Troy Byer (born November 7, 1964) is an American psychologist, author, director, screenwriter, and actress.

Early life and education

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

mother and white father, Byer spent the first part of her career working in the

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have dev ...

. She began her

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

career with a role on the children's program ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'' when she was four years old. She later studied acting and psychobiology at

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

and went on to earn a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

Pacifica Graduate Institute Pacifica Graduate Institute is a private for-profit graduate school with two campuses near Santa Barbara, California. The institute offers masters and doctoral degrees in the fields of clinical psychology, counseling, mythological studies, dep ...

in eco, liberation and community psychology. Byer holds a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...

from

California Southern University California Southern University is a private, for-profit, university in Costa Mesa, California. California Southern University is currently a member of the American InterContinental University System. It offers associate's, bachelor's, master's ...

with certification in

Industrial Organizational Psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology), an applied discipline within psychology, is the science of human behavior in the workplace. Depending on the country or region of the world, I-O psychology is also known as occupational ...

Career

After landing a

bit part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British television, ...

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...

's '' The Cotton Club'' (1984), Byer moved to

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' ...

, and became a regular on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

prime-time

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'' in 1986, playing Jackie Deveraux, the daughter of

Diahann Carroll Diahann Carroll (; born Carol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. She rose to prominence in some of the earliest major studio films to feature black casts, including ''Car ...

's character

Dominique Deveraux Dominique Deveraux (born Millie Cox) is a fictional character on the ABC prime time soap opera ''Dynasty'' and its spin-off, ''The Colbys''. Portrayed by Diahann Carroll from 1984 to 1987, the character is the surprise half-sister of millionaire B ...

. Byer went on to earn ShoWest's Newcomer of the Year award for her leading role in the feature '' Rooftops'' (1989). Since then, Byer acted in features such as '' Disorderlies'' (1987), '' The Five Heartbeats'' (1991) as Baby Doll, ''

Weekend at Bernie's II ''Weekend at Bernie's II'' is a 1993 American black comedy film written and directed by Robert Klane. It is the sequel to Klane's 1989 comedy ''Weekend at Bernie's''. Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman and Terry Kiser reprise their roles. The f ...

'' (1993), ''Eddie'' (1996) starring Whoopi Goldberg,

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New H ...

's ''The Gingerbread Man'' (1998) starring Kenneth Branagh and

Robert Downey Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...

, and '' John Q'' (2002) starring

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

. In 1997, Byer made her screenwriting debut with ''

B*A*P*S ''B.A.P.S'' (an acronym for '' Black American Princesses'') is a 1997 American female buddy comedy film directed by Robert Townsend and starring Halle Berry, Natalie Desselle, and Martin Landau. The film was written by Troy Byer and was her firs ...

'', starring

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry (; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Mis ...

. As she was unhappy with how her script was changed during the course of filming, in 1998 she decided to direct her next screenplay, ''

Let's Talk About Sex "Let's Talk About Sex" is a song by American hip hop trio Salt-n-Pepa, released in August 1991 as a single from their third studio album, ''Blacks' Magic'' (1990). It achieved great success in many countries, including Australia, Austria, Germ ...

'' (1998) herself while also playing a starring role. Byer made a trailer and took it to the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

, where she gave it to film executives. The film was quickly picked up by

Fine Line Features Fine Line Features (often spelled as FineLine Features) was the specialty films division of New Line Cinema. From 1991 to 2005, under founder and president Ira Deutchman, Fine Line acquired, distributed and marketed films of a more "indie" flavor ...

. Byer wrote and directed '' Love Don't Cost a Thing'' (2003) for

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

, based on the hit 1987 movie '' Can't Buy Me Love''. Byer is an active member of

Agape International Spiritual Center The Agape International Spiritual Center is a transdenominational congregation currently holding Sunday services at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, California, founded in 1986 by Michael Bernard Beckwith. Agape International Spiritual Center ...

and an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

for the

foster care system Foster care is a system in which a underage, minor has been placed into a ward (law), ward, group home (Residential Child Care Community, residential child care community, Treatment centre, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-ce ...

—a system to which she herself once belonged. Byer is the author of two

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...

books -- ''How To Be Ex-Free: 9 Keys To Happiness After Heartbreak'', and ''How To Be A Responsibly Powerful Bitch''.

Personal life

Byer has one son, Jordan Burg, with her ex-husband Mark Burg.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byer, Troy 1964 births Living people Actresses from New York City American film actresses American people of Jewish descent African-American Jews African-American actresses African-American film directors African-American film producers African-American screenwriters Film directors from New York (state) Screenwriters from New York (state) Film producers from New York (state) American women film directors American television actresses American women film producers 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women