Melissa L. Williams (born August 31, 1987) is an American actress and model, known for playing Denise and Ruth Truesdale in the

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 ...

prime time soap opera ''

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

'' and its spinoff '' Ruthless''.

Life and career

Williams was born in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. She is the oldest of six children. Williams moved to Atlanta and attended

Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the South ...

. She began her career appearing in several musicals at the local theater before moving to Los Angeles. On television, she guest starred on '' The Game'', '' If Loving You Is Wrong'' and ''

Rosewood Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus '' Dalbergia'', but other woods are often ca ...

''. She received

Indie Series Awards The Indie Series Awards (formerly the Indie Soap Awards) is an annual event hosted by '' We Love Soaps'', based in Los Angeles, California, honoring the best in independently produced, scripted entertainment created for the Internet. The ceremon ...

nomination for her performance in ''Poz Roz''. In 2019,

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Madea, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her ...

cast Williams in a dual role as twin sisters in his BET prime time soap opera ''

''. She later went to star in its spinoff '' Ruthless'' for streaming service

BET+ BET+ is a Video on demand#Subscription models, streaming service operated by Tyler Perry Studios and the BET Networks, BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. The service was first announced on June 24, 2019, ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Melissa L. African-American actresses American television actresses Living people Clark Atlanta University alumni Actresses from Oklahoma City Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women