Debra Wilson is an American actress and comedian. She is the longest-serving original cast member on the sketch comedy series ''

Mad TV ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...

'', having appeared on the show's first eight seasons from 1995 to 2003. As a voice actress, she has voiced various characters on television shows and video games, including '' Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart'', '' Baby Shark's Big Show!'', ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...

'', ''

Mirror's Edge Catalyst ''Mirror's Edge Catalyst'' is a 2016 First person (video games), first-person Action-adventure game, action-adventure platform game developed by DICE (company), DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, ...

'', ''

Wolfenstein ''Wolfenstein'' is a series of alternate history World War II video games originally developed by Muse Software. The majority of the games follow William "B.J." Blazkowicz, an American Army captain, and his fight against the Axis powers. Earlie ...

'', '' Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order'', '' Star Wars Jedi: Survivor'', ''

Halo Infinite ''Halo Infinite'' is a 2021 first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is the sixth mainline installment in the ''Halo'' series, following '' Halo 5: Guardians'' (2015). The game's campa ...

'', ''

Diablo IV ''Diablo IV'' is a 2023 Online game, online-only Action role-playing game, action role-playing dungeon crawling game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth main installment in the ''Diablo (series), Diablo'' series. ...

'', '' Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League'', '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', ''

Destiny 2 ''Destiny 2'' is a free-to-play online first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was originally released as a pay-to-play game in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. It became free-to-play, utilizing the games as a se ...

,'' as well as '' Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.'' She also starred in the films '' The Summerland Project'' and '' Bodied''. In 2022, Wilson replaced

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...

as the voice of

Daisy Duck Daisy Duck is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. She is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck that has large eyelashes and ruffled tail feathers around her lowest region to suggest a skirt. She is often s ...

in ''

Mickey Mouse Funhouse ''Mickey Mouse Funhouse'' is an American animated preschool children's television series created by Phil Weinstein and Thomas Hart and is the successor to ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'' and ''Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures''. The series debuted on ...

'', making her the first African-American performer of the character.

Early life

Wilson was born and raised in New York City, in the neighborhood of

Ozone Park, Queens Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens, New York (state), New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone ...

, and attended the New York City High School of the Performing Arts. After graduation, she studied television and radio broadcasting at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. She worked as a preschool teacher during the 1980s for the All Saints Church, in Sunnyside, Queens. Wilson made her television acting debut on '' The Apollo Comedy Hour'' and ''The Uptown Comedy Club'', where she became a series regular. She co-hosted ''Can We Shop?'' with

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedienne, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that w ...

. She continued her work in television working as a spokesperson for

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

, and guest starring in ''

New York Undercover ''New York Undercover'' is an American police drama that aired on the Fox television network from September 8, 1994, to February 11, 1999. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torre ...

''.

Career

''Mad TV''

Wilson was one of the original eight cast members of ''Mad TV'' when the series aired in 1995. Wilson came to the show with a background in sketch comedy, improv, and television. Wilson was credited for creating some of the most popular recurring characters on the show. Among her characters were Latina

bimbo ''Bimbo'' is slang for a conventionally attractive, sexualized naive woman. The term was originally used in the United States as early as 1919 for an unintelligent or brutish man. As of the early 21st century, the "stereotypical bimbo" appea ...

Melina (''Lida and Melina''), ''Reality Checks Tovah McQueen, ''Stick Chick'' Autumn, Kappa Kappa Kappa sorority sister Hayden Brooks, Alexis Dubane (''Prehistoric Glamazon Huntresses''),

blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...

actress Cocoa Latette (''Son of Dolemite''), Lowered Expectations Host and Ms. Not Nice ('' Jenny Jones''). Perhaps her best known character was the fast talking "

Black American Princess ''Black American princess'' (''BAP'') is a (sometimes) pejorative term for African-American women of upper- and upper-middle-class background, who possess (or are perceived to possess) a spoiled or materialistic demeanor. While carrying " vall ...

" Bunifa Latifah Halifah Sharifa Jackson. Wilson's most recognized impressions on the show were of

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

. She has also played Oprah or Oprah-like characters in other media, most notably ''

Scary Movie 4 ''Scary Movie 4'' is a 2006 American parody film directed by David Zucker, written by Jim Abrahams, Craig Mazin, and Pat Proft, and produced by Mazin and Robert K. Weiss. It is the sequel to '' Scary Movie 3'' and the fourth installment in the ...

'' and ''

The Proud Family ''The Proud Family'' is an American animated sitcom created by Bruce W. Smith that aired on Disney Channel for two seasons from September 15, 2001, to August 19, 2005. The series centers on the life of the titular family, including the show’s ...

''. She also regularly portrayed

Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most culturally significant figu ...

Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known professionally as Macy Gray, is an American contemporary R&B, R&B and soul music, soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influence ...

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American model, television personality, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15 and was the first Black A ...

Mel B Melanie Janine Brown, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Mel B or Melanie B, is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid 1990s as a member of the Pop mus ...

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after ...

and

Chris Tucker Christopher Tucker (born August 31, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Tucker made his debut in 1992 as a stand-up performer on the HBO comedy series '' Def Comedy Jam'', where he frequently appeared on the show during the 1990 ...

