Karyn Parsons Rockwell (born October 8, 1966) is an American actress, author and comedian. She is best known for her role as

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

on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart t ...

'' from 1990 to 1996. Parsons also starred in the 1995 film ''

Major Payne ''Major Payne'' is a 1995 American military comedy film directed by Nick Castle and starring Damon Wayans, who wrote with Dean Lorey and Gary Rosen. The film co-stars Karyn Parsons, Steven Martini and Michael Ironside. It is a loose remake of th ...

'' opposite

Damon Wayans Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. (; born September 4, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. Wayans performed as a comedian and actor throughout the 1980s, including a year long stint on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live.' ...

, and in '' The Job'' (2001–2002) as Toni.

Early life

Parsons was born on October 8, 1966, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In an interview for ''

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

'' in 2008, she described her parentage as biracial. Her mother, Louise Parsons, is African American from

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

and her father, Kenneth B. Parsons, is British American of English and Welsh descent and from

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

. She attended

Santa Monica High School Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to SaMoHi, is located in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1891, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Boulevard. It is a part o ...

Career

Parsons starred as

on the sitcom ''

'', which aired on

from 1990 to 1996. She co-created, co-produced, co-wrote, and co-starred on the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

sitcom '' Lush Life'' in 1996, which was later canceled after four episodes. In 2001, she starred in the critically acclaimed but short-lived television series '' The Job'' with

Denis Leary Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. A native of Massachusetts, Leary first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song "Asshole (song), Assh ...

. Besides television, Parsons has starred in several films, particularly in comedies such as ''Late Nights'' (1992), ''

'' (1995), and ''

The Ladies Man ''The Ladies Man'' is a 1961 American comedy film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It was released on June 28, 1961 by Paramount Pictures. Plot Herbert H. Heebert is a young man who loses his girlfriend, swears off romance, and then takes ...

'' (2000). Parsons is the founder of the Sweet Blackberry Foundation, which produces animated films and books about unsung black heroes. The first video in the series was about

Henry "Box" Brown Henry Box Brown (c. 1815 – June 15, 1897) was a 19th-century Virginia slave who escaped to freedom at the age of 33 by arranging to have himself mailed in a wooden crate in 1849 to abolitionists in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For a short tim ...

, a

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

who mailed himself to freedom. Parsons has also published three books for children: a middle-grade novel, ''How High the Moon'' (2019), which was loosely inspired by stories of her mother's childhood in the

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

South; and two Sweet Blackberry picture-book biographies about black historical figures, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie: ''Flying Free'' (2020) about pioneering aviator

Bessie Coleman Bessie Coleman (January 26, 1892April 30, 1926) was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license. She earned her license from the '' Fédération Aéronautique I ...

, and ''Saving the Day'' (2021) about inventor

Garrett Morgan Garrett Augustus Morgan, Sr. (March 4, 1877 – July 27, 1963) was an American inventor, businessman, and community leader. His most notable inventions were a three-position traffic signal and a smoke hood (a predecessor to the gas mask) notably ...

Personal life

Parsons married director

Alexandre Rockwell Charles Alexandre Rockwell is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and professor. Life and career Alexandre Rockwell is best known for his independent films made in NYC with a small group of actors he met on the lower east side in ...

in 2003. Together they have a daughter, Lana, and a son, Nico.

Filmography

Film

Television

Bibliography

* ''How High the Moon'' (2019) * ''Flying Free'' (2020)

References

External links

*
Twitter Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Karyn 1966 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Hollywood, Los Angeles African-American actresses American child actresses American film actresses American people of English descent American people of Welsh descent American television actresses Television producers from California American television writers American voice actresses American women television producers American women television writers Living people Screenwriters from California 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people