Tichina Arnold Biography

Tichina Rolanda Arnold (born June 28, 1969) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for having portrayed the roles of Pamela James on the FOX sitcom Martin and the family matriarch Rochelle on the UPN/CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. She currently portrays Judi Mann in the TV Land original sitcom Happily Divorced

Early life

Tichina Arnold was born to a middle-class African-American family in Queens, New York. Her mother was a sanitation department worker and her father was a police officer. She attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Her penchant for performing began in her childhood, holding church congregations enthralled as a four-year-old. When she turned eight, her mother and uncle encouraged her to audition, and she won a part in her first play The Me Nobody Knows at the Billie Holiday Theater in Brooklyn . She continued to perform in the theater and at supper clubs, starring in such productions as Hair, Romance and Hard Times. She then landed bit parts in TV movies such as The Brass Ring in 1983 and PBS' House of Dies Drear the year after. Arnold has one sister.

Career

In 1986, Tichina Arnold appeared as Crystal, one of the three chorus girls who perform R&B numbers in Frank Oz's film musical Little Shop of Horrors along with future Martin co-star Tisha Campbell. Arnold was only 17 at the time, and her career continued steadily after that, with a role or two almost every year, including the films How I Got into College and the Paul Mazursky/Woody Allen collaboration Scenes from a Mall (1991). In February 1987 Arnold scored her first big break on television, with a permanent role on the soap opera Ryan's Hope. Her critically lauded role, as young heroine Zena Brown, landed her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 1988. She continued in the role until the series ended in January 1989.

Arnold's best-known television role was Pamela James on Martin Lawrence's sitcom Martin (1992"1997). She also played the role of Nicole Barnes on the sitcom One on One. In 2000, she was reunited with Martin Lawrence in Big Momma's House. In 2007, she again reunited with Lawrence (this time as his wife) in the big screen road comedy/buddy film Wild Hogs. In 2003, she appeared in Civil Brand. In a departure from her normally comedic casting, she played the title role in The Lena Baker Story, which was about the first woman to be executed by the electric chair in Georgia. Arnold played the role of the matriarch, Rochelle, on the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris which premiered in September 2005 and ended in May 2009. She also played the voice of the friend in The Boondocks, episode "Attack of the Killer Kung-fu Wolf Bitch" which aired in 2007.

Her most recent stage credits, include: The Wiz Revival at the NY City Center as the part of Evillene, The Wicked Witch of the West. In 2010 she guest starred in the one-hour episode premiere of the Disney XD Original Series Pair of Kings as Aunt Nancy, and also reprise her role for one more episode.

Although not as widely known for her work in music, Arnold has experienced success as a recording artist; she co-wrote and performed the duet, "Movin Up," which reached #2 on the Billboard Club Play chart with fellow high school alum and house music artist Inaya Day. Arnold is credited using the moniker China Ro, a pseudonym that was derived from the using only the latter part of her first name and the first two letters of her middle name.

Tichina Arnold currently stars as the best friend of Fran Drescher in the TV Land sitcom Happily Divorced, which is based on Fran Drescher's real-life marriage and divorce to series co-creator Peter Marc Jacobson.

Personal life

In 1998, Arnold started her own company of designer headgear called "China Moon Rags". The headbands were Swarovski crystal-embroidered bandanas. Celebrities such as her best friend Tisha Campbell, Janet Jackson, Vivica A. Fox, Regina King, Christina Aguilera and LisaRaye McCoy have modeled and been seen wearing Arnold's designs. When her daughter was born, she stopped production.

Arnold has a daughter, Alijah Kai (born March 16, 2004), with music producer Carvin Haggins.

On August 19, 2012, Arnold married St. Johns men's basketball assistant coach Rico Hines in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Filmography

Film

Film
Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1983	The Brass Ring	Mary
1984	House of Dies Drear	Pesty
1986	Little Shop of Horrors	Crystal
1988	Starlight: A Musical Movie	Evelyn Ruth
1989	How I Got into College	Vera Cook
1991	Scenes From a Mall	Ticket Seller
1997	Fakin' Da Funk	Tracy
1999	A Luv Tale
2000	Dancing in September	Robber
	Big Momma's House	Ritha
2002	Civil Brand	Aisha
	Yo Alien	Ray Goods
2005	Preaching to the Choir	Desiree
	Getting Played	Woman in Restaurant
2007	Wild Hogs	Karen Davis
2008	Drillbit Taylor	Photography Teacher
	Hope & Redemption: The Lena Baker Story	Lena Baker
2009	Dance Flick	Ray's Mamma
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987–1989	Ryan's Hope	Zena Brown
1989	The Cosby Show	Delores	Episode: "Theo's Women"
1989–1991	All My Children	Sharla Valentine
1990	Law & Order	Leona	Episode: "Out of the Half-Light"
1992–1997	Martin	Pamela 'Pam' James	Main role; 124 episodes
1998	The Jamie Foxx Show	Carla	Episode: "Soul Mate to Cellmate"
1999	Pacific Blue		Episode: "Ghost Town"
	The Norm Show	Mrs. Murphy	Episode: "Norm vs. the Boxer"
2001–2005	One on One	Nicole Barnes	15 episodes
2002	Soul Food	Adina	Episode: "Past Imperfect"
2004	Listen Up	Kiara	Episode: "Thanksgiving"
2005–2009	Everybody Hates Chris	Rochelle	Main role; 88 episodes
2007	The Boondocks	Nicole (voice)	Episode: "Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf Bitch"
2009	Sherri	Russell's Mamma	Episode: "Pilot"
	Brothers	Cynthia	Episodes: "Lenny", "Commercial/Coach DMV", "Christmas"
2010	Pair of Kings	Aunt Nancy	Episode: "The Bite Stuff"
2011	Raising Hope	Sylvia	Episodes: "Romeo and Romeo", "Sleep Training", "Everybody Flirts... Sometimes"
	Are We There Yet?	Vicky Howard	Episode: "The Fight Party Episode"
2011–2013	Let's Stay Together	Dr. Knotts	Episodes: "Marriage 101", "Hot Junk"
2011–	Happily Divorced	Judi Mann	Main role
2012–present	Malibu Stacy	Glória Ray	35 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1988	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series	Ryan's Hope
1989	Soap Opera Digest Awards	Outstanding Female Newcomer: Daytime
1996	Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Martin
2006	BET Awards	Best Actress	Herself
	Teen Choice Awards	TV - Choice Parental Unit	Everybody Hates Chris
		TV - Choice Actress: Comedy
	Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
2007
2008
2009
2010