Rock (2003), and Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008). She has also provided the voice of Jessie in the Toy Story franchise (1999–present), for which she won an Annie Award, and Abby Mallard in Chicken Little (2005).
3rd Rock from the Sun is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, on NBC. The show is about four extraterrestrials who are on an expedition to Earth, the third planet from the Sun, which they consider to be a very insignificant planet. The extraterrestrials pose as a human family to observe the behavior of human beings.
Marjorie Armstrong Post, known professionally as Markie Post, was an American actress. Her best known roles include: bail bondswoman Terri Michaels in The Fall Guy on ABC from 1982 to 1985; public defender Christine Sullivan on the NBC sitcom Night Court from 1985 to 1992; Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire from 1992 to 1995; and Barbara ‘Bunny’ Fletcher, the mother of Detective Erin Lindsay, on the NBC drama series Chicago P.D. from 2014 to 2017.
Kel Johari Rice Mitchell is an American actor, comedian, pastor, rapper, singer, and TV host. He was an original cast member of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That for its first five seasons (1994–1999), where he was often paired with Kenan Thompson. His role as Ed in the All That sketch was reprised for the 1997 teen comedy film loosely based on the series, Good Burger. He co-starred with Thompson on the Nickelodeon sitcom Kenan & Kel from 1996 to 2000. Mitchell received two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for his role as "T-Bone" in the children's animated series Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000–2003). From 2015 to 2019, he starred as Double G on the Nickelodeon sitcom Game Shakers.
Jenna Elfman is an American actress. She is best known for her leading role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg (1997–2002), for which she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1999, and three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. After making her film debut in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), she has appeared in Krippendorf's Tribe (1998), Dr. Dolittle (1998), EDtv (1999), Keeping the Faith (2000), Town & Country (2001), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004), and Big Stone Gap (2014).
Martin is an American television sitcom that aired for five seasons on Fox from August 27, 1992, to May 1, 1997. The show stars comedian Martin Lawrence as the titular character. Lawrence also played several other characters. Martin was one of Fox's highest-rated shows during the sitcom's run. In 2024, the cast reunited at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Wendie Malick is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles in various television comedies. She starred as Judith Tupper Stone in the HBO sitcom Dream On and as Nina Van Horn in the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me!, with the latter earning nominations for two Primetime Emmys and a Golden Globe Award.
Tisha Michelle Campbell is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut appearing in the 1986 rock musical comedy film Little Shop of Horrors, and later starred on the NBC musical comedy drama Rags to Riches (1987–1988). She has appeared in films including School Daze (1988), Rooftops (1989), Another 48 Hrs. (1990), Boomerang (1992), and Sprung (1997). She received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for playing Sidney in the comedy film House Party (1990). She reprises the role of Sidney in the sequels House Party 2 (1991) and House Party 3 (1994).
Jacqueline Yvonne "Jackée" Harry is an American actress, comedian, and television personality. She starred as Sandra Clark, the nemesis of Mary Jenkins, on the NBC sitcom 227 (1985–1990), and as Lisa Landry on the ABC/The WB sitcom Sister, Sister (1994–1999). Harry was the first African-American to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Nicholas David Offerman is an American actor. He became widely known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015), for which he received the Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy and was twice nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Ella Joyce is an American actress. She starred as Eleanor Emerson in the Fox comedy-drama series Roc, which originally ran from 1991 until 1994. Joyce also appeared in films Set It Off (1996), Bubba Ho-Tep (2002), Our Family Wedding (2010), Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (2013) and Nina (2016).
"The Thing That Wouldn't Die" is the two-part series finale of the American sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. The episode aired on May 22, 2001 on NBC. The action in the episode directly follows that of the previous two-parter "Mary Loves Scoochie", which ended with Dick transforming Dr. Liam Neesam, a malevolent alien played by John Cleese, into a chimpanzee. Therefore, the full finale involves a four-episode story arc.
"Brains and Eggs" is the pilot episode of the American sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. The episode, which originally aired on NBC on January 9, 1996, depicts an extraterrestrial research expedition coming to Earth in the guise of what they think is a typical human family.
Susan Gaye Tolsky was an American actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Tolsky began acting in high school and later studied nursing at the University of Texas at Austin before switching her major to theater. In 1967, she relocated to Hollywood and made her television debut on the sitcom The Second Hundred Years. Within a year, she earned a main role on the ABC comedy Western series Here Come the Brides (1968–1970) as Biddie Cloom.
The first season of 3rd Rock from the Sun, an American television sitcom, began on January 9, 1996, and ended on May 21, 1996. It aired on NBC. The region 1 DVD was released on July 26, 2005.
The second season of 3rd Rock from the Sun, an American television sitcom, began on September 22, 1996, and ended on March 9, 1997. It aired on NBC. The region 1 DVD was released on October 25, 2005.
Amanda Payton is an American actress. She is best known for playing Nina Rudolph on the NBC sitcom Trial & Error, Dr. Alison Parfit on the Sky Comedy/Peacock police comedy-drama Code 404, and Holly in the CBS sitcom United States of Al.