Who is Karen Malina White?
Karen Malina White was born on July 7, 1965. She is a film, television, and voice actress from the United States. White is best known for her roles as Kaneesha Carter in the drama film Lean on Me (1989), Charmaine Brown on The Cosby Show (1990–1992), and its spin-off A Different World (1992–1993). The actress also played Nicolette Vandross on Malcolm & Eddie (1996–2000), and Dijonay Jones on the Disney Channel animated comedy The Proud Family (2001–2005).
White was born and raised in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. After graduating from high school, White continued her education at Howard University, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and graduated with honors. During her senior year, White was crowned “Miss Howard University” and received her first acting role.
White appeared in the 1989 film Lean on Me opposite Morgan Freeman. For her role in the film, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in 1990. Throughout the 1990s, White appeared in a number of television shows. Notably, White appeared as Charmaine Brown in Seasons 7 and 8 of The Cosby Show (1990-1992), as well as Season 6 of A Different World (1992-93). White also appeared in two episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as Jewel, Jazz’s wife. As a voice actress, she was the voice of Dijonay Jones in the animated Disney Channel series The Proud Family from (2001-05). (Source: en.wikipedia.org)
Karen Malina White – Career Highlights
Lean on Me (2004-07, 2019), Karen Malina White plays Kaneesha Carter
The film is about a declining school in Paterson, New Jersey. Joe Clark, who taught there in the 1960s, is implored to return to bring it back to some semblance of normalcy. This is after severe conditions emerge resulting from the hardcore 1980s. Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey is a jungle by 1987. The exam scores have plummeted, and drugs, violence, vagrancy, and vandalism are on the rise. Before the state takes over the school, Joe Clark (Morgan Freeman) is brought in to clean it up and raise the test scores. With this film, Morgan Freeman establishes himself as a star and makes the film a success. He IS the film, portraying the enthralling real-life high school headmaster Joe Clark. For her depiction as Kaneesha Carter, Karen Malina White was nominated for a Young Artist’s Award.
The Cosby Show (1990-92), Karen Malina White plays Charmaine Brown
The Cosby Show is a legendary TV classic. And if you haven’t seen it yet, start with Season 1 to understand why. Its style/clothing may be outdated, but its essential values remain strong and approachable. It provides a witty perspective on life lessons from the family patriarch, Bill Cosby. He is a terrific role model not only for his TV family but also for the larger TV viewers. The Cosby Show was a pioneering television sitcom that depicted a middle-upper black American family. The scripting was solid, with episodes dealing with challenges that any middle-upper-class black American family faces. In seasons 7-8, Charmaine Brown (Karen Malina White) plays Claire Huxtable’s cousin’s best friend.
A Different World (1992-3), Karen Malina White plays Charmaine Brown
After a few speedbumps in the first season, this show went on to become an accurate depiction of the Black college experience. For the most part, it was also an accurate depiction of college life in general. Throughout the show’s existence, the students at fictional Hillman College were confronted with the issues of college life. Pertinent topics were both useful and enlightening while also generating some hardy chuckles. When NBC reigned on Thursday nights in the early 1990s, the show was top-rated. Karen Malina White reprises her role as Charmaine Brown, Claire Huxtable’s distant cousin’s best friend.
Getting By (1993-4), Karen Malina White plays Yolanda
Getting By is a comedy about two women who live together in a rather large house. Dolores has two boys Marcus (Santana) and Darren (Richmond). Cathy has two girls Julie (Sterling) and her oldest daughter Nikki (Vannice). The show portrays that the life of black people and white people are very similar. Audiences could come to this conclusion previously by watching separate shows, like Family Matters and Full House. But, they never saw that message presented in the same show before.
