Who is Kimberly Elise?
When the mystery science-fiction drama “The Manchurian Candidate” was released in 2004, besides the lead roles portrayed by Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep and Live Schrieber, the character who caught the eye of the audience was Rosie, and if you ever wanted to know more about the actress who portrayed this character, let us introduce you to Kimberly Elise.
She was born under the zodiac sign of Aries on 17 April 1967, in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA; she holds American nationality and belongs to African-American ethnicity, while her maternal descent is of the Songhai people.
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Kimberly is an actress with over 40 credits to her name, and besides the mentioned role, she’s perhaps still known best for her role as Crystal in the movie “For Colored Girls”, which had 17 award nominations and 14 wins, with Kimberly winning the Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, and nominated for the Black Reel Award Best Actress.
Early life and education
She was raised in Minneapolis by her parents, Erma Jean, an elementary school teacher, and Marvin Trammel, the owner of an executive search firm, alongside her three siblings whose names and occupations she hasn’t revealed.
Kimberly had an interest in movies from an early age, however, she didn’t dream about becoming an actress, as she was more interested in being behind the camera.
Kimberly attended a local high school, and upon matriculating in 1985, enrolled at Minneapolis Community College to study filmmaking. However, she transferred to the University of Minnesota, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications in 1989, then Kimberly also studied directing at The American Film Institute.
Roles in movies
Making her big-screen debut as Tisean in the 1996 movie “Set It Off”, Kimberly was soon cast to play Jeanette in “The Ditchdigger’s Daughters”, winning her first CableACE Award for Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries in 1997.
In the following year, she was seen as Denver in the Oscar-nominated movie “Beloved”, also starring Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey and Yada Beener in this historic horror drama that had 24 award nominations, including the Oscar for Best Costume Design, and Kimberly’s nominations for Acapulco Black Film Festival Award Best Actress and Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) Award Best Supporting Actress, winning the CFCA Award Most Promising Actress.
Next, she was seen starring in the 2000 movie “Bait”, followed by her role in “Bojangles” in ’01, and “John Q in ’02, and then two years later portraying Michelle Jordan in “Woman Thou Art Loosed”, before her role as Rosie in “The Manchurian Candidate”, which brought her the Black Reel Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
In 2005, Kimberly was cast to play Helen in the romantic comedy drama “Diary of a Mad Black Woman”, also starring Tyler Perry and Steve Harris, which brought her the BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Theatrical Film, Black Movie Award Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Black Reel Award Best Actress, and Image Award – Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture.
Two years later, she starred in “Pride” and “The Great Debaters”, and then in 2010 she portrayed Crystal in “For Colored Girls”, which brought her the African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Kimberly’s next roles were in movies such as “Ties That Bind” in 2011, “Highland Park” and “Alpha Alert” in ’13, and then she was seen in “Dope” and “Back to School Mom” in 2015.
Later in the decade Kimberly was seen starring in several TV movies, and in 2018, she was cast to play Detective Leonore Jackson in “Death Wish”, followed by her role as Karina McCallum in “Hellbent” before she portrayed Lorraine Deavers in “Ad Astra”, alongside Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones and Ruth Negga, in this mystery adventure drama, which was nominated for the Oscar- Best Achievement in Sound Mixing in 2020; this was Kimberly’s most recent movie role.
Roles in series
Kimberly made her acting debut in 1995, portraying Roulette in an episode of the series “In the House”, followed by her guest role in “The Sentinel” in ’96, then appearing as Loretta Claiborne in “The Wonderful World of Disney” in 2000.
Three years later, Kimberly guest-starred in “The Twilight Zone”, “Soul Food” and “Girlfriends” before she was cast to play Maureen Scofield in “Close to Home” from 2005 until 2007, when she was seen as Angie Paget in “Private Practice”, and as Tilly Vee in “Masters of Science Fiction”.
In 2009, she was cast in the recurring role as Doctor Rebeca Swender in “Grey’s Anatomy”, and was next seen as Sloane Hayes in “Hit the Floor”, a romantic drama series that was broadcast from 2013 until 2016.
One of Kimberly’s most recent television roles was her 2019 portrayal of Dianne in “Star”, and then she was seen as Agent Estelle Jones in “The Mosquito Coast”, in ’21.
Love life and relationships
Kimberly hasn’t been the subject of any rumors and controversies concerning her love life, and she prefers to keep her personal matters away from the media’s attention.
It is widely known that she was in a marriage with the late photographer and cameraman Maurice Oldham. The two married in 1989 but divorced in 2005, while Maurice died two years later from a massive blood clot. They had two daughters together, AjaBleu born in 1990, while Butterfly was born in 1998.
The reason for their divorce remained unrevealed, however, soon afterwards Kimberly started dating Shemar Moore, her fellow from “Diary of a Mad Black Woman”, but this relationship lasted just three months. In 2017, she started dating a Chicago native motivational speaker, Kevin, whose last name is unknown, and as of March 2022, the two are still together.
What is she doing now?
Some rumors were saying that Kimberly withdrew from public life and devoted herself to God, the main reason for that was her Instagram account, to which she mostly posts Psalms and presents herself as a ‘Grateful servant to Yeshua Hamashiach (Jesus the Messiah)’. She is a Christian, and at the age of 16 she was baptized, and in one of her interviews, she confirmed her dedication to Jesus.
However, according to sources, she didn’t pause her acting career, since it’s announced that in September 2022 her new movie entitled “HeadShop” will be released, written and directed by Kim Bass.
Age, appearance, and net worth
Kimberly’s age is 55, she has curly, black hair and brown eyes; she weighs around 125lbs (56kgs) and is 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall with vital statistics of 34-25-34.
As of early 2022, her net worth has been estimated at $2 million, mostly earned from appearing in numerous movies and television series.
