Kym Whitley (born July 21, 1962) is an American comedian, actress and podcaster. She is known for her roles on television sitcoms, such as ''

My Brother and Me ''My Brother and Me'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on Nickelodeon created by Ilunga Adell and Calvin Brown Jr. and was executive produced by Michael Warren and Dee LaDuke who previously created '' Family Matters'' and '' Step ...

'', '' Sparks'', ''

Animal Practice ''Animal Practice'' is an American sitcom television series which aired on NBC from August 12 to November 28, 2012, on the network's Thanksgiving 2012 television schedule. The series premiered after the end of the 2012 Olympic games (which the n ...

'', ''

The Boondocks Boondocks are remote, usually brushy areas. Boondocks may also refer to: * The Boondocks (comic strip), ''The Boondocks'' (comic strip), a comic strip by Aaron McGruder ** The Boondocks (TV series), ''The Boondocks'' (TV series), the television s ...

'', ''

Young & Hungry ''Young & Hungry'' is an American romantic sitcom created by David Holden. The multi-camera series starred Emily Osment, Jonathan Sadowski, Aimee Carrero, Kym Whitley and Rex Lee, and premiered on ABC Family (now known as Freeform) on June 2 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Cleveland Show ''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry (voice actor), Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of ''Family Guy'', and the second television ...

'', ''

Black Dynamite ''Black Dynamite'' is a 2009 American blaxploitation action comedy film starring Michael Jai White, Tommy Davidson, and Salli Richardson. The film was directed by Scott Sanders and co-written by White, Sanders, and Byron Minns, who also co-s ...

'', and ''Act Your Age''. Whitley was nominated for a 2004

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

Comedy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Box Office Movie for her role as Ormandy in the 2003 comedy film ''

Deliver Us From Eva ''Deliver Us from Eva'' is a 2003 American romantic comedy film starring LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union, revolving around LL's character, Ray, being paid to date a troublesome young lady named Eva (Union). It is considered by many as a modern upd ...

''.

Early life and education

Whitley was born on July 21, 1962 in

Shaker Heights Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Cockta ...

, Ohio to Kaysonia and William Whitley. Her father was a founding partner of Whitley and Whitley, the black architectural firm involved in a joint venture to design and build Jacobs Field (now

Progressive Field Progressive Field is a baseball stadium in the downtown area of Cleveland, Ohio. It is the ballpark of the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball and, together with Rocket Arena, is part of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex. ...

), home to the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

. She attended

Shaker Heights High School Shaker Heights High School is a public high school located in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The high school is the only public high school in the Shaker Heights City School District, which serves Shaker Heights and a small part ...

(graduating in 1979) and

Fisk University Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Tennessee. She was initiated into the Alpha Beta chapter of the

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emp ...

sorority.

Career

In 1989, Whitley got her big break starring in Shelly Garrett's popular play ''

Beauty Shop ''Beauty Shop'' is a 2005 American comedy film directed by Bille Woodruff. The film serves as a spin-off of the ''Barbershop'' film series, and stars Queen Latifah as Gina Norris, a character first introduced in the 2004 film '' Barbershop 2: ...

'', which started in Los Angeles then later traveled across the United States. Whitley's major acting roles include the short-lived sitcoms ''

'' and '' Sparks''. She has made guest appearances on several television sitcoms, including ''

The Parent 'Hood ''The Parent 'Hood'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on The WB from January 18, 1995, to July 25, 1999. The series starred Robert Townsend and Suzzanne Douglas. Originally to be titled ''Father Knows Nothing'' (a parody of t ...

'', '' Married... with Children'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

That's So Raven ''That's So Raven'' is an American television fantasy teen sitcom that was created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman, and aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between January 2003 and November 2007. The series centers on Raven Baxter ( ...

'', ''

My Wife and Kids ''My Wife and Kids'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from March 28, 2001, to May 17, 2005, with a total of 123 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. The series, produced by Touchstone Television in association with Wayan ...

'' and ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...

''. She also hosted the short-lived BET show ''Oh Drama'' (2000). Whitley had a small role in '' Next Friday'' as Craig's aunt Suga. She was part of a group called "The Adults", which featured actors who were adult cast members in the earlier seasons of ''

All That ''All That'' is an American sketch comedy children's television series created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from April 16, 1994, to October 22, 2005, lasting ten seasons, and was produced by Tol ...

''. In the early spring of 2010, Whitley was a co-host with R&B musician

Brian McKnight Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr. (born Brian Kelly McKnight; June 5, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, record producer, radio personality, and multi-instrumentalist. An Contemporary R&B, R&B performer, he is recognized for his strong ...

on the short-lived talk show ''The Brian McKnight Show''. From 2012 to 2013, Whitley had a recurring role on the

comedy '' Let's Stay Together'' as Charmaine Wax. On April 20, 2013, her reality

docu-series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

titled '' Raising Whitley'' premiered on the

Oprah Winfrey Network The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN, also known as the OWN Network) is an American multinational basic cable television network which launched on January 1, 2011, effectively replacing the Discovery Health Channel, which one month later merged with ...

, with a total of 1.2 million viewers, making it the fifth most-widely viewed premiere in the history of the network. OWN ordered a second season, which premiered on January 4, 2014. Whitley then joined the cast of the television sitcom ''

'' which premiered on

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

(now Freeform) in 2014, where she played Josh's housekeeper Yolanda. The show ran for five seasons, ending in 2018. In 2017, she guest starred in the web series ''The Bay'' where she played Big Candi. She received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actress in a Digital Daytime Drama Series. In 2018, she guest starred in the "

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

" episode of ''

Master of None ''Master of None'' is an American comedy drama television series, which was released for streaming on November 6, 2015, on Netflix. The series was created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, with the first two seasons starring Ansari in the lead rol ...

'' as Denise's aunt Joyce, and sister to

Angela Bassett Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television since the 1980s, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Angela Bassett, various accolades, including a Primetime ...

's character. The episode won an Emmy for Best Writing for ''Master of None's'' actors

Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari ( ; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He played Tom Haverford on the NBC series '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and created and starred in the Netflix series ''Master of None'' (2 ...

and

Lena Waithe Lena Waithe (; born May 17, 1984) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She is the creator of the Showtime drama series '' The Chi'' (2018–present) and the BET comedy series ''Boomerang'' (2019–20) and '' Twenties'' (2020–2 ...

. Whitley was later a recurring guest host on the E! shows '' Daily Pop'' and Nightly Pop. In 2023, she played the role of Aunt Nadine in the film '' You People''.

Personal life

Whitley is a cousin of actor and martial artist

Michael Jai White Michael Jai White (born November 10, 1967) is an American actor, martial artist, and director. Though he has appeared in a variety of genres, White is best known for his Action film, action and martial arts films. His first major starring role an ...

. She has two older brothers, Kyle and Scott. In January 2011, she adopted her son, Joshua. In 2013, Whitley and her friend Rodney Van Johnson launched a line of t-shirts titled "Don't Feed Me." The shirts alert caregivers about children who have specific

food allergies A food allergy is an abnormal immune response to food. The symptoms of the allergic reaction may range from mild to severe. They may include itchiness, swelling of the tongue, vomiting, diarrhea, hives, trouble breathing, or low blood pressu ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Music Video

Documentary

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitley, Kym Living people Actors from Shaker Heights, Ohio Actresses from Tennessee Fisk University alumni 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses African-American female comedians African-American comedians American women comedians American voice actresses American television actresses American film actresses Actresses from Ohio Comedians from Ohio 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people Year of birth missing (living people)