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Nia Long
Born: 30th Oct 1970 Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Dept: Acting
Nia Long (born October 30, 1970) is an American actress and occasional music video director. She is best known for her roles in the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Third Watch, and the films Soul Food, Love Jones, The Best Man, Big Momma's House, and Are We There Yet? Long was born in Brooklyn, New York, U.S. Her family is of Afro-Trinidadian descent. Her name, Nia, is one of the seven days of Kwanzaa, which means purpose in Swahili. Long's parents divorced when she was two years old, and she and her mother moved to Iowa City, Iowa. They subsequently moved to a South Los Angeles neighborhood when Long was seven. Long's father currently resides in Trenton, New Jersey. Long's half-sister is comedienne Sommore, one of the stars of The Queens of Comedy. She attended the Roman Catholic school St. Mary's Academy and studied ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics, guitar, and acting. She graduated from WestchesterHigh School in 1989. Long's acting coach was Betty Bridges, better known as the mother of Diff'rent Strokes star Todd Bridges. Her earliest role was in the Disney television movie, The B.R.A.T Patrol alongside Sean Astin, Tim Thomerson and Brian Keith. Her first notable role on television was a three-year contract role as Kathryn "Kat" Speakes on the soap opera Guiding Light. Long portrayed Kat from 1991 to 1994, then f rom 1994 - 1995, she played Will Smith's girlfriend and fiancée Beulah "Lisa" Wilkes on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. In 2003, she joined the cast of the drama Third Watch, where she played NYPD Officer Sasha Monroe, continuing until the series finale in 2005. In 2005 and 2006, Long appeared on Everwood, and appeared on Boston Legal during its 2006-2007 season. Long also starred in Big Shots from 2007-2008 alongside Michael Vartan and Dylan McDermott. She also made a guest appearance on the successful sitcom Living Single during its first season. Long appeared in supporting roles in a number of movies including, Boyz n the Hood, Friday, and Made in America. She played a leading role, or a member of the primary ensemble, in several films, including Soul Food, Love Jones, Boiler Room, Big Momma's House, Are We There Yet?, and The Best Man. Ice Cube has starred with her in four films, while (fellow Westchester High alum) Regina King has starred with her in two. Long was voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the World in 2000 by People. She won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 2004 for her performance on Third Watch. In addition to her film credits, she directed Yolanda Adams's music video for "This Too Shall Pass" and co-directed and appeared in Ashanti's music video, "Baby". She also appears in the video for Kanye West's, "Touch The Sky". Long and her former long-time boyfriend and fellow actor Massai Z. Dorsey have a son, Massai Zhivago Dorsey II, born on November 26, 2000.
[ToDo] Show list of extra photos here.
Film and Tv Credits
Total number of credits listed: 79
Film: 46 (58%)
Television: 33 (42%)
Remaining genres not in graph: Action & Adventure, Adventure, TV Movie, Animation, Reality, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Soap, News, Kids
Filmography
(No release date supplied. Possibly still in production.)
Project is inspired by R&B singer Maxwell's debut album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite. ... view
Character:
(No release date supplied. Possibly still in production.)
Shining a spotlight on ground-breaking artists and entertainers who’ve devoted their lives to making their mark in movies, television, comedy and sp ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
2026
Discover the story of Michael Jackson, one of the most influential artists the world has ever known, and his life beyond the music, tracing his journe ... view
Character:
Katherine Jackson
Mar 2025 (first aired)
Some of Hollywood's biggest stars reveal their journeys to game-changing leading roles. In candid interviews, they shine a light on the highs and lows ... view
Character:
Self (1 ep.)
2023
A new couple and their families reckon with modern love amid culture clashes, societal expectations and generational differences. ... view
Character:
Fatima
2023
When her mother disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June’s search for answers is hindered by international red tape. St ... view
Character:
Grace
Dec 2022 (first aired)
Catch up with Harper, Robyn, Jordan, Lance, Quentin, Shelby, Candace, and Murch as their relationships evolve and past grievances resurface in the unp ... view
Character:
Jordan Armstrong (8 ep.)
Sep 2022 (first aired)
Talented entertainer and newly-minted EGOT Jennifer Hudson takes on the daytime talk show landscape. ... view
Character:
Self - Guest (1 ep.)
2022
On the night of her college graduation, Natalie's life splits into parallel realities after she takes a pregnancy test. What will life and love bring? ... view
Character:
Lucy Galloway
2020
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left. ... view
Character:
Catherine
2020
After a brief encounter with David Hammond, an old college friend, successful lawyer Ellie Warren tries to mend her marriage with her husband Marcus. ... view
Character:
Ellie Warren
Apr 2020 (first aired)
A father takes an irreverent and honest approach to parenting and relationships. ... view
Character:
Lavette (3 ep.)
2020
In the 1960s, two entrepreneurs hatch an ingenious business plan to fight for housing integration—and equal access to the American Dream. ... view
Character:
Eunice Garrett
Sep 2019 (first aired)
Kelly Clarkson presents the biggest newsmakers and names in film, television and music; as well as emerging new talent and everyday people who are bea ... view
Character:
Self (1 ep.)
2019
Four teenage girls go on a diving adventure to explore a submerged Mayan city. Once inside, their rush of excitement turns into a jolt of terror as th ... view
Character:
Jennifer
Apr 2017 (first aired)
Students of color navigate the daily slights and slippery politics of life at an Ivy League college that's not nearly as "post-racial" as it thinks. ... view
Character:
Neika Hobbs (1 ep.)
2017
The most feared battle emcee in the early 1980s in Queens, New York, was a fierce teenager from the Queensbridge projects. At the age of 14, Roxanne S ... view
Character:
Ms. Peggy
2017
Isaac has seen better days. His acting career is tanking, his blind girlfriend of 10 years plans to leave him, and his own family singles him out as a ... view
Character:
Cleo
2017
Follows the serendipitous meeting of two young girls on the Venice Boardwalk, who, though worlds apart in lifestyle, embark on unexpected and lifelong ... view
Character:
Hillary Whitney
Jun 2016 (first aired)
Based on the hit movie of the same name, Uncle Buck is a fun-loving but irresponsible guy who needs a job and a place to stay. His brother and sister- ... view
Character:
Cindy Russell (8 ep.)
2016
Friends hatch a plot to retrieve a stolen cat by posing as drug dealers for a street gang. ... view
Character:
Hannah
Jan 2015 (first aired)
A powerful family drama about the head of a music empire whose three sons and ex-wife all battle for his throne. ... view
Character:
Giuliana (8 ep.)
Jul 2014 (first aired)
The Divide is a 2014 legal drama that aired on WE tv. The first season consisted of eight hour-long episodes. It premiered on July 16, 2014. On Octobe ... view
Character:
Billie Page (8 ep.)
2014
A group of single moms are brought together in the aftermath of an incident at their children's school. ... view
Character:
May Miller
2013
When college friends reunite after 15 years over the Christmas holidays, they discover just how easy it is for long-forgotten rivalries and romances t ... view
Character:
Jordan Armstrong
Jan 2012 (first aired)
Charming, fast talking Marty Kaan and his crack team of management consultants know how to play the corporate game better than anyone, by using every ... view
Character:
Tamara (8 ep.)
2011
A wonderful retrospective supplement that features much of the primary cast cast as well as Writer/Director John Singleton looking back at the picture ... view
Character:
Self
2011
Thanks to a strict Muslim upbringing that largely shielded him from the outside world, Tariq's first year of college proves transformative. That is, u ... view
Character:
Safiyah
2009
An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, GOOD HAIR visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories a ... view
Character:
Self
Oct 2009 (first aired)
Compelling, surprising and downright spooky — celebrities share their real-life personal encounters with the paranormal in each one-hour special. Fr ... view
Character:
Self (1 ep.)
Sep 2009 (first aired)
The bizarre adventures of Cleveland Brown and his family. ... view
Character:
Roberta Tubbs (voice) (21 ep.)
Sep 2009 (first aired)
The exploits of the Los Angeles–based Office of Special Projects (OSP), an elite division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that specializ ... view
Character:
Shay Mosley (30 ep.)
Jul 2009 (first aired)
Bravo network executive Andy Cohen discusses pop culture topics with celebrities and reality show personalities. ... view
Character:
Self - Guest (1 ep.)
Character:
Self
Jul 2008 (first aired)
Radio personality Wendy Williams is the host to her own live syndicated talk show. Wendy injects her television series with the same style that charac ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
2008
Gospel Hill tells the intersecting story of two men in the fictional South Carolina town of Julia. Danny Glover plays John Malcolm, the son of a slain ... view
Character:
Mrs. Palmer
Sep 2007 (first aired)
Four friends are at the top of their game...until the women in their lives enter the room. Lines between boardroom and bedroom blur when these competi ... view
Character:
Katie Graham (11 ep.)
2007
Newlyweds Nick and Suzanne decide to move to the suburbs to provide a better life for their two kids. But their idea of a dream home is disturbed by a ... view
Character:
Suzanne Persons
2007
A depressed housewife who learns her husband was killed in a car accident the day previously, awakens the next morning to find him alive and well at h ... view
Character:
Annie
2006
FBI agent Malcolm Turner goes back undercover as Big Momma, a slick-talking, slam-dunking Southern granny with attitude to spare! Now this granny must ... view
Character:
Sherri
2005
The fledgling romance between Nick, a playboy bachelor, and Suzanne, a divorced mother of two, is threatened by a particularly harrowing New Years Eve ... view
Character:
Suzanne Kingston
2004
A tale of a philosophical womanizer who is forced to question his seemingly carefree existence. ... view
Character:
Lonette
Oct 2004 (first aired)
Alan Shore and Denny Crane lead a brigade of high-priced civil litigators in an upscale Boston law firm in a series focusing on the professional and p ... view
Character:
Vanessa Walker (3 ep.)
Sep 2004 (first aired)
The Tony Danza Show was a daytime variety talk show that premiered on September 13, 2004 in syndication and was distributed by Buena Vista Television. ... view
Character:
Self (1 ep.)
2004
Director Mario Van Peebles chronicles the complicated production of his father Melvin's classic 1971 film, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song." Playin ... view
Character:
Sandra
Feb 2004 (first aired)
Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard's chair of Afro-American Studies, travels the length and breadth of the United States to take the temperature of black ... view
Character:
Self (1 ep.)
2003
Cast and crew offer up a nice overview piece, discussing the picture's authenticity, real life in the time of "Boyz n the Hood," the parallels between ... view
Character:
Self
2002
The crew of a reality-TV show about the paranormal visits a small Kansas town to investigate a house that may be haunted. ... view
Character:
Lou
Sep 2002 (first aired)
After the death of his wife, world-class neurosurgeon Dr. Andrew Brown leaves Manhattan and moves his family to the small town of Everwood, Colorado. ... view
Character:
Cassie (1 ep.)
Sep 2000 (first aired)
106 & Park is an American Hip Hop and R&B music video show set up in a countdown format, that airs Monday through Friday at 6/5c on BET. Since its inc ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
2000
When a street-smart FBI agent is sent to Georgia to protect a beautiful single mother and her son from an escaped convict, he is forced to impersonate ... view
Character:
Sherry Pierce
2000
The stories of three lesbian couples -- who live in the same house at different periods of time -- who are at a crossroads in their lives. In 1961, Ed ... view
Character:
Karen
2000
A college dropout gets a job as a broker for a suburban investment firm and is on the fast track to success—but the job might not be as legitimate a ... view
Character:
Abbie Halpert
2000
A close-knit group of gay friends share the emotional roller coster of life, relationships, the death of friends, new beginnings, jealousy, fatherhood ... view
Character:
Leslie
1999
Oscar-winner Colin Firth stars in this heart-warming cross-cultural romantic comedy set in the idyllic South of France. Nimi, a beautiful Nigerian si ... view
Character:
Nimi Da Silva
1999
After writing a soon-to-be bestselling novel, writer and committed bachelor Harper attempts to hide the fact that his saucy new book is loosely based ... view
Character:
Jordan Armstrong
1999
What should have been a romantic getaway turns into one hilarious debacle after another when Michael's woman dumps him in the desert where he gets car ... view
Character:
Rae
Sep 1999 (first aired)
The exploits of a group of men and women who serve the City of New York as police officers, firemen, and paramedics, all working the same fictional 55 ... view
Character:
Sasha Monroe (45 ep.)
