Nicco Annan is an American actor, dancer, and choreographer. He is best known for his portrayal of Uncle Clifford on the

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

drama series '' P-Valley'', an adaptation of the Katori Hall play ''Pussy Valley'', in which Annan originated the role.

Early life and education

Annan was raised in the North End area of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, Michigan. His mother is African American and was raised in the

south South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, and his father is

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian. He wanted to pursue acting from a young age and studied improv and theater from youth. When he was 17 he joined a dance troupe. Annan received his diploma from

Cass Technical High School Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a public high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States.

and studied theater at

State University of New York-Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase (commonly Purchase College or SUNY Purchase) is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. It was fo ...

, where he received his

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

degree.

Career

After college, Annan was hired as the choreographer in residence at the Yale School of Drama. He also performed in theater productions on and off-Broadway. He moved to Los Angeles in 2014 to pursue television acting. Annan has appeared in '' Claws'', '' Shameless'', '' This is Us'', and ''

Snowfall Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

''. He is also the choreographer for the series ''

All American The designation All American often refers to the hyphenated term All-American, a noun or adjective denoting players selected for an All-America sports team. Of an individual, all-American may mean that the person (often male) expresses the qualiti ...

''. In 2009, Annan's friend recommended him for a role in ''Pussy Valley,'' a play by Katori Hall centered on a strip club in the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...

. Annan auditioned for and was cast as Uncle Clifford, the club's non-binary owner. He developed a detailed backstory for the character and portrayed the role in several smaller runs as well as the full production at

Mixed Blood Theatre The Mixed Blood Theatre Company is a professional multiracial theatre company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded in 1976 by artistic director Jack Reuler, to explore race via the use of theater. History Jack Reuler founded Mixed Blood in 19 ...

in 2015. When the play was ordered for a television adaptation by

, Annan again auditioned for the role of Uncle Clifford and was re-cast. The series, '' P-Valley'', premiered in 2020 and Annan received critical acclaim for his season one performance. He was named to '' THR'''s list of Best TV Performances of 2020 and received nominations from the NAACP Image Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards. Annan played a lead role in Hall's play ''The Hot Wing King'', which premiered March 2020 off-Broadway. He appeared as a guest judge on season 2 of '' Legendary''.

Personal life

Annan is openly gay.

Accolades

*2020 – Nominee, Best Featured Actor in a Play Off-Broadway,

Antonyo Awards The Antonyo Awards are awards recognizing excellence of Black artists in theatre. Founded in 2020, the awards ceremony was produced by Broadway Black and honors Black artists from both the Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre communities. Founding an ...

() *2021 – Nominee, Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series,

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

() *2021 – Nominee, Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series, NAACP Image Awards ()

References

External links

Official Twitter
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Annan, Nicco Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American actors American stage actors African-American actors American gay actors Gay dancers American choreographers African-American dancers Entertainers from Michigan Male actors from Detroit Cass Technical High School alumni State University of New York at Purchase alumni American people of Ghanaian descent African-American choreographers LGBT African Americans LGBT people from Michigan 21st-century African-American people