Background:

“Life was meant to be fully lived, not sorta lived. There is enough to go around. You can have the full life you dream of... but only if you clear the clutter of all the "almost" loves, jobs and situations out of your life.” Yvette Nicole Brown

American singer turned actress Yvette Nicole Brown is best known for her role as Shirley Bennett on the hit sitcom “Community” (NBC, 2009-?), from which she has picked up a Gracie Award and a TV Guide Award. She had a recurring role as Helen Ophelia Dubois in Nickelodeon's “Drake & Josh” (2004-2007) and provided the voice of Cookie in “Pound Puppies” (2010-2012). The native of Cleveland, Ohio also has appeared in a number of television commercials and has made guest appearances in various television shows. Her big screen credits include “Little Black Book” (2004), “The Ugly Truth” (2009), “Hotel for Dogs” (2009) and “Repo Man” (2010).   


East Coast Family

Childhood and Family:

In East Cleveland, Ohio, Yvette Nicole Brown was born on August 12, 1971. The youngest in her family, she has an older brother named Paris, and they were raised by a single mother. Her uncle is the late Tony Award nominated actor Charles Brown (1946-2004). As a child, Yvette enjoyed watching the television shows “Maude” (CBS) and “The Cosby Show” (NBC) and dreamed of a career in showbiz. She later performed in school plays and local theater productions. In her senior year, Yvette, who developed a potent singing voice, was signed to Motown Records following an unrehearsed audition for Michael Bivins of the popular boy band Bel Biv DeVoe. Being a part of the East Coast Family, she was featured on the Motown album “The East Coast Family Vol. 1” as well as appeared on  MTV, Showtime at the Apollo, Vh1 and BET. Despite her busy work as a singer, she was able to complete her studies and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine & Applied Arts degree from the University of Akron. Shortly thereafter, she headed to Los Angeles in search of further opportunities. Yvette is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.


Drake & Josh

Career:

Starting out as a Motown Artist, Yvette Nicole Brown made her professional acting debut when she landed an eight week job on David Talbert's African American gospel themed musical, “His Woman His Wife” (2000), opposite Malik Yoba, which she followed with bit parts in episodes of “For the People” and “Do Over” (both 2002). Brown's first recurring stint came when she landed the role of Sherri Childs in the UPN/The CW sitcom “Girlfriends.” She appeared in the episodes “The Wedding” and “Blood Is Thicker Than Liquor” (both 2003).

It was also in 2003 when Brown began what would become a fertile career in national advertising with a stint in a commercial for AT&T's dial-through service, 1-800-CALL-ATT, with D.L. Hughley. Since then, she has appeared in many other television commercials including for Cox Cable,  Big Lots “Carpe Dealum,” Citi Card “Thank You,” Hyundai “Multiples,” Cingular Wireless, Dairy Queen “Grill Burger/Harmonica,” T-Mobile “Braces,” Big Lots “Glasses,” Lexus “Grunt” (with Andy Roddick), Chevy HHR (directed by Andy Dick), Mazola Pure “Signature Dishes,” Lexus “Nickname” (again with Roddick), The American Council on Education (PSA), Dairy Queen “Carry-On,” The Home Depot “The White Wall,” Pine Sol “WOO!/Jackpot,” Shout “Set-in Stains,” Time Warner Cable “Bride,” Aquapod Water “Men,” Best Buy “Home Theater,” Fiber One Yogurt “Whole Days Worth” (with Kathryn Joosten and Fred Koehler), Hamburger Helper “Elevator,” Hallmark “Valentine's Day” and DiGiorno pizza.    

In March 2004, after making a guest appearance in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Brown joined the cast of the Nickelodeon sitcom “Drake & Josh” in the recurring role of a movie theater manager, Helen Ophelia Dubois. She would appear in a total of 15 episodes until September 2007. Brown made her series regular debut in the ABC short lived family sitcom “The Big House,” which lasted for only six episodes from April 2 to 30, 2004. Co-stars in the series included Kevin Hart, Faizon Love and Arnetia Walker.

Brown continued on to make guest appearances in television shows like “Two and a Half Men” (2004), “7th Heaven” (2004), “Fat Actress” (2005), “That's So Raven” (2005), “That '70s Show” (2005), “Hot Properties” (2005), “Malcolm in the Middle” (2006), “House M.D.” (2006), “The War at Home” (2006), “Half & Half” (2006), “Pepper Dennis” (2006), “Sleeper Cell” (2006-2007, as Fatima), “The Office” (2007), “The Loop” (2007), “American Body Shop” (2007). “Entourage” (2007) and “Boston Legal” (2007) . On the big screen, she made her film acting debut as a production assistant in “Little Black Book,” a satirical comedy film directed by Nick Hurran and starring Brittany Murphy and Holly Hunter. It was followed by appearances in Michael Bay's futuristic thriller “The Island” (2005), the comedy film “The Kid & I” (2005), starring Tom Arnold and Eric Gores, the Bill Condon directed musical drama   “Dreamgirls” (2006), in which she had a small role as Curtis' secretary, and “The Neighbor” (2007).  

2008 saw Brown appear in such movies as “Meet Dave,” “Tropic Thunder,” where she played  the assistant of Matthew McConaughey, and the holiday movie “Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh” (TV), for which she reprised her role of Helen Ophelia Dubois, as well as in episodes of “'Til Death” and “Privileged.”

Brown returned to series television as a regular player on the NBC comedy “Community,” playing Shirley Bennett, a single mother and devout Christian going to Greendale Community College to jumpstart her brownie business. The show premiered on September 17, 2009. For her work on the series, Brown had received a Gracie for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series and a TV Guide for Favorite Ensemble.

“Yeah, I think she's aware that if she's judgmental now, she's a hypocrite. So she's probably trying to walk that line between telling people what's the right thing to do-because she's a busybody-and then making sure she doesn't become a hypocrite. It's a little line she's straddling.” Yvette Nicole Brown (on her character Shirley in the TV series “Community” opening up)

In 2009, Brown also made guest appearances in “Kath & Kim,” “True Jackson, VP,” “Rules of Engagement,” “Roommates,” “iCarly” and “Sherri.” Additionally, she appeared in “Hotel for Dogs,” a children's comedy film adapted from the 1971 Lois Duncan novel of the same name, the Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Zooey Deschanel comedy vehicle “(500) Days of Summer” and “The Ugly Truth,” a romantic comedy film starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler.

In 2010, Brown began her voice role of Cookie, a tough-talking but kind and smart Boxer who is Lucky's second-in-command, in the American/Canadian animated series “Pound Puppies,” which premiered on The Hub (as a Hub Original Series) on October 10, 2010, in the United States. The same year, she also co-starred with Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Liev Schreiber and Alice Braga in the American/Canadian science fiction  movie “Repo Man,” directed by Miguel Sapochnik.

In the following year, Brown appeared in four episodes of “Bandwagon: The Series,” and had a one-episode arc in TV shows like “Family Guy,” “Victorious,” “CollegeHumor Originals” and “Chuck.”

Brown is scheduled to appear as Gray Sister in “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters,” an action/adventure film set to be released in the US on August 16, 2013. The film will star Sean Bean, Logan Lerman, Stanley Tucci and Nathan Fillion.


Awards:

TV Guide: Favorite Ensemble, “Community,” 2012
Gracie: Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series, “Community,” 2011    

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