Aunjanue L. Ellis

According to some sources, Aunjanue L. Ellis has married her longtime boyfriend whom she secretly dated for many years. However, other sources claim that she is single.

Aunjanue L. Ellis was born on February 21, 1969, in San Francisco, California. She was raised by her grandmother at her farm in McComb, Mississippi. She often visited a Baptist church where she performed recitations and skits.

She initially attended Tougaloo College and then transferred to Brown University from where she completed her Bachelor of Arts in African-American studies. Passionate about acting, she took part in students’ plays at Brown University.

She studied acting with Jim Barnhill and John Emigh, and also attended the Graduate Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

In 1995, Aunjanue Ellis made her professional acting debut as Ariel in a Broadway production of William Shakespeare's ‘The Tempest’, opposite Patrick Stewart's Prospero. She later made her screen debut in the police drama series ‘New York Undercover’ aired on Fox.

She made her motion picture debut opposite Lili Taylor in ‘Girls Town’, which was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival. In the late 1990s, she appeared in some supporting roles in films like ‘Ed's Next Move,’ ‘Desert Blue,’ ‘In Too Deep’, and ‘A Map of the World’.

In 1996, she was cast as Officer Leslie Joyner in the police drama series, ‘High Incident’ created by Steven Spielberg and aired on ABC. She continued in the series till it was canceled in 1997. In 1999, she played the recurring role of Sharon Young on legal drama ‘The Practice’, aired on ABC.

She starred opposite Cuba Gooding Jr. in the 2000 drama film ‘Men of Honor’, directed by George Tillman, Jr. In 2001, she was featured in the mystery drama film ‘The Caveman's Valentine’, directed by Kasi Lemmons. It was based on George Dawes Green's novel of the same name. That year, she also appeared in a supporting role in the comedy drama film ‘Lovely & Amazing’.

She was cast in another regular role on the medical drama ‘MDs’ on ABC in 2002. That same year, she landed the main role alongside Eddie Griffin in the action comedy film ‘Undercover Brother’.

One of Aunjanue Ellis’ best performances was in the ‘The Book of Negroes’. The Hollywood Reporter’s critic Whitney Matheson praised Ellis’ performance and wrote "Ellis’ gripping performance holds the six-part miniseries together. She displayed a stunning range of emotion." The role also won her several awards.