Jasmine Guy

Jasmine Chanel Guy (born March 10, 1962) is an American actress. She portrayed Dina in the 1988 film School Daze and Whitley Gilbert-Wayne on the NBC The Cosby Show spin-off A Different World, which originally ran from 1987 to 1993. Guy won four consecutive NAACP Image Awards from 1990 through 1993 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on the show. She played Roxy Harvey on Dead Like Me and as Sheila "Grams" Bennett on The Vampire Diaries. She also played the role of Gemma on Grey's Anatomy.

Early life Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Jaye (née Resendes) and William Vincent Guy, she was raised in the affluent historic Collier Heights neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, where she attended Northside Performing Arts High School. Her mother, a Portuguese American, was a former high-school teacher, and her father, who was African-American, was pastor of the historic Friendship Baptist Church of Atlanta, which served as an early home to Spelman College; he was also a college instructor in philosophy and religion. At the age of 17, she moved to New York City to study dance at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center.

Acting career Television roles Guy began her television career with a non-speaking role as a dancer in seven episodes of the 1982 television series Fame under the direction of choreographer Debbie Allen.

Guy today remains best known for her starring role as Whitley Gilbert in the television sitcom A Different World. A spin-off of The Cosby Show and created by Bill Cosby himself, the show aired from 1987 to 1993 on NBC. Guy wrote three episodes of the show and directed one, in addition to appearing in every episode: she started as a co-star, but ended up replacing the show's original star Lisa Bonet, who left the series. and in 1993, she played the mother of Halle Berry's character in the CBS TV mini-series Queen. This was based on Alex Haley's book Queen: The Story of an American Family, a companion volume to his earlier Roots: The Saga of an American Family, which itself had been converted to a television mini-series. In 1995, Guy appeared as Peter Burns' love interest, Caitlin Mills, on two episodes of Melrose Place, and in 1996, she appeared on Living Single, playing a psychologist treating main character Khadijah for anxiety. She also played the recurring role of Kathleen, a fallen angel, in the CBS Network drama Touched by an Angel from 1995 to 1997. In 2001 Guy contributed her considerable talents to the film version of Anne Rice’s “The Feast of All Saints”, a movie about the Free People of Color in pre Civil War New Orleans as the Creole Mambo Juliet Mercier. In 2002, Guy lent her voice to the PBS math-based animated series Cyberchase, playing Ava, the queen of the cybersite Symmetria, and made a cameo appearance on the Moesha spin-off The Parkers. In 2003, Guy played Mary Estes Peters in the HBO documentary, Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narrative, a documentary which premiered during Black History Month. The slave narratives were based on the WPA slave interviews conducted during the 1930s with over 2,000 former slaves.

Guy starred alongside Ellen Muth and Mandy Patinkin in the series Dead Like Me, created by Bryan Fuller. The show ran 29 episodes over two seasons, in 2003 and 2004, on Showtime. Guy played Roxy Harvey, a meter maid turned police officer and one of the core group of grim reapers around which the series was based. Guy was nominated for the 2005 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the role. She later starred in the feature-length series sequel Dead Like Me: Life After Death, which was released on video in 2009 before being shown on the Syfy channel. In 2009, Guy performed in The People Speak, a documentary that used dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. A broad look at civil rights issues in America, The People Speak was executive produced by and seen on The History Channel. In 2010, she was seen in the second season of the Lifetime comedy series Drop Dead Diva as a judge in the episode titled "Last Year's Model," and from 2009 to 2017, Guy had a recurring role in The CW's series The Vampire Diaries. In that program, Guy played Sheila "Grams" Bennett, the grandmother of Bonnie (Katerina Graham), who proved to be a descendant of Salem Witches. Both shows were filmed in the Atlanta area. In late 2017, she appeared in the Lifetime Christmas movie Secret Santa. In the early 2020s, she appeared on the Amazon Prime series Harlem as the mother of one of the protagonists.

Film roles Guy made her film debut in 1988 in Spike Lee's musical-drama film School Daze. She played the role of Dina, a member of the light-skinned, straight-haired African American women of Gamma Ray, a women's auxiliary to the Gamma Phi Gamma fraternity.

Stage In 1987, Guy had a starring role in the off-Broadway hit musical Beehive, before traveling to France to appear in a similar musical review. Blues came on the heels of Guy's held-over run in True Colors' Miss Evers' Boys, which co-starred TC Carson of Living Single.

Guy directed the world premiere of I Dream in July 2010 on the Alliance Stage of the Woodruff Arts Centre in Atlanta. Also in 2010, Guy was a member of the cast of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the Alliance Theatre Company co-production of Pearl Cleage's The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One-Hundred Years. The production ran September 24 through October 3 at the Festival in Montgomery, Alabama, before moving to Atlanta's Alliance Theatre for performances October 20 through November 14. In early 2011, Guy directed George C. Wolfe's The Colored Museum for True Colors, and in June 2011, Guy costarred with Kenny Leon in their production of Sam Shepard's play Fool For Love at The Balzer Theater at Herren's in Atlanta, Georgia. In August 2010, Guy had joined Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company in an off stage role as the company's Producing Director. In announcing the hire, True Colors said Guy's full-time position would be both administrative and artistic, and both local and national. Guy continues to contribute to the company on stage as well. They met through a mutual friend, actress Jada Pinkett, during his guest appearance on the sitcom A Different World in 1993.

Guy married Terrence Duckett in August 1998, and the couple had one child, a daughter named Imani. On April 8, 2008, People reported that Guy and Duckett were divorcing after ten years of marriage due to irreconcilable differences. Guy and her daughter then moved to Guy's childhood hometown of Atlanta.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1988 School Daze Dina 1989 Runaway Charlene 'Charlie' TV movie Harlem Nights Dominique La Rue 1990 A Killer Among Us Theresa Hopkins TV movie 1992 Stompin' at the Savoy Alice TV movie 1993 Boy Meets Girl Lena TV movie 1995 Klash Blossom 1997 Cats Don't Dance Sawyer (voice) Perfect Crime Captain Darnell Russell TV movie 1998 Madeline Narrator (voice) 1999 Guinevere Linda Lillie Sylvia 2000 The Law of Enclosures Tina Diamond Men Tina 2001 Feast of All Saints Juliet Mercier TV movie Dying on the Edge Micki 2002 Carrie Claire Murphy TV movie 2006 The Heart SpecialistAunt Burnetta 2007 Rwanda Rising Ephigenie Mukanyandwi (voice) 2008 Tru Loved Cynthia 2009 Dead Like Me: Life After Death Roxy Harvey Video 2010 Stomp the Yard: Homecoming Janice Change in the Wind Bessie Jordan (voice) 2011 Blossoms for Clara Clara Dukes Short October Baby Nurse Mary 2012 Kasha and the Zulu King Ngazi TV movie What About Us? Arlene Gomes Short 2013 Scary Movie 5 Mrs. Brooks 2014 My Other Mother Evelyn TV movie Big Stone Gap Leah Grimes Ir/Reconcilable Robye Short 2015 Sick People Beatrice 2016 Chasing Waterfalls Salma TV movie The Substitute Spy G11 2017 My Nephew Emmett Elizabeth Wright Short Wrapped Up In Christmas Elise Nash TV movie 2018 The Christmas Pact Nadia TV movie 2019 Illegal Rose Rose Short 2020 Open Betty TV movie 2021 Liam White: The Forgettable Life of Liam White Rene White 2022 Vanished: Searching for My Sister Detective Hill TV movie A Wesley Christmas Sylvia Wesley The Lady Makers Emma 2023 A Wesley Christmas Wedding Sylvia Wesley TV movie 2024 Not Another Church Movie Miss Mildew 2025 Noah's Arc: The Movie Nana Ladonya 2026 Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery Anita Pierce TV movie

Television Year Title Role Notes 1982 Fame Fame Dancer (uncredited) Recurring Cast: Season 1 1986 The Equalizer Gloria Episode: "Out of the Past" 1987 At Mother's Request Bank Teller Episode: "Part 1 & 2" A Different World Whitley Gilbert-Wayne Main Cast 1990 Soul Train Herself Episode: "Snap/E.U./Jasmine Guy" 1991 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Kayla Samuels Episode: "Love at First Fight" 1993 Alex Haley's Queen Easter Main Cast 1994 A Century of Women Family Member Episode: "Part 1 & 2" 1995 Melrose Place Caitlin Mills Recurring Cast: Season 3 NYPD Blue LaVonna Runnels Episode: "Heavin' Can Wait" Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Jonae (voice) Episode: "Rumpelstiltskin" 1995-1997 Touched by an Angel Kathleen Recurring Cast: Season 2-3 1996 Living Single Dr. Jessica Bryce Episode: "Shrink to Fit" America's Dream Elna Du Vaul Episode: "The Boy Who Painted Christ Black" The Outer Limits Captain Teri Washington Episode: "The Heist" Angela Winters Episode: "The People vs. Lois Lane" 1996-2003 Intimate Portrait Herself Recurring Guest 1997 Malcolm & Eddie Paige Episode: "Two Men and a Baby" 1998 Celebrity Profile Herself Episode: "Diahann Carroll" 1998-2000 Linc's Courtney Goode Guest: Season 1, Recurring Cast: Season 2 1999 Any Day Now Aunt Kiki Episode: "Blue" Ladies Man Allegra Recurring Cast: Season 1 Partners Amanda Episode: "A Beautiful Day" 2000 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Episode: "The Frog Princess" 2001 Journeys in Black Herself Episode: "Patti LaBelle" Between the Lions Herself Episode: "Humph! Humph! Humph!" 2002 Inside TV Land Herself Episode: "Inside TV Land: Taboo TV" The Parkers Delilah Episode: "Lights, Camera, Action" 2002-2004 Cyberchase Various Voices (voice) Guest Cast: Season: 1-3 2003-2004 Dead Like Me Roxy Harvey Main Cast 2005 Between the Lions Herself Episode: "Pigs, Pigs, Pigs/The Three Little Pigs" 2006 That's So Raven Pistáche Episode: "Checkin' Out" 2009 My Parents, My Sister & Me Keela Goldman Episode: "Starting Over" 2009-2017 The Vampire Diaries Sheila Bennett Recurring Cast: Season: 1 & 4–5 & 8, Guest: Season: 3 2010 Andrew Young Presents Bessie Jordan (voice) Episode: "Change in the Wind" Drop Dead Diva Judge Nona Daniels Episode: "Last Year's Model" 2012 Let's Stay Together Herself Episode: "Dancing with the Stars" 2014 Oprah: Where Are They Now? Herself Episode: "A Different World Cast Reunion" 2014-2015 If Loving You Is Wrong Mattaline Recurring Cast: Season 1 2015-2016 Unsung Hollywood Herself Recurring Guest 2016 Being Herself Episode: "Jasmine Guy" Zoe Ever After Barbara Jean Johnson Episode: "2 Weddings and an Ass Whooping" 2016-2017 K.C. Undercover Erica Recurring Cast: Season 2 2017 Who Killed Tupac? Herself Episode: "Devil in a Red Suit" 2017-2018 Superstition Aunt Nancy Recurring Cast The Quad Ella Grace Caldwell Recurring Cast 2019 Grey's Anatomy Gemma Larson 2021 Reunion Road Trip Herself Episode: "It's a Different World" History of the Sitcom Herself Episode: "Facing Race" & "Freaks, Geeks & Outsiders" 2021-2025 Harlem Patricia Joseph Recurring Cast: Season 1-2, Guest: Season 3 2022 Tales Ms. Gloria Episode: "Hot In Here" 2023 Chronicles of Jessica Wu Barbara Baldwin Main Cast: Season 3 2025 Grosse Pointe Garden Society Catherine's Mom Recurring Cast Poker Face Norma Kazinsky Episode: “The Game is a Foot”

Music videos Year Song title Artist 1986 "Someone like You" Sylvester 1989 "Liberian Girl" Michael Jackson 1990 "Lift Every Voice and Sing" Melba Moore 1995 "Temptations" 2Pac

Discography Albums Jasmine Guy (1990)

Singles "Try Me" (1990) "Another Like My Lover" (1991) "Just Want to Hold You" (1991) "Don't Want Money" (1991)