She is an American actress, comedian, singer, and activist born on January 25, 1957 in Kinloch, Missouri. After graduating from college at Webster University, she moved to New York where she started her career in Broadway musicals. She appeared in various roles in film and television, including Cast Away (2000), The Princess and the Frog (2009), Think Like a Man (2012), and the sitcoms The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Black-ish.