Karen Malina White – Memorable Quotes
The Mountaintop
She represents the youth and asks the questions they were asking King at the time about his non-violent approach. She is a voice of those youth who may have been leaning a little more towards Malcolm X and the Black Panther movement. Also, she stands for the women of the time and challenges him about his little bits of sexism and traditional roles of women in the movement. She also is poorer than King, who is middle class. Katori has written it in there. (Source: dcmetrotheaterarts.com) – Karen Malina White
Connecting to audiences
It doesn’t change my approach, because I still have to do the work, to get to what is going on with Camae, with what drives her. The work is the same, but when we started, we wanted to use all the traditional styles. But what we found is that not looking at each other forced us to connect only through the heart. It supports the otherworldly parts of the play, the past, present, and future happening simultaneously. It makes it more profound because we do have to reach each other from soul to soul. (Source: ibid) – Karen Malina White
Taking a stand
I would hope that they ask themselves, how can I pick up the baton? How can I be a better citizen right where I am? I hope they think about their legacy, about their footprint. I think she wants the audience to see the humanity, connect with that humanity and say, he’s no different than I. So, therefore, what can I do? And to not give up, to not lose hope. We are in a time of divisiveness, but we can re-engage to get together and move our country forward. (Source: ibid) – Karen Malina White
Personal: Net Worth and Zodiac
Karen Malina White has an estimated net worth of $1 million as of 2021. (Source: celebritynetworth.com)
Karen was born on July 7th. That puts her under the zodiac sign, Cancer, the Crab.
You have the unique abilities and emotional sensitivity as a Cancer born on July 7th. Many appear to struggle to understand themselves and the sentiments of others. However, you have always been naturally in tune with your own and the feelings of those around you. But, understanding is not the same as complete openness. Clearly, you would rather keep your feelings to yourself. It is this concealment that keeps you a mystery even to your closest friends and relatives.
Your JULY 7 birthday horoscope predicts that you are sharp-minded and expressive. You appreciate the essential life lessons and are eager to investigate your faith. You are drawn to the world of life-force healing and meditation. The July 7th birthday personality is noted for taking frequent moments to daydream. You can, however, be overly obsessive and brooding. You can also be unmovable, unshakable stubborn, and domineering. This birthday indicates that you will put in a lot of effort to achieve your goals in life. You can think philosophically and be an inspiration to others who desire to succeed. You are not afraid to imagine and pursue the unattainable, but it is rather unrealistic. Save yourself a lot of heartache and effort by focusing on more practical enterprises.
Karen Malina White – Bits and Pieces
What happened to Charmaine Brown (Karen Malina White) from A Different World?
Charmaine later moved off-campus into a house with Terrell, Gina, Lena, and Dorian Heywood. As of the end of the series, Charmaine had completed her freshman year at Hillman and was still enrolled at the school. (Source differentworld.fandom.com)
Has Karen Malina White ever been married?
White has never married and has no children. From 2000 until 2007, White dated actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner. Contrary to rumors, White was never married nor engaged to Warner. Warner states, “I’m not married. People probably started saying that because we were in a relationship for seven and a half years. (Source: en.wikipedia.org)
Up Next: Who is Ryan Hansen?
Skidmore, (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Ryan Hansen was born on July 5, 1981. He is a comedian, entrepreneur, and actor from the United States. Hansen grew up in El Cajon, California, and was born in Fountain Valley. He is most known for his roles as Dick Casablancas on Veronica Mars (2004–2007, 2019), Kyle Bradway on the Starz comedy series Party Down (2009–2010), and Nolan in the horror remake film Friday the 13th (2009). Hansen also appeared in the comedy series 2 Broke Girls (2012–2017) and the web series Burning Love (2012–2013) as a recurrent character.
Early Career
Hansen began his career as a guest star on television shows such as Grounded for Life, That’s So Raven, and Las Vegas. Hansen tried out for the role of Duncan Kane on Veronica Mars in 2004, but Teddy Dunn beat him out. However, Rob Thomas encouraged him to audition for the role of Dick Casablancas. Hansen appeared in Superhero Movie, which was released on March 28, 2008. Hansen played Trevor McKnight/White Night in the CCT original musical Alice in 2008. In San Diego, the event premiered on July 31 and ran until August 10.