Sep 1999 (first aired)
Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Bren ... view
Character:
Andrea Solomon (6 ep.)
1999
A young woman with no strong religious beliefs, Frankie Paige begins having strange and violent experiences, showing signs of the wounds that Jesus re ... view
Character:
Donna Chadway
1999
Drug lord Dwayne Gittens rules Cincinnati with an iron fist. No wonder he's known as "God" on the streets. Determined to break Gittens' stranglehold o ... view
Character:
Myra
1998
Corrupt record company executives kill a singing sensation with a drug overdose rather than letting her leave their label and join another company. Th ... view
Character:
Carmen Jones
1997
Traditional Sunday dinners at Mama Joe's turn sour when sisters Teri, Bird and Maxine start bringing their problems to the dinner table in this ensemb ... view
Character:
Robin (Bird)
1997
Lee Plenty is an almost broke would-be novelist and Havilland Savage is a rich and very beautiful woman and his friend. When she invites him to her ho ... view
Character:
Trudy
1997
Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Moseley, a beautiful and talented photographer. While trying to figure out if ... view
Character:
Nina Mosley
Jul 1996 (first aired)
The World's Fakest News Team tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and pop culture. ... view
Character:
Self - Guest (1 ep.)
Jan 1996 (first aired)
The everyday life of Moesha Mitchell, a vivacious young woman juggling romance, school, ever-changing family dynamics, and friendships. ... view
Character:
Babysitter (2 ep.)
Aug 1995 (first aired)
Live Shot is an American drama television show starring Jeff Yagher that aired in fall 1995 on UPN.
The show centered on fictional television station ... view
Character:
Ramona Greer (13 ep.)
1995
Craig and Smokey are two guys in Los Angeles hanging out on their porch on a Friday afternoon, smoking and drinking, looking for something to do. ... view
Character:
Debbie
Sep 1994 (first aired)
ER explores the inner workings of an urban teaching hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its overburdened e ... view
Character:
Christy Wilson (1 ep.)
Sep 1993 (first aired)
Stepping into the late-late slot vacated by David Letterman, Conan O'Brien stars in a show that far outdoes its competition in sheer strangeness. Alon ... view
Character:
Self - Guest (2 ep.)
Aug 1993 (first aired)
Living Single is an American television sitcom that aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 22, 1993, to January 1, 1998. The show cente ... view
Character:
Stacey (1 ep.)
1993
A young black woman discovers that her father was a sperm donor, and if that wasn't bad enough, he's white. ... view
Character:
Zora Mathews
1991
In the middle of the Los Angeles ghetto, drugs, robberies and shootings dominate everyday life. During these times, Furious tries to raise his son Tre ... view
Character:
Brandi
Sep 1990 (first aired)
Will, a street-smart teenager, moves from the tough streets of West Philly to posh Bel-Air to live with his Uncle Philip, Aunt Vivian, his cousins — ... view
Character:
Claudia (16 ep.)
1989
A young woman goes to teach at the Ravenscroft Institute, a spooky old girls' school overrun by ants and staffed by some unusual types. Spurred on by ... view
Character:
Fingers
1986
A group of military brats uncovers a plot to steal base equipment. ... view
Character:
Darla Perkins
Mar 1975 (first aired)
An American awards show recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. ... view
Character:
Self - Presenter (1 ep.)
Oct 1954 (first aired)
Walt Disney Productions has produced an anthology television series under several different titles since 1954. The original version of the series prem ... view
Character:
Darla Perkins (1 ep.)