Countess Danielle Vaughn (born August 8, 1978) is an American actress, singer and television personality. She is best known for her role as Kim Parker on the UPN sitcoms ''

Moesha ''Moesha'' (, ) is an American television sitcom that aired on UPN from January 23, 1996, to May 14, 2001. The series stars Contemporary R&B, R&B singer Brandy Norwood, Brandy as Moesha Denise Mitchell, an African-American teenager living with ...

'' and its spin-off ''

The Parkers ''The Parkers'' is an American television sitcom created by Ralph Farquhar, Sara V. Finney and Vida Spears. The series ran for five seasons from August 30, 1999, to May 10, 2004, on UPN. It stars Mo'Nique, Countess Vaughn, Mari Morrow, Dorien Wi ...

'', and as Alexandria DeWitt on '' 227''.

Early life

Vaughn was born in

Idabel, Oklahoma Idabel is a city in and the county seat of McCurtain County, Oklahoma, McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 6,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is in Oklahoma's southeast corner, a tourist region known ...

, to Sandra and Leo Vaughn. She began her performing career at age three in 1981, singing at church. At nine in 1988, she sang " I'll Be There" to win the '' Star Search'' junior vocalist champion and overall junior champion. Following that success, she was cast as Alexandria DeWitt in the fourth season of NBC sitcom, '' 227'' at the start of its fourth season in 1988. Vaughn left the show the following year.

Career

In the 1990s, Vaughn guest-starred on '' Thea'', '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'', and '' Roc''. Outside of television, she performed in the

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

musical ''Mama, I Want to Sing! Part 3''. In 1992, Vaughn released her first album, ''Countess'', featuring a variety of songs, including

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

and R&B. The album's lead single, a cover of James Brown's " It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World", charted in the top-100 of the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart; the album itself sold 3,000 copies. Vaughn's breakthrough role was playing Kim Parker in the UPN sitcom ''

''. She co-starred on the show from 1996 to 1999. In 1998, Vaughn was honored with an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in ''Moesha''. In 1999, Vaughn starred in and also sang the theme song for the show's spin-off ''

'', opposite actress and comedian

Mo'Nique Monique Angela Hicks (née Imes; born December 11, 1967), known mononymously as Mo'Nique, is an American comedian and actress. She debuted as a member of The Queens of Comedy and earned recognition as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. In 2 ...

. The series aired from 1999 until 2004. On film, Vaughn co-starred in '' Trippin'' (1999) and in later years guest starred on '' Cuts'' and '' Let's Stay Together''.

Personal life

On January 16, 2002, Vaughn married Joseph James. The couple had a son before divorcing in 2005. Vaughn also has a daughter, born in 2009, with ex-fiancé David Whitten. During an appearance on '' The Doctors'', Vaughn revealed that she suffered from hair loss due to bad reactions from glue used on wigs she wore for many years. She also has discoloration on her skin in many places.

Reality television

In the mid-2000s, Vaughn appeared in the third season of '' Celebrity Fit Club'' in January 2006 on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

. She later appeared as a contestant on MTV's '' Celebrity Rap Superstar'' on August 30, 2007. In 2014, Vaughn began starring in the TV One reality series '' Hollywood Divas'', alongside Golden Brooks, Lisa Wu, and Paula Jai Parker. The series premiered on October 8, 2014. During the first season, Vaughn revealed that she had an abortion around the age of 18. She said, "I had an unwanted pregnancy. I had just started my TV show. I knew that in black

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, a girl having a baby, they’d get rid of you. I had to do something about it. I had to make a decision to get rid of a child for my career.".

Filmography

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Countess'' (1992)

Singles

* It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World (1992) * Wait For Me (1992) * Do You Love Him?/Wifey (2016)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, Countess 1978 births Living people 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Actresses from Oklahoma African-American child actresses American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses Participants in American reality television series People from Idabel, Oklahoma