Jasmine Guy

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
name = Jasmine Guy
birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1962|3|10
location = Boston, Massachusetts
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Actress, singer, dancer
spouse = Terrence Duckette (1998–present)(filed for divorce) 1 Child
naacpimageawards = Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
1990 "A Different World"
1991 "A Different World"
1992 "A Different World"
1993 "A Different World"
1994 "A Different World"
1995 "A Different World"

Jasmine Guy (born March 10, 1962 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is most well known for her starring role as Southern belle Whitley Gilbert in the television series "A Different World".

Biography

Born to an African-American father and a white [cite web|url=http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:0Rc8T6coTEcJ:www.essence.com/essence/themix/entertainment/0,16109,1828035,00.html+http://www.essence.com/essence/themix/entertainment/0,16109,1828035,00.html&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us|title=Jasmine Guy: Flashback Friday - The star of "A Different World" on being Whitley, her impending divorce, and growing up biracial|publisher="Essence"|author=Thompson, Kevin D.] PortugueseFact|date=September 2008 mother, Guy was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where she attended the former Northside Performing Arts High School (which merged with North Fulton High School to form North Atlanta High School). Her mother's name is Jaye Rudolph, and her father, the Reverend William Guy, was pastor of the historic Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta, which served as an early home to Morehouse College and Spelman College. (The latter school served as the setting for "Hillman College," the fictional school depicted in "A Different World.") She later studied dance at Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York City in 1981.

During the run of "A Different World", she released her self-titled debut album in 1990, which spawned three Billboard Top 100 hits: "Try Me", "Another Like My Lover", and "Just Want To Hold You." In the spring of 2006, Jasmine spoke to the graduating class at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and revealed that she will record a second album. She commented that of all the entertainment industries, the music industry was the worst. She will sell her new album online herself and not through a major label, similar to the marketing strategy used by Prince.

She married Terrence Duckette in 1998. The couple has one child, a girl named Imani, born in 1999. On April 8,2008, PEOPLE magazine reported that the actress and her husband of nearly 10 years were divorcing due to irreconcilable differences.

Jasmine Guy was also a good friend of slain rapper Tupac Shakur, whom she met through her costar on "A Different World," Jada Pinkett (Smith). Guy collaborated with Shakur's mother, Afeni, to write a biography of her life as a former Black Panther. The book, "Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary," was published in 2005 by Simon and Schuster and received critical acclaim for its poignancy.

Television Roles

Guy had a cameo role in an episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" where she played one of Will Smith's girlfriends; her character's name was Kayla and she was having problems in college and found that spending time with him made her situation even worse. In an appearance on "Living Single" (created by "A Different World" executive Yvette Lee Bowser), Guy played a psychologist who advised Khadijah when she began exhibiting symptoms of bipolar disorder. Guy appeared as Caitlin Mills on 3 episodes of Melrose Place as Jack Wagner's character love interest. She also made a cameo appearances on the "Moesha" spin-off "The Parkers", and the "That's So Raven" episode "Checkin' Out" as a famous fashion photographer named Pistache. The actress had a starring role in "Dead Like Me" as Roxy Harvey. In the cartoon Cyberchase, Guy has lent her voice to two characters: Ava, the queen of the cybersite Symmetria, and Ms. Fileshare the Cybrarian. She also had the recurring role of Kathleen, a fallen angel in the CBS Network Drama Touched By An Angel.

Film roles

Early in the run of the TV series that made her famous, Guy took a major film role playing Dominique La Rue in 1989's "Harlem Nights", starring Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. In the film, Pryor's character, Harlem "Sugar" Ray, is the owner of an illegal casino, who contends with the pressures of vicious gangsters and corrupt policemen who want to see him go out of business in 1920s Harlem. Guy played the girlfriend of the group's nemesis, who set out to seduce and kill Murphy. Jasmine also had a role in the 1988 musical-drama film "School Daze" as Dina a member of the light-skinned, straight-haired African American women of Gamma Ray (a women's auxiliary to the Gamma Phi Gamma fraternity) , written and directed by Spike Lee. This movie stars Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell. Jasmine has also provided the voice of Sawyer Cat in the Warner Bros. animated film "Cats Don't Dance". She will also appear in the upcoming film, "Dead Like Me (film)".

tage

Guy has performed in several Broadway shows, appearing as Crow in The Wiz, Mickey in "Leader of the Pack", Betty Rizzo in "Grease" and Velma Kelly in "Chicago".

Radio

The actress recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's 'Hip-Hop Literacy' campaign, encouraging reading of books about Tupac Shakur.

Music

Album

ingles

References

External links

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* [http://www.jasmineguy.org/ Official site]