Jazz Raycole facts for kids

Jazz Raycole (born February 11, 1988) is an American actress and dancer. She is famous for playing Claire Kyle in the TV show My Wife and Kids during its first season. She is known professionally as Jazz Raycole.

Early Life and Dance Training

Jazz Raycole was born in Stockton, California. Her dad, Ray, worked for a water company. Her mom, Claudia Dillingham, owned a dance studio. Claudia also helped manage Jazz's acting and dancing career when she was young.

Jazz started dancing when she was very little. She learned from her mom and another teacher named Barbara Faulkner. By the age of four, she was already a competitive dancer. In 2001, she went to a special dance program at the Boston Ballet. That same year, she also taught dance classes. Jazz was taught at home by her mother.

Acting Career Highlights

Jazz Raycole began her acting career in 1995. She voiced a puppy in the movie Babe. She also appeared as Onika Harris in the film Waiting to Exhale. One of her first TV roles was on the show Ellen. In 2003, she was the voice of a character named Chloe on Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!.

In 2001, Jazz played Claire Kyle in the first season of My Wife and Kids. Her TV dad was played by Damon Wayans. She left the show before the second season, and another actress took over her role. Jazz later explained that the producers wanted an older actress. She said, "I was 12 years old when I got that job. The producers wanted a different thing, they wanted someone a little bit older. I wasn't ready for that." She then went to New York to focus on dancing, which was her first passion.

Jazz has appeared in many other TV shows. These include Malcolm & Eddie, The Jamie Foxx Show, Smart Guy, Everybody Hates Chris, Monk, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. From 2007 to 2008, she played Allison Hawkins in the drama Jericho. She also had a regular role as Lyric Ballentine on the sitcom The Soul Man from 2012 to 2014. From 2017 to 2018, Jazz starred as Sydney Fletcher in the BET series The Quad. She also played the daughter of Stanley Hudson in two episodes of The Office.

In 2019, Jazz Raycole played Mae in the TV movie Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas. Mae was the girlfriend of a character played by Kimiko Glenn. In 2020, she played Sage in the series Council of Dads.

More recently, in 2020, Jazz was cast as Izzy in the drama series The Lincoln Lawyer. This show is based on books by Michael Connelly. While the first attempt to make the show didn't work out, Netflix picked it up in 2021. Jazz was one of the few actors who returned for the Netflix version, which aired in 2022.

Filmography

Movies

Television Shows

See also

In Spanish: Jazz Raycole para niños