Janet Louise Hubert (born January 13, 1956) is an American film and television actress and dancer. She is best known for playing the role of the original Vivian Banks on the sitcom ''

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz that aired on NBC from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart ...

'' from its first season in 1990 until the end of its third season in 1993. Hubert was nominated for an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in 1991. Her performance as Mignon on the digital series ''King Ester'' garnered her first

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

nomination in 2020.

Early life

Hubert was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois and spent her early days growing up on Chicago's South Side. At the age of nine she moved with her family to rural Chicago. She won a scholarship to the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York City, but did not complete her studies.

Career

After performing in the national tour of ''

Dancin' ''Dancin'' is a musical revue created, directed, and choreographed by Bob Fosse and originally produced on Broadway in 1978. The plotless, dance-driven revue is a tribute to the art of dance, and the music is a collection of mostly American ...

'', Hubert made her Broadway debut in 1981, in the ensemble of '' The First'', a short-lived musical about

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

. Hubert created the role of Tantomile in the original Broadway production of ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'', and also understudied Grizabella and Demeter. She left ''Cats'' in April 1983 to star in the national tour of '' Sophisticated Ladies'', opposite

Dee Dee Bridgewater Dee Dee Bridgewater (née Denise Garrett, May 27, 1950) is an American jazz singer and actress. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National ...

and Gregg Burge. Hubert played Aunt Viv on ''

'', the role she is most known for. After she was allegedly fired by the makers of ''The Fresh Prince'', Hubert's character was recast and played by Daphne Maxwell Reid for the remainder of the show's run. At the time,

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...

, the show's star, claimed that Hubert "brought her problems to work." Rumors then speculated that Smith had fired her following her departure. Hubert has since denied this, explaining that she had left the show after being informed that she had two months and a half of remaining on set and that she could not work on another project. Her role as Aunt Viv was subsequently played by actress Daphne Maxwell Reid. Hubert was featured in a 2002 episode of ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'' as Chandler's boss. In 2005, she began playing the recurring role of Lisa Williamson, mother of attorney Evangeline Williamson, on ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

''. Her character has made occasional appearances since then. She was featured as Michel Gerard's mother in an episode of the CW show ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. The show ran fo ...

''. She has made appearances on episodes of ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

'', ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...

'', ''

The Bernie Mac Show ''The Bernie Mac Show'' (often shortened to ''Bernie Mac'' in syndication) is an American sitcom television series created by Larry Wilmore, that aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001, to April 14, 2006. The series featured Ber ...

'', and '' Tyler Perry's House of Payne'', among others. In November 2018, it was announced that Hubert had been cast on the daytime soap opera, ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

''; she made her debut as Yvonne on December 7, 2018. Hubert appeared in ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion'' on

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

in November 2020. During the special, she and Smith spoke for the first time since her departure from the show. Hubert discussed issues regarding her personal life, which included

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

, and revealed she had not been fired from the show as largely believed. Smith admitted that he was neither "sensitive" nor "perceptive" to Hubert's situation and attributed his behavior to being "very young" and "immature" at the time. He has insisted that being a parent has taught him how to understand what she was dealing with and apologized for his actions. Hubert then joined the rest of the guests at the reunion. Hubert appeared on FX's '' Pose'' in season 3 as a family member of Billy Porter's character, Pray Tell, alongside Jackée Harry and Anna Maria Horsford. In 2022, she appeared on '' The Ms. Pat Show'' as the title character's mother-in-law, Jewell.

Personal life

In 1990, Hubert married James Whitten, who was verbally and physically abusive towards her until their split in 1994. From this marriage, she gave birth to a boy, Elijah Isaac Whitten. Hubert has been married to Larry Kraft since 2005. She suffers from

osteoporosis Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass, micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to more porous bone, and consequent increase in Bone fracture, fracture risk. It is the most common reason f ...

and is the

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

of the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Stage

Video games

Awards

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hubert, Janet 1956 births Living people 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers Actresses from Chicago Juilliard School alumni American television actresses American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American soap opera actresses People from Momence, Illinois 21st-century African-American actresses