- Born
- Height5′ 6½″ (1.69 m)
- Karyn Parsons decided to go into acting at the age of 13. She had her first TV role in the NBC drama The Bronx Zoo (1987), but she made her big break as Will Smith's cousin "Hilary Banks" on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990). During the show's six-year run, she starred in movies such as Class Act (1992) and Major Payne (1995). After The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990), she starred in the short-lifted sitcom Lush Life (1996), co-starring Lori Petty, which only lasted three episodes before it was canceled. In 1998, she starred in her first lead role in the award-winning movie Mixing Nia (1998). She guest-starred in TV sitcoms before starring in 13 Moons (2002), in which she met her husband, director Alexandre Rockwell, whom she married in 2003. After their wedding, they had a child and now live in New York.- IMDb Mini Biography By: marieerrington
- Karyn Parsons grew up the only child in historic Hollywood, California. At an early age, Parsons was an aspiring dancer whose only words were "Keep Trying". Nonetheless, Karyn had torn out a knee ligament from which she'd retired from dancing at an early pre-teen age. Then, at thirteen, Parsons gotten inspired by the craft of acting when seeing her schoolmates perform in George Bernard Shaw's "Mrs. Warren's Profession".
Parsons enrolled at Santa Monica High in the Fall of 1978 as an 12-year-old freshmen student. While at high school, she then performed in her first musical, a Broadway play. Many plays later and many awards, she graduated with honors as a 1982 Santa Monica graduate. She'd received numerous scholarship offers notably to the prestigious Miller Theatre at Columbia University and Tisch School of the Arts in New York City. Unfortunately, Parsons decided to turn down the offers and focus on her own acting career in nearby Los Angeles.
As luck has it, Parsons soon was cast in feature films in supporting roles before she read the script for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990) in the Spring of 1990. Parsons was surprised to know she would be auditioning for Quincy Jones who liked what he'd seen and asked for Parsons to audition three times in all. The eventual cast filmed the pilot episode in the summer of 1990. NBC picked up the pilot and the sky was the limit for Karyn Parsons.
Following The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990), Parsons had numerous roles in film and also on television. She next enrolled in NYU's Film School where, while in New York, she met Alexandre Rockwell who is a famed director from Boston. Miss Parsons would soon-after leave the business and go into other ventures.
Today, Parsons is help raising her two kids son Nico and daughter Lana with husband Alexandre in New York City.- IMDb Mini Biography By: CiCi Parsons
- SpousesAlexandre Rockwell(February 8, 2003 - present) (2 children)Randy Brooks(May 25, 1987 - 199?) (divorced)
- Children
- ParentsLouiseKenneth
- Now runs a non-profit organization dedicated to educating children on the important historic roles of lesser-known Black Americans.
- She has played the same character (Hilary Banks) on three different series: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990), Blossom (1990) and Out All Night (1992).
- Father is white, mother is black.
- Her husband, Alexandre Rockwell, owns and operates a nightclub in the downtown district of New York.
- Is also a model.
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