Kym Whitley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kym Whitley
Whitley at San Diego Comic-Con in 2011
Born	(1962-07-21) July 21, 1962 (age 62) Shaker Heights, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater	Fisk University
Occupation	Comedian, actress, podcaster
Years active	1989–present
Television	Raising Whitley
Children	1

Kym Whitley (born July 21, 1962) is an American comedian, actress and podcaster. She is known for her roles on television sitcoms, such as My Brother and Me, Sparks, Animal Practice, The Boondocks, Young & Hungry, The Parkers, The Cleveland Show, Black Dynamite, and Act Your Age. Whitley was nominated for a 2004 BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Box Office Movie for her role as Ormandy in the 2003 comedy film Deliver Us From Eva.

Early life and education

Whitley was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio to Kaysonia and William Whitley. Her father was a founding partner of the black architectural firm of Whitley and Whitley. Whitley and Whitley was involved with work on Tower City Center, the Cleveland State University Convocation Center, Lincoln Junior High School, the Lee-Harvard Branch of Cleveland Public Library, the Central Area Multi-Service Center, and the Cleveland Clinic Guesthouse development. They were also involved in a joint venture to design and build Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field), home to the Cleveland Indians. She attended Shaker Heights High School (graduating in 1979) and Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She was initiated into the Alpha Beta chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Career

In 1989, Whitley got her big break starring in Shelly Garrett's popular play Beauty Shop, which started in Los Angeles then later traveled across the United States. Whitley's major acting roles include the short-lived sitcoms My Brother and Me and Sparks. She has made guest appearances on several television sitcoms, including The Parent 'Hood, Married... with Children, Moesha, That's So Raven, The Parkers, My Wife and Kids and Curb Your Enthusiasm. She also hosted the short-lived BET show Oh Drama (2000). Whitley had a small role in Next Friday as Craig's aunt Suga. She was part of a group called "The Adults", which featured actors who were adult cast members in the earlier seasons of All That. In the early spring of 2010, Whitley was a co-host with R&B musician Brian McKnight on the short-lived talk show The Brian McKnight Show. From 2012 to 2013, Whitley had a recurring role on the BET comedy Let's Stay Together as Charmaine Wax.

On April 20, 2013, her reality docu-series titled Raising Whitley premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network, with a total of 1.2 million viewers, making it the fifth most-widely viewed premiere in the history of the network. OWN ordered a second season, which premiered on January 4, 2014. Whitley then joined the cast of the television sitcom Young & Hungry which premiered on ABC Family (now Freeform) in 2014, where she played Josh's housekeeper Yolanda. The show ran for five seasons, ending in 2018. In 2017, she guest starred in the web series The Bay where she played Big Candi. She received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actress in a Digital Daytime Drama Series. In 2018, she guest starred in the "Thanksgiving" episode of Master of None as Denise's aunt Joyce, and sister to Angela Bassett's character. The episode won an Emmy for Best Writing for Master of None's actors Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe. Whitley was later a recurring guest host on the E! shows Daily Pop and Nightly Pop. In 2023, she played the role of Aunt Nadine in the film You People.

Personal life

Whitley is a cousin of actor and martial artist Michael Jai White. She has two older brothers, Kyle and Scott. In January 2011, she adopted her son, Joshua. In 2013, Whitley and her friend Rodney Van Johnson launched a line of t-shirts titled "Don't Feed Me." The shirts alert caregivers about children who have specific food allergies.

Filmography

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Seven Thirty-Five	Whitley	Short
1999	Silk Hope	Grace	TV movie
	Beverly Hood	Nola Washington
2000	Next Friday	Auntie Suga
	Nutty Professor II: The Klumps	Party Guest
	A Private Affair	Cheryl	TV movie
2001	Baby Boy	Host
	House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute	Judy Harris/Jon Jon's Mom	Video
2002	What About Your Friends: Weekend Getaway	Ms. Wells	TV movie
2003	Deliver Us from Eva	Ormandy
	Love Chronicles	Renee
	Malibooty!	Donna	Video
2004	Along Came Polly	Gladys
	Up Against the 8 Ball	Mrs. Thompson
2005	The Salon	Lashaunna
	The Golden Blaze	Mother Johnson (voice)	Video
	The Perfect Man	Dolores
	L.A. Dicks	Madame Opal
	Fun with Dick and Jane	Kostmart Training Leader
2006	Thugaboo: Sneaker Madness	Ms. Attitude (voice)	TV movie
	Thugaboo: A Miracle on D-Roc's Street	Ms. Attitude (voice)	TV movie
2008	College Road Trip	Michelle Porter
	The Hustle	Miss Tanya
	Cuttin' da Mustard	-
2009	Black Dynamite	Honeybee
	I Love You, Man	Female Co-Worker
	Donation	Cashier Keisha	Short
	Straight from the Horses Mouth	Herself	Video
2010	Heaven Ain't Hard to Find	Sis. Hattie May
	Something Like a Business	Sasha
	The Woman in the Red Dress	The Detective's Wife	Short
2011	Rango	Melonee (voice)
	Taking Liberties (?)	Sarah	Short
	35 and Ticking	Shavelle
	We Bought a Zoo	Cashier
	Sebastian	Roxanne
2012	Silent No More	Ms. Carolyn
	Sistaah Friend	Publicist	Video
	C'mon Man	Herself
2013	Ticket to Vegas	Monik
	Anything is Possible	Ms. Kim
2014	A Haunted House 2	Church Lady
2015	The Biz	Casting Director	Short
2017	Fist Fight	911 Operator
2018	She Get it from Her Mama	Lena	Short
	The Weekend	Karen Barber
2019	Love Dot Com: The Social Experiment	Aunty Kathy
2020	Hubie Halloween	Farmer Louise
2022	Boosters LA	Tina
	Izzy Lyon: The Unspun Truth	Rhonda Jackson Lyon
2023	You People	Aunt Nadine
	Outlaw Johnny Black	Sister Betty
	Urkel Saves Santa: the Movie	Mrs. Paxson (voice)	Video
TBA	Killing Mary Sue	TBA	Post-production

Television

Music Video

Documentary

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Kym Whitley para niños