Jasmine Guy

Biography:

Jasmine Chanel Guy (born March 10, 1962) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and director. She first gained attention for her role as Dina in Spike Lee’s 1988 film School Daze and became widely known for portraying Whitley Gilbert-Wayne on NBC’s sitcom A Different World, which aired from 1987 to 1993. Her performance on the series earned her four consecutive NAACP Image Awards between 1990 and 1993 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Guy later appeared as Roxy Harvey in Dead Like Me, Sheila “Grams” Bennett on The Vampire Diaries, and Gemma on Grey’s Anatomy.

Guy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Jaye (née Resendes) and William Vincent Guy, and was raised in Atlanta’s historic Collier Heights neighborhood. She attended Northside Performing Arts High School, where she developed her artistic talents. Her mother, a Portuguese American, was a former high school teacher, while her father—an African American minister—served as pastor of Atlanta’s historic Friendship Baptist Church and taught philosophy and religion at the college level. At age 17, Guy relocated to New York City to study dance at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center.

She began her television career as a dancer with a non-speaking role in several episodes of Fame in 1982, working under choreographer Debbie Allen.

Guy remains best known for her starring role as Whitley Gilbert on A Different World, a spin-off of The Cosby Show. Created by Bill Cosby, the series aired on NBC for six seasons. Guy appeared in every episode, contributed as a writer on three episodes, and directed one. Originally introduced as a supporting character, Whitley eventually became the show’s central figure after Lisa Bonet departed. Guy received six consecutive NAACP Image Awards for her work on the series.

Beyond that role, Guy appeared in a 1991 episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, played Kayla—one of Will Smith’s love interests—and starred alongside Vanessa Williams in the CBS film Stompin’ at the Savoy (1992). In 1993, she portrayed the mother of Halle Berry’s character in the miniseries Queen, based on Alex Haley’s novel. She later appeared on Melrose Place, Living Single, and held a recurring role as the fallen angel Kathleen on Touched by an Angel from 1995 to 1997.

In 2001, Guy appeared in the film adaptation of Anne Rice’s The Feast of All Saints, portraying the Creole mambo Juliet Mercier. She later voiced Queen Ava in PBS’s animated series Cyberchase and made guest appearances on The Parkers. In 2003, she participated in HBO’s documentary Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narrative, which drew from WPA slave interviews conducted in the 1930s.

Guy starred in Dead Like Me from 2003 to 2004, playing Roxy Harvey, a tough former meter maid turned grim reaper. The series ran for two seasons on Showtime and earned Guy a 2005 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She reprised the role in the 2009 follow-up film Dead Like Me: Life After Death. That same year, she appeared in The People Speak, a documentary based on Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. From 2009 to 2017, she held a recurring role on The Vampire Diaries as Sheila “Grams” Bennett. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, she appeared in projects including Drop Dead Diva, the Lifetime film Secret Santa, and Amazon Prime’s Harlem.

Her film career also includes Harlem Nights, voice work in Cats Don’t Dance, and appearances in October Baby (2011) and Big Stone Gap (2015). She starred in the short film My Nephew Emmett, which won a Student Academy Award and received an Academy Award nomination in 2018.

Guy has maintained a strong presence in theater, performing on Broadway and national tours in productions such as The Wiz, Leader of the Pack, Grease, and Chicago. She later expanded into directing and producing, working extensively with Atlanta’s True Colors Theatre Company in both artistic and leadership roles.

She shared a close friendship with rapper Tupac Shakur, whom she met through Jada Pinkett Smith during his guest appearance on A Different World. After Shakur was injured in 1994, he recovered at Guy’s home. She later appeared in his “Temptations” music video and authored a biography of his mother, Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary.

Guy married Terrence Duckett in 1998, and they had one daughter. The couple divorced in 2008, after which Guy returned to Atlanta with her child. In 2016, she publicly endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders in the U.S. presidential election.