Lisa Wu is an American television personality, actress, realtor, screenwriter and designer. She is best known for appearing on reality series ''

The Real Housewives of Atlanta ''The Real Housewives of Atlanta'', abbreviated ''RHOA'', is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on October 7, 2008. Developed as the third installment of '' The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired sixteen season ...

'' and '' Hollywood Divas''.

Early life

Wu was born and raised in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

as one of nine children. Her father, Stanley Wu, is a first-generation

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

and her mother, Victoria Brislis-Wu, was of

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Africans (primarily fr ...

descent. She has said that her family was often the target of discriminatory comments in their neighborhood.

Career

Wu started her career as a

backup dancer A backup dancer also known as background dancer is a performer who dances with or behind the lead performers in a live musical act or in a music video. Their movements (especially where there are many moving together) improve the visual aesthetic ...

for musical artists and bands such as

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is an initialism for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. E Double) and Parrish Smith ("PMD" a.k.a. Parrish Mi ...

, and Candyman. Shortly after this, she joined the rap group 9tene. After leaving music, Wu wrote, produced, and acted in the film ''Black Ball'' (2003). She remained in the film industry for many years as a screenwriter, producer, and an actress. Wu was cast in the inaugural season of

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 * Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...

's ''

''. She appeared in the main cast for the first two seasons (2008–09) and was a guest for the third season (2010–11). She made additional guest appearances in the ninth, tenth, fourteenth and fifteenth seasons. Wu is the author of a novel called ''When The Cake is Made''. The novel was published in 2010 following her departure from ''RHOA''. Since her departure from ''RHOA'', Wu has continued her career as an actress and producer. From 2014 until 2016, she was a cast member with four other actresses working on a short film, ''The White Sistas'', on the TV One series '' Hollywood Divas''.

Personal life

One of nine children, Wu's elder brother, Meho, is deceased, and Wu was seen grieving over his death in a Season 2 episode of ''RHOA'', during the build-up to an anniversary of his death. From 1992 until 2002, Wu was married to singer

Keith Sweat Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961) is an American singer, producer and songwriter. An early figure in the new jack swing musical movement, he is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her," "Make It Last Forever (song), Make It Last For ...

. The couple have two sons, Jordan (b. 1995) and Justin (b. 1998). In 2005, Wu married former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

player Ed Hartwell, and the couple had one son, Ed, Jr. Ed Hartwell filed for divorce on August 24, 2011; it was finalized October 7, 2011, with the court document listing her name as Sharon Millette Hartwell.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Lisa Living people American actresses of Chinese descent American film actresses American film producers American people of Caribbean descent American television actresses African-American television personalities American women film producers Actresses from Inglewood, California Actresses from Atlanta 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people)