Tisha Campbell-Martin Biography

Tisha Campbell-Martin (born Tisha Michelle Campbell; October 13, 1968) is an American actress and singer. Campbell is best known for her roles as Regina "Gina" Waters-Payne on the FOX series Martin and as Janet "Jay" Marie Johnson-Kyle on the ABC series My Wife and Kids.

Early life

Campbell was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and raised in Newark, New Jersey, where she attended Newark Arts High School. Her mother, Mona (ne Raye) Shockley (now known as Mona Washington), was a nurse, talent manager, gospel singer, and vocal coach. Her father, Michael Campbell, was a factory worker and singer, and as a chess master, works with underprivileged children on both the east and west coast. Her parents encouraged her love for music. Tisha has an older brother, three younger brothers, and a younger sister.

Career

Acting

Campbell's first TV appearance was at the age of six, in a 1974 episode of the PBS show The Big Blue Marble. As a child, she won many talent shows, going on to appear in such children"?s programs as Kids Are People Too, Unicorn Tales, and Captain Kangaroo. At age 18, she performed in the musical feature film, Little Shop of Horrors as Chiffon, one of The Supremes-like girl-group Greek Chorus, along with future Martin co-star, Tichina Arnold. After graduating from the Arts High School in Newark, she moved to Hollywood, where she became a star on the short-lived series, Rags to Riches. She also starred in School Daze as Jane Toussaint. In 1992, Campbell released her debut album, Tisha, which was a moderate success, selling 40,000 copies. Two singles received minor airplay on the R&B stations: "Push", which was co-written and produced by Campbell's' friend, Vanilla Ice, and "Love Me Down". Campbell made guest appearances on Everybody Hates Chris. She later played Janet "Jay" Kyle on My Wife and Kids. After My Wife and Kids, Campbell became a part of the sitcoms, Rita Rocks and The Protector. In 2012, Campbell starred in Mindless Behavior's music video, "Hello", starring as Prodigy's mom. In 2015, she began playing Damona on Dr. Ken, starring Ken Jeong. Campbell is a member of the American Film Institute and the Writer"?s Boot Camp. She then produced the film short A Luv Tale about two women who fall in love with each other. The film won many awards, including the Audience Choice Award at the Black Hollywood Film Festival.

Singing

Campbell contributed vocals for the soundtrack of her 1997 film, Sprung, singing on the remake of "Don"?t Ask My Neighbor" with her Martin co-star Tichina Arnold. She appeared in several music videos in the 1990s and 2000s, including two for Will Smith ("Will 2K" and "Wild Wild West") and Toni Braxton ("You"?re Makin' Me High"). On September 21, 2015, she released the single, "Steel Here". On February 24, 2016, Campbell released the single, "Lazy Bitch", as well as an accompanying video, where she featured her friend, Tasha Smith.

Personal life

On August 17, 1996, Campbell married actor Duane Martin. The couple have two sons. In February 2018, Campbell-Martin filed for divorce after 22 years together.

