T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh

T'Keyah Crystal Keymàh
Born Crystal Walker
(1962-10-13) October 13, 1962
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Education Florida A&M University
Occupation Actress, singer, writer
Years active 1986–present
Awards 2012: TV Land Groundbreaking Show Award (In Living Color)[1]
Website tkeyah.com

T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh (born Crystal Walker;[2] October 13, 1962 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actress, writer, and singer. She is also a professional poet and dancer, and an amateur visual artist. In addition to her status as an original cast member of the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color (1990–94), she is perhaps best known for her roles as Erica Lucas on the CBS sitcom Cosby, and as Tanya Baxter on the Disney Channel sitcom That's So Raven from 2003 to 2005.

Early life

Keymáh was born Crystal Walker in 1962, in Chicago.[3] Since the age of three, she has enjoyed entertaining her family – singing, dancing, and reciting original poems and stories. She wrote her first play and her first song in elementary school. A National Merit Scholar,[2] she performed with Ali LeRoi and Lance Crouther in the Mary Wong Comedy Group in high school, before Florida A&M University's School of Business and Industry recruited her.[2] In 1985, she was crowned Miss Black America from Illinois and was 1st runner-up in the national Miss Black America contest.

Career

During college and after graduating from Florida A&M, Keymáh taught theater, dance, and mime. She has also done many theater performances, and produced and directed films.

One of the original cast members of Fox Television's Emmy winning variety show, In Living Color, for five seasons Keymáh played a number of characters, including Cryssy, the central character of her self written signature piece, "In Black World". She also sang and danced on the show.

After In Living Color, she starred on on On Our Own, where she played contractor Scotti Decker; The Show, where she played comedy show writer Denise Everett; and on Waynehead, where she provided the voices for Roz, Shavonne, Aki, Mrs. LaSalle, and many others.

For four years, Keymáh was a series regular on Cosby, where she played flight attendant turned lawyer, turned pastry chef, turned teacher Erica Lucas Hall.[4] Following Cosby, she starred for three seasons on the Disney series That's So Raven as Raven's mother, Tanya Baxter. In season four, show her character was written out by saying she went to England, to continue pursuing her career in law school. The actress did not continue to the last season of the show because she was, at the time, caring for her ailing grandmother.

Keymáh co-wrote and co-stars in a two-person stage show with music, called Sellout!?!, with fellow Florida A & M University (FAMU) alumnus Bryan C. Jones, who was also one of the many guests to appear in her hit variety show T'Keyah Live! They did the first workshop presentation of Sellout!?! at FAMU..

In Living Color characters

  • Cryssy (Black World)
  • Hilda Hedley (Hey Mon)
  • LaShawn
  • Leslie Livingston (Homey the Clown)
  • Mrs. Buttman (The Buttmans)
  • Shawanda Harvey, host of Go on Girl

In Living Color impressions

Other impressions

Don't Get Me Started!

In Don't Get Me Started!, the performer / activist, whose work has been called "Comedy with a Conscience", takes her social-political views to the stage in a solo show with music. Through new characters and some borrowed from her shows, Some of My Best Friends and T'Keyah Live!,", Keymáh expounds on everything from the prison industrial complex to governmental conspiracy theories, and includes musical parodies like her spin on Nina Simone's "Mississippi God------" called "Land of Lincoln Doggone", about the death rate of young people in her hometown of Chicago, and her take on Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby" called "Obama Baby", about the healthcare plan she would like to see.

Keymáh debuted the show in 2011 at The Black Academy of Art & Letters (TBAAL) in Dallas, Texas. After a conversation with TBAAL Founder Curtis King, Keymáh is developing another version of the show that will be "a solo show ... with lots of other people".

T'Keyah Live!

T'Keyah Live! is a variety show and is Keymáh's third self-produced theatrical show. It includes witty repartee, musical numbers, endearing characters, audience participation, impressions, video presentations, jokes and guests. She has performed the show across the U.S. since 1999 with a number of different guest performers, including Todd Bridges, T. C. Carson, Ralph Harris, Dawnn Lewis, and Karen Malina White..