Television

Since her debut on ''MADtv'', Wilson has done voice acting on episodes on numerous television shows, landing some recurring roles on such shows as ''

Clone High ''Clone High'' is an adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Bill Lawrence for MTV. It premiered on November 2, 2002, in Canada, and January 20, 2003, in the United States. Set at a high school popu ...

'', ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'', and did puppeteer work on ''The Mr. Potato Head Show''. She voiced Captain Lisa Cusak in the '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' episode " The Sound of Her Voice". Wilson has made numerous

independent films An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...

, including '' Naked Angel'', ''Jane White Is Sick and Twisted'', ''Skin Deep'', and ''Soulmates''. She was also in an episode of ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002, to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

'' as a doctor, and appeared three times as a

working girl ''Working Girl'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Mike Nichols, written by Kevin Wade, and starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith. Its plot follows an ambitious secretary from Staten Island ...

, Divine, in episodes of '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''. She and MADtv co-star Nicole Sullivan have done commercials for

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

's Sierra Mist. She appeared as herself on the February 15, 1999, episode of ''

WCW Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT (American TV ...

'' accompanying ''MADtv'' castmate

Will Sasso William Sasso (born May 24, 1975) is a Canadian comedian, actor, and podcaster. After a starring role as Derek Wakaluk on the Global teen drama television series '' Madison'' (1994–1998), Sasso had his breakout as a regular cast member on the ...

in his

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

match against

Bret Hart Bret Sergeant Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling background at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal U ...

. She also appeared on the UK ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' – Season 10, Episode 9. She was the co-host of

TV Guide Channel The American cable and satellite television network Pop was originally launched in 1981 as a barker channel service providing a display of localized channel and program listings for cable television providers. Later on, the service, branded Pr ...

's ''TV Watercooler'' with John Fugelsang, until she was replaced by

Teresa Strasser Teresa Lynn Strasser (born June 8, 1970) is an American writer and television personality known for hosting the first season of the home makeover show '' While You Were Out'' on TLC. She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her work that se ...

in October 2006. She was also a co-host on '' GSN Live'' until she left in January 2010. Wilson is the announcer of the revival of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

game show '' Weakest Link'' hosted by

Jane Lynch Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Known for playing starring and recurring roles in comedic television, her accolades include one Golden Globe, five Primetime Emmys and two Screen Actors Gui ...

. In July 2022,

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

announced that Wilson would voice the character Headless Headmistress Bloodgood in the 2022 animated reboot series ''

Monster High Monster High is an American multimedia-supported fashion doll franchise created by toy designer Garrett Sander and launched by Mattel in 2010. Aimed at children ages 7–14, the franchise features characters inspired by monster movies, sci-fi ...

''.

Theater

Wilson performed

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 ...

with the

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

troupe Noo Yawk Tawk directed by Richmond Shepard at The Village Gate Theater (1988–1991).

Video games

Wilson has voiced many video game characters, such as her role as Grace Walker in '' Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus'' and her role as Cere Junda in '' Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order'' and its sequel '' Star Wars Jedi: Survivor''. She also appeared in '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare'' as General Lyons. Her other video game voice work includes ''

The Outer Worlds ''The Outer Worlds'' is a 2019 action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Private Division. Set in an alternate future, the game takes place in Halcyon, a distant star system colonized by megacorporations. In ...

'', ''

Gears 5 ''Gears 5'' is a 2019 third-person shooter video game developed by The Coalition and published by Xbox Game Studios for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It is the fifth main installment of the ''Gears of War'' series and the sequel to '' ...

'', '' Wolfenstein: Youngblood'', ''

Rage 2 ''Rage 2'' is a 2019 first-person shooter video game developed by Avalanche Studios in conjunction with id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game is the sequel to the 2011 game '' Rage''. The game was released for PlayStation 4, ...

'', ''

Days Gone ''Days Gone'' is a 2019 action-adventure video game developed by Bend Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game was released for the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, and Windows in May 2021. A remastered version for PlaySta ...

, Fallout: New Vegas,

Fallout 76 ''Fallout 76'' is a 2018 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is an installment in the ''Fallout'' series and a prequel to previous entries. Initially set in the year 2102, players ...

,'' and ''

Far Cry New Dawn ''Far Cry New Dawn'' is a 2019 first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is a spin-off and sequel to '' Far Cry 5'', and the eleventh overall installment in the ''Far Cry'' series. Set seventeen ...

''. She is the voice of Draka in '' World of Warcraft: Shadowlands''. She is the voice of Savathûn in ''

'' and the Harbinger in ''

''.

Personal life

Wilson married writer and director Cliff Skelton in April 2006. They separated in 2010, citing irreconcilable differences.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Video games

Web series

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Debra Living people 20th-century African-American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Actresses from Queens, New York African-American female comedians African-American television personalities American film actresses American puppeteers American sketch comedians American stage actresses American television actresses American video game actresses American voice actresses American women television personalities Comedians from Queens, New York Female puppeteers Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Game show announcers People from Ozone Park, Queens Syracuse University alumni Television personalities from New York City Year of birth missing (living people)