Janet Hubert

Janet Hubert is an American actress and dancer who grew up on Chicago's South Side. She won a Juilliard scholarship but left before finishing, then toured nationally in Dancin' and in 1981 joined the Broadway ensemble of The First. She originated the part of Tantomile in Cats on Broadway and understudied Grizabella and Demeter. In 1983 she left that show for the national tour of Sophisticated Ladies. Hubert is best known as the first Vivian Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a role she played from 1990 to 1993 and which earned her a 1991 NAACP Image Award nomination. She later played Chