Nia Long

Nia Long was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 30, 1970. Her father Doughtry Long and mother Talita Long were both school teachers by profession. Her parents got divorced when she was very young and she eventually moved out with her mother to Iowa City, Iowa.

She attended the Roman Catholic school St. Mary's Academy in Inglewood, California and later graduated from the Westchester High School in Los Angeles in 1989. Apart from being a very bright student, Nia also learned ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics, as well as guitar. She eventually grew interested in acting over the years. She started dating Nigerian-American former professional basketball player Ime Sunday Udoka in 2010 and the couple welcomed their son Kez Sunday Udoka on November 7, 2011. She also has another son from a previous relationship.

Nia Long made her TV debut in the episode ‘The B.R.A.T Patrol’ of ‘Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color’ as ‘Darla Perkins’ in 1986. She waited five more years to get a second chance on television when she appeared as ‘Katherine "Kat" Speakes’ in ‘Guiding Light’. After making two special appearances in ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ and ‘Living Single’, she landed the role of ‘Lisa Wilkes’ in the American sitcom ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’. She played the role for two seasons in 15 episodes in total. Nia Long was nominated for ‘Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series’ at the NAACP Image Award for her fantastic work.

In 2000, she played the character of ‘Karen’ in the television movie ‘If These Walls Could Talk 2’ for which she was nominated for ‘Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special’ at the NAACP Image Awards. A year later she played ‘Andrea Solomon’ in Amy Brenneman’s American legal drama television series ‘Judging Amy’ in six episodes. Her biggest role so far came in 2003 when she was picked for the role of ‘Officer Sasha Monroe’ in the American crime drama television series ‘Third Watch’, created by John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero. She was part of the show for three seasons and 35 episodes in total, and also bagged the ‘Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series’ award at the NAACP Image Awards for her stellar performance.

She appeared in popular television shows like ‘Boston Legal’ (as ‘Vanessa Walker), ‘Big Shots’ (as ‘Katie Graham’), and ‘The Cleveland Show’ (as ‘Roberta Tubbs’) between 2007 and 2010. She was again nominated for the ‘Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series’ at the NAACP Image Awards for her role of ‘Tamara’ in the American comedy television series ‘House of Lies’, created by Matthew Carnahan. Later on, she played lead roles in shows like ‘The Divide’, ‘Real Husbands of Hollywood’, ‘Uncle Buck’, ‘Dear White People’, and ‘Empire’. Recently, she landed the regular role of ‘Executive Assistant Director Shay Mosley’ in the American action television series ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’.

Nia Long made her film debut in 1990 with the role of ‘Fingers’ in ‘Buried Alive’. She later played important roles in films like ‘Boyz n the Hood’, ‘Made in America’, and ‘Friday’ before appearing as ‘Nina Mosley’ in the 1997 American romantic drama film ‘Love Jones’. She was nominated for the ‘Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture’ at the NAACP Image Awards as well as for the ‘Best Actress’ award at the Acapulco Black Film Festival Awards for her brilliant performance in the film.

She won the Black Reel Award for ‘Best Actress’ as well as the NAACP Image Award for ‘Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture’ for her brilliant performance in the 1999 African American romantic comedy-drama film ‘The Best Man’, written and directed by Malcolm D. In 2000, she played the role of ‘Abbie Halpert’ in the American crime drama film ‘Boiler Room’ for which she was nominated for the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ award at the Black Reel Awards.

She featured in the critically acclaimed role of ‘Lonette’ in the 2004 British-American romantic comedy-drama film ‘Alfie’. She was again nominated for the Black Reel Award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’. Nia’s work continued to earn her recognition over the years and she was praised for her stellar performance in the American comedy-drama film ‘The Best Man Holiday’ in 2013.