Some of My Best Friends

Some of My Best Friends is a series of monologues in verse and prose embodied by a dozen diverse but somehow connected characters. In this humorous, tear jerking, thought-provoking theatrical production, Keymáh champions societal issues that are as relevant today as they were when the show debuted to sold out crowds at Chicago's South Shore Cultural Center in 1991. Overcoming obstacles, the devastation of AIDS, the search for love, race relations, and teen promiscuity are just some of the topics explored. The show was chiefly penned by Keymáh but includes pieces written by or in collaboration with Ali LeRoi, Harry Lennix, and poet Angela Jackson (And All These Roads Be Luminous: Poems Selected and New); and includes a dance choreographed by Maurice Hines. About her work in this show critics have said: "Keymáh is a Charismatic Actress... Chameleonic and Effervescent" – Los Angeles Times;"...Beyond Superlatives; She's Phenomenal!" – Earl Calloway, Chicago Defender; "Much More Than Comedy"- Lisa M. Pancia, New York Vignette; "...a Delightful, Multitalented Performer whose ability to create believable characters on stage is a Wonder to Behold"- Nat Colley, Los Angeles Reader; “Keymáh is Magnificent” – Linda Armstrong, Amsterdam News;"...Keymáh’s Poignant, Detailed Portrayals are Never Less Than Magnificent"- Randy Trabitz, Los Angeles Weekly. The show garnered an AUDELCO Award nomination for Best Solo Performer, an NAACP Theatre Award nomination for Best Writing, and NAACP Theatre Awards for Best Performance and Best Play.

Writing

Keymah is the author of Some of My Best Friends: A Collection of Characters (publication year?), the book version of the stage show she performed for ten years,. and Natural Woman / Natural Hair: A Hair Journey – Hairstyles and Hairstories from the Front with Simple, Step-by-Step Instructions on Taking Care of your Natural Hair (publication year?), an instructional hair care manual with anecdotes about her experiences as one of the first Black actresses to wear her hair "naturally" on primetime television.

Personal life

Keymáh is an avid gardener and a vegetarian,[5] as well as an active, life member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.[6]

Legacy

Associated Black Charities operates a donor-advised Keymah Cultural Fund, which provides tickets to youth groups to attend theatrical performances and funds artistic groups that serve or comprise teens and children.

There is a theater scholarship named for Keymáh at her alma mater, Florida A&M University.

There is a medical scholarship named for her at Meharry Medical College.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1985 The Miss Black America Pageant Contestant Miss Illinois and 1st runner up for Miss Black America
1987 Big Shots Secretary Uncredited
1997 Jackie Brown Raynelle
2000 Tweety's High-Flying Adventure Aoogah
2001 The Gilded Six Bit Missy Mae Short film
2004 The Creature of the Sunny Side Up Trailer Park Tonya
2012 Lost Angels Hadassah Short film
2012 Daughter of Fortune Vogel Peterson Short film
2014 Unsolved Margaret Hanes Short film
2015 Bail Gladys/Bobbie Short film
2015 Chi-Raq Lorde
2016 Instance Ms. Kaplan Short film
2015 What Happened Last Night? Beverly

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1990–1994 In Living Color Various 140 episodes
1992 Quantum Leap Paula Episode: "A Song for the Soul - April 7, 1963"
1993 Roc Darrelle Episode: "Ebony and Ivory"
1994 The Commish Grace Caldwell Episode: "Born in the USA"
1994–1995 The John Larroquette Show Sara 2 episodes
1995 On Our Own Scotti Decker 7 episodes
1996–2000 Cosby Erica Lucas 94 episodes
Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1998–99)
1996 Waynehead Roz 13 episodes
1996 The Show Denise Everett 8 episodes
1997 Soul Train Host 2 episodes
1998 Pinky and the Brain Singer Episode: "Inherit the Wheeze"
2000 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Grandmother Episode: "The Snow Queen"
2000-2001 Batman Beyond Old Woman, Makeba and Dispatch Operator Episode: "Babel, Untouchable and Countdown"
2002-2003 Static Shock Teen Girl #1 and Nails Episode: "Power Play and Hard as Nails"
2003–2006 That's So Raven Tanya Baxter 50 episodes (in the 1st 3 seasons)
2004 My Wife and Kids Realtor Episode: "Moving on Out"
2004–2005 Teen Titans Bumblebee 4 episodes
2005–2006 American Dragon: Jake Long Various 3 episodes
2007–2008 Jury Duty Herself 5 episodes
2013 Let's Stay Together Dr. Blair Riley 2 episodes
2016 Sharknado: The 4th Awakens Tech Terry @ Astro X Syfy movie

Video Games

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Teen Titans Bumblebee

References

  1. ↑ TV Land Groundbreaking Show Award – Winners. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Mills, David (June 13, 1991). "In living Crystal: Chicago actress gets bizarre roles on Fox comedy". The Record. Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. p. C19.
  3. ↑ "T'Keyah Crystal Keymah Biography (1962–)". FilmReference.com.
  4. ↑ http://www.tkeyah.com
  5. ↑ T'Keyah Crystal Keymah: vegetarian actress – Brief Article | Vegetarian Journal | Find Articles at BNET.com
  6. ↑ T'Keyah.com Motto: "Where Crystal Visions Come To Life
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