Who is Erika Alexander?
Erika Rose Alexander was born on 19 November 1969, under the zodiac sign of Scorpio in Winslow, Arizona USA. She’s a 52-year-old actress, director, writer, producer, and entrepreneur, probably best recognized for landing the role of Pam Tucker in the NBC sitcom “The Cosby Show” (1990-1992), playing Maxine ‘Max’ Felice Shaw in the Fox sitcom “Living Single” (1993-1998), and featuring as Linda Diggs in the Hulu drama series “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” (2019-2021).
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcGsxjFP6v9/?hl=en
How rich is she, as of now? Erika Alexander Net Worth
As of mid-2022, Erika Alexander’s net worth is estimated at over $3 million, acquired through her successful involvement in the world of entertainment. She’s garnered over 70 television and film acting credits since she launched her career in the mid-1980s.
Early Life, Parents, Siblings, Nationality, Ethnicity, Religion, Educational Background
Erika spent her early years in Flagstaff, Arizona until her family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when she was 11 years old. She was raised by her father, Rev. Robert Alexander, and her mother Sammie Alexander, who worked as a school teacher and was a children’s book author. She has five siblings, but their names are unknown. She holds American nationality, belongs to African-American ethnic group, and is a Christian. Regarding her education, Erika attended Philadelphia High School for Girls, and following her matriculation, she enrolled into acting classes at the New Freedom Theater, and shortly afterwards launched her professional acting career.
Career Beginnings
Erika Alexander’s debut film came in 1986, when she took the role of Joan in the independent drama “My Little Girl”, in which Jennifer Lopez made her film debut appearance as well. She then played Madri/Hidimbi in Peter Brook’s adaptation of the Hindu epic “The Mahabharata” in 1990, and her big break came later that year, when she featured as Selma Cotter in the historical drama film “The Long Walk Home”, in which she shared the screen with Sissy Spacek and Whoopi Goldberg. Also in 1990, she was cast as Amy in the made-for-TV drama film “The Last Best Year”, broadcast on ABC. At the time, she also performed in the play “The Forbidden City”, alongside Gloria Foster.
Rise to Prominence
Erika Alexander came to prominence when she was chosen to portray the main role of Pam Tucker in the seventh and eighth seasons of the highly popular NBC sitcom “The Cosby Show”, from 1990 to 1992. It was co-created by famous stand-up comedian Bill Cosby, who also starred in the show.
Concurrently, she played Rita in the 1991 romantic comedy film “He Said, She Said”, along with Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Perkins, and featured as Venell in the 1992 crime drama film “Fathers & Sons”. She then appeared in the lead role of Cheryl Carter in the ABC drama series “Going To Extremes”, which was aired for a single season from 1992 to 1993.
Her next major role came when she joined the main cast of the Fox sitcom “Living Single”, in which she starred as attorney Maxine Shaw for five seasons from 1993 to 1998. For her performance in the series, Erika won two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, in 1996 and 1998.
Continued Success
Also in 1998, Erika had the part of young Flora in the CBS adaptation of the historical fiction novel “Mama Flora’s Family” by David Stevens and Alex Haley, and then played Ciel in the drama film “54”, alongside Ryan Phillippe and Salma Hayek. It was followed by her portrayal of Joy in the 2001 comedy film “30 Years To Life”, for which she won a Black Reel Award for Best Independent Actress. Later that year, she landed the recurring role of Fran Winston in the CBS legal drama series “Judging Amy”, after which she played Brenda in the drama film “Love Liza”, and featured as Lucy in the comedy-drama film “Full Frontal”, both released in 2002.
Thereafter, Erika went on to portray Dee Mulhern in the Showtime drama series “Street Time”, which lasted for two seasons in 2002 and 2003. She then appeared as Laurel in the 2004 drama film “Tricks”, alongside Michael Murphy, Gail O’Grady, and Stephanie Romanov, and two years later, she took the supporting role of Saundra Johnson in the NBC crime drama series “Heist”, but which was almost immediately canceled due to low ratings. However…also in 2006, she played Shanti in Tony Scott’s sci-fi action crime film “Déjà Vu”, opposite Denzel Washington, which was a huge commercial success, since it grossed over $180 million at the box office, against a budget of $75 million.
Further Work
Erika ended the decade with appearances as Lena in the drama film “La Mission” (2009), alongside Benjamin Bratt and Jeremy Ray Valdez, and as Theresa Simmons in the third season of the USA Network drama series “In Plain Sight” (2010). Her next major appearance came when she was selected to play Carol Larabee in the ABC / Fox sitcom “Last Man Standing” from 2012 to 2015, parallel with which she also played Louise ‘LC’ Cullen in the AMC crime drama series “Low Winter Sun” (2013), alongside Mark Strong, Lennie James, and James Ransone.
These were followed by her portrayals of Laverne in Michael Radford’s comedy-drama film “Elsa & Fred”, next to Christopher Plummer and Shirley MacLaine, and Blanche in the BET romantic comedy series “Let’s Stay Together”, both in 2014. Two years later, she took the role of Helen Holbrook in the comedy film “Brave New Jersey”, alongside Tony Hale, Sam Jaeger and Anna Camp, then in 2016 and ‘17, Erika starred as Connie Irving in the Amazon Prime Video police procedural series “Bosch”, developed by Eric Overmyer. Ever in demand, after those, Erica had the parts of Detective Latoya in the Academy Award-winning horror film “Get Out” (2017), and Tess Shoemacher in the Freeform sci-fi drama series “Beyond” (2017-2018).
Recent and Upcoming Projects
Later in 2018, Erika took the recurring role of Yolanda in the Primetime Emmy Award-winning HBO comedy-drama series “Insecure”, after which she portrayed Perenna in The CW’s superhero drama series “Black Lightning” (2018-2019), for which she earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Performance in a Comedy or Drama Series. In 2019, she featured as Lieutenant Moriah Davis in the horror film “I See You”, and then joined the main cast of the Hulu drama series “Wu-Tang: An American Saga”, in which she played Linda Diggs from 2019 to 2021.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CekD70NPXvQ/?hl=en
Afterwards, she had the supporting part of Barb in the Starz comedy series “Run The World”, and featured as Helen Taylor in the made-for-TV horror-thriller film “American Refugee”, both released in 2021. Most recently, she starred in the roles of Meredith in The Roku Channel psychological drama series “Swimming With Sharks”, and as Abby in the Apple TV+ thriller series “Shining Girls”, both in 2022.
Speaking about her upcoming projects, Erika will appear in “Wildflower” and “Abaddon”, both of which are currently under post-production, schedule for release in late 2022.
Other Work
Apart from being an actress, Erika Alexander has tried herself as an author. She co-created and co-wrote the sci-fi graphic novel entitled “Concrete Park”, together with her ex-husband Tony Puryear. She is also an entrepreneur, known for being the co-founder of Color Farm Media, an entertainment, innovation, and social impact company, which in 2020 released the critically acclaimed documentary film “John Lewis: Good Trouble”.
https://www.facebook.com/Lagralane/photos/a.831905233587171/5211694845608166/
Appearance and Vital Statistics
Erika Alexander has long dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. She stands at a height of 5ft 6ins (1.68m), weighs around 121lbs (55kgs), with vital statistics of 34-26-34, bra size 34B, dress size 6 (US), and shoe size 8 (US).
Personal Life
Erika Alexander was married to artist and screenwriter Tony Puryear. The couple tied the knot at a ceremony held in 1997, but after being wed for around two decades, the couple eventually divorced in 2017; they don’t have children.
Her current relationship status is a mystery, so it’s believed that she’s single at the moment.
