Kimberly Elise (born April 17, 1967) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her role in the films Set It Off, Beloved, John Q, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and For Colored Girls. Elise is a four-time NAACP Image Award winner.

Personal life[link]

Elise was born as Kimberly Elise Trammel in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of Erma Jean (née Johnson), an elementary school teacher, and Marvin Trammel, who owns an executive search firm.^[1][2] She has three siblings. Elise studied film and acting at the University of Minnesota and earned a BA in Mass Communications.^[3] She was married to Maurice Oldham (1958–2007) from 1989 until 2005; they have two children, Ajableu Oldham and Butterfly Oldham. He died from a "massive blood clot", according to Elise.^[4]

Elise's maternal descent is of the Songhai people in Mali.^[5]

Career[link]

Elise's first film was Set It Off (1996), in which she played one of four women who resort to robbing a bank for money. Her big break came in 1997 when she was cast in the Family Channel original television movie The Ditchdigger's Daughters, based on the Pulitzer-prize nominated and critically acclaimed 1995 memoir The Ditchdigger's Daughters: A Black Family's Astonishing Success Story, written by Yvonne S. Thornton and Jo Coudert. She received critical acclaim,bn, for her role in this film, and in 1997, she was recognized as Best Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries at the 19th annual CableACE Awards. A relative unknown at the time, she conveyed her anonymity upon receiving the award by saying "Who is Kimberly Elise?". Her performance helped her land a role the next year in Beloved alongside Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. She is often compared to a young Cicely Tyson whom she resembles.

In 2004, she appeared in Woman Thou Art Loosed portraying Michelle, an abused young woman who finally got the help she needed behind bars. This role won her a Black Reel award for Best Actress. She also appeared in John Q, The Manchurian Candidate and Diary of a Mad Black Woman (she won a NAACP Image Award for the latter). From 2005 to 2007, she starred on the CBS crime drama Close to Home, playing Marion County, Indiana (Indianapolis) prosecutor Maureen Scofield. Her character was killed off in the last episode of the 2006-2007 season. The series was cancelled in May 2007.

She has since made a guest appearance on the situation comedy Girlfriends in which she played an HIV-positive woman.

Her most recent film role was in Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls (2010), as the battered wife Crystal. While the film itself received mixed to negative reviews,^[6] her performance was praised by many critics. One journalist described her as, "...the great lost Best Supporting Actress contender of the 2010 season."^[7]

Filmography[link]

• Set It Off (1996)
• The Ditchdigger's Daughters (1997)
• Beloved (1998)
• The Loretta Claiborne Story (2000)
• Bait (2000)
• Bojangles (2001)
• John Q (2002)
• Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)
• The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
• Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
• Pride (2007)
• The Great Debaters (2007)
• Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009)
• For Colored Girls (2010)
• Ties That Bind (2011)
• The Marriage Lover (2013)

Television work[link]

• Newton's Apple (1995)
• In the House (1995)
• The Twilight (2003)
• Girlfriends (2003) (2 episodes)
• Soul Food (2002–2003)
• Close to Home (2005–2007)
• Private Practice (2007) (1 episode)
• Masters of Science Fiction (2007) (1 episode - not aired until 2012)
• Grey's Anatomy (2009)
• Hawthorne (2011) (1 episode)
• Stephen Hawking's Sci-Fi Masters (2012) (1 episode)

Awards and nominations[link]

Acapulco Black Film Festival

• 1999: Nominated - Best Actress for Beloved (1998)

African-American Film Critics Association

• • 2010: Won - Best Supporting Actress for For Colored Girls

Black Reel Awards

• 2002: Won - Best Supporting Actress for Bojangles (2001)
• 2003: Nominated - Best Actress for John Q (2002)
• 2005: Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
• 2005: Won - Best Actress, Independent Film for Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)
• 2006: Won - Best Actress for Diary of a Mad Black Woman
• 2011: Nominated - Best Actress for For Colored Girls
• 2011: Won - Outstanding Ensemble for For Colored Girls

CableACE Award

• 1997: Won - Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries for The Ditchdigger's Daughters (1997)

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

• 1999: Won - Most Promising Actress for Beloved (1998)
• 1999: Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Beloved (1998)

Golden Satellite Awards

• 1999: Won - Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Drama for Beloved (1998)

NAACP Image Awards

• 1999: Nominated - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Beloved (1998)
• 2002: Nominated - Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for Bojangles (2001)
• 2003: Nominated - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for John Q (2002)
• 2003: Nominated - Image Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for "Soul Food" (2000)
• 2005: Nominated - Image Award Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)
• 2006: Winner - Image Award Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Diary of a Mad Black Woman
• 2006: Nominated - Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for "Close to Home"
• 2007: Winner - Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for "Close to Home"
• 2010: Winner - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story"
• 2011: Winner - Image Award Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for "For Colored Girls"

Independent Spirit Awards

• 2005: Nominated - Best Female Lead for Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kimberly Elise Bio at CBS - Close To Home
• Kimberly Elise at the Internet Movie Database
• Kimberly Elise at the TCM Movie Database
• Kimberly Elise at AllRovi
• Kimberly Elise Talks About Woman, Thou Art Loosed
• Kimberly Elise Biography - Hollywood.com
• Kimberly Elise News