In November 1996, Campbell left the FOX series Martin during its final season, citing "intolerable" working conditions. In early 1997, Campbell filed a lawsuit against co-star Martin Lawrence on the counts of sexual harassment and abuse both on and off set. By April 1997, Campbell had won the lawsuit and returned to appear in the last two episodes of the series, but was never again on the same set with Lawrence.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	The Magnificent Major	Daisy Bunsen	Short film
1986	Little Shop of Horrors	Chiffon
1988	School Daze	Jane Toussaint
1989	Rooftops	Amber
1990	House Party	Sidney
1990	Another 48 Hrs.	Amy Smith
1991	House Party 2	Sidney
1992	Boomerang	Yvonne
1994	House Party 3	Sidney
1996	Snitch	Steimer
1996	Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco	Sledge	Voice
1997	Sprung	Brandy
2001	Down to Earth	Woman in audience
2002	The Last Place on Earth	Ann Field
2008	Zack and Miri Make a Porno	Delaney's Wife
2009	Pastor Brown	Amanda Carlton
2018	Blindspotting	Mama Liz	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	The Me Nobody Knows	Lillie-Mae	Television film
1987-88	Rags to Riches	Marva Foley	Main role; 20 episodes
1988	Heart and Soul	Jamie Sinclair	Television film
1990	Shannon's Deal	Annette	Episode: "Inside Straight"
1990	Moe's World	Jiwanda	Television film
1991	A Different World	Josie Webb	2 episodes
1991	The Fresh Prince of Bel Air	Kathleen	Episode: "Did the Earth Move for You?"
1991	Blossom	Toni	2 episodes
1992	Roc	Angela Kimbro	Episode: "A Piece of the Roc"
1992-97	Martin	Gina Waters-Payne	Main role; 132 episodes
1995-00	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Rapunzel/Glodie	2 episodes
1997	Duckman	Ebony Sable	Episode: "Ebony, Baby"
1997	Between Brothers	Daisy	Episode: "Dusty's in Love"
1998	Getting Personal	Michelle / Sandy	Episode: "Milo Does the Darndest Things"
1998	The Sweetest Gift	Ruby Wilson	Television film
1999	Wasteland	Olivia	Episode: "The Object of My Affection"
2000	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Joyce	Episode: "The Halloween Scene"
2001	Cousin Skeeter	Nicole	2 episodes
2001-05	My Wife and Kids	Jay Kyle	Main role; 123 episodes
2003	The Proud Family	Rene	Episode: "There's Something About Rene"
2004-06	All of Us	Carmen James	Recurring role (Season 3-4)
2008-09	Everybody Hates Chris	Peaches Clarkson	Recurring role (Season 4)
2008-09	Rita Rocks	Patty Mannix	Main role; 40 episodes
2010	Wright vs. Wrong	Sasha	Pilot
2011	Lemonade Mouth	Jenny Reznick	Television film
2011	The Paul Reiser Show	Maggie	Episode: "The Old Guy"
2011	The Protector	Michelle Dulcett	Main role; 13 episodes
2012	Robot Chicken	Beyonc Knowles	Episode: "Casablankman 2"
2012	Private Practice	Pam Reiter	Episode: "You Don't Know What You've Got Til It's Gone"
2013	Malibu Country	Rikki	Episode: "Bowling for Mama"
2013-present	Real Husbands of Hollywood	Herself	Reality television
2015-17	Dr. Ken	Damona Watkins	Main role; 44 episodes
2016	The $100,000 Pyramid	Herself (celebrity guest)	Episode: Tisha Campbell-Martin vs. Ken Jeong. She was the first celebrity player to help her civilian partner win $100,000 on the show.
2017	Legends of Chamberlain Heights	Voice	6 episodes

Discography

Albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak
		US Heat.
Tisha	Release: January 4, 1993 Formats: CD, digital download Label: Capitol	37
""?" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Singles

Song	Year	Album
"Be Alone Tonight"	1988	School Daze
"Push"	1992	Tisha
"Love Me Down"
"Don't Ask My Neighbor" (with Tichina Arnold)	1997	Sprung
"Steel Here"	2015	rowspan="3"
"Lazy Bitch (This Ain't Gina)"	2016
"I Don't Wanna Be Alone" (featuring Rich the Kid)	2018

Featured singles

Song	Year	Album
"All Cried Out" (Full Force featuring Tisha Campbell-Martin)	2014	Full Force: With Love From Our Friends

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1991	Independent Spirit Award	"Best Supporting Female"	House Party
1996	Image Award	"Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series"	Martin
1997	Image Award	"Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series"	Martin
2002	Image Award	"Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series"	My Wife and Kids
2003	Image Award	"Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series"	My Wife and Kids
2004	Image Award	"Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series"	My Wife and Kids
2004	BET Comedy Award	"Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series"	My Wife and Kids
2005	Image Award	"Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series"	My Wife and Kids
2005	BET Comedy Award	"Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series" Shared with: Various	My Wife and Kids
2009	Image Award	"Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series"	Rita Rocks
2010	Image Award	"Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series"	Rita Rocks