Virenia "Nia" Peeples (born December 10, 1961) is an American R&B and

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

singer and actress. Peeples is known for playing Nicole Chapman on the hit TV series '' Fame''; Pam Fields on the drama ''

Pretty Little Liars ''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American mystery teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. Developed by I. Marlene King, the series was broadcast on Freeform between June 8, 2010, and June ...

''; Karen Taylor Winters on ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

'' and Sydney Cooke on ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Texa ...

''. Her most recent television role was Grace's mom, Susan, on '' The Fosters''.

Early life

Peeples was born December 10, 1961, in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, the daughter of Elizabeth Joan (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Rubic), a flamenco dancer, and Robert Eugene Peeples. She was raised in

West Covina West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

. Her maternal grandparents were immigrants from the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Her father, who was originally from

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, was of Scottish, English, and Irish ancestry. Peeples attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

during which time she performed as

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

's opening act in Las Vegas on weekends.

Personal life

Peeples lives in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

, and has one son Christopher (b. 1989 with ex-husband Howard Hewett) and one daughter with her former husband, Lauro Chartrand. She operates an internet based organization called Elements of Life, which promotes fitness, inspiration, healthy lifestyle changes and emotional well-being. She worked with business coach Amy Applebaum on its development. On August 11, 2015, Peeples filed for divorce from her surfer husband Sam George. Peeples filed in Los Angeles County, 20 days before the couple's eighth wedding anniversary. Peeples is seeking to keep the couple's home, a Malibu manufactured home with an ocean view that's valued at $875,000. Also listed among the couple's community assets is a Las Vegas condo worth $91,000.

Career

Music

Peeples started her career as part of the performance group

The Young Americans The Young Americans is a non-profit organization and performing group based in Southern California. First founded in 1962 by Milton C. Anderson, the group was credited with being the first show choir in America, mixing choreography with choral ...

. In 1988 she hit #1 on the

Hot Dance Music/Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart with "

Trouble Trouble may refer to: Film and television * ''Trouble'' (1922 film), an American silent comedy-drama film directed by Albert Austin * ''Trouble'' (1933 film), a British comedy film * ''Trouble'' (1977 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Trouble'' ...

", which climbed to #35 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her most successful pop single is "Street Of Dreams", which hit #12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1991. She made a music video in 1986 for "All You Can Dream", directed by Alan Bloom and conceptualized by Keith Williams, for the purposes of promoting the values of

. On February 4, 2009, Peeples presented Debbie Allen with a

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

at The Carnival: Choreographer's Ball 10th anniversary show. Peeples also attends and performs at the annual live Fame Reunion concerts overseas.

Acting

Notably, Peeples portrayed performing arts student Nicole Chapman on the hit TV series '' Fame''. In 1987, she was in the movie '' North Shore'' as Kiani. She also hosted the short-lived American version of ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' in 1987, a weeknight dance music program called ''

The Party Machine with Nia Peeples ''The Party Machine with Nia Peeples'' is a half-hour late-night American musical variety show that aired in syndication for one season in 1991. The show was hosted by Nia Peeples and executive produced by Arsenio Hall. History Background Arseni ...

'' (1991), and portrayed Texas Ranger Sydney Cooke in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

hit series ''

'' from 1999 to 2001. In 2004, she appeared in the '' Andromeda'' episode "

The Spider's Stratagem ''The Spider's Stratagem'' ( it, Strategia del ragno) is a 1970 Italian made-for-television political mystery-drama film written and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and produced by RAI. The screenplay is based on the 1944 short story ''Theme of ...

", as arms smuggler and love-interest Rox Nava. Peeples joined the cast of ''

'' in 2007, playing the role of Karen Taylor, and was released from the role in the spring of 2009. In 2010, she was cast in

ABC Family The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...

's TV series ''

'', based on the

book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...

Sara Shepard Sara Shepard (born April 8, 1977) is an American author. She is known for the bestselling ''Pretty Little Liars'' and '' The Lying Game'' book series, both of which have been turned into television shows on Freeform. Early and personal lif ...

. Peeples was featured on the July 7, 2013 episode of ''

Celebrity Wife Swap ''Wife Swap'' is an American reality television program that was first broadcast on ABC in 2004 based on the British show with the same name. In the program, two families, usually from different social classes and lifestyles, swap wives/mothers ...

'', in which she traded places with singer Tiffany.

Discography

Albums

*'' Nothin' But Trouble'' (1988) – US #97 *''Nia Peeples'' (1991) *''Songs of the Cinema'' (2007)

Singles

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peeples, Nia 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American actresses American television actresses American film actresses American dance musicians American soap opera actresses Living people Actresses from Hollywood, Los Angeles American actresses of Filipino descent American people of Scottish descent American people of English descent American people of Irish descent 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers People from West Covina, California The Young Americans members 1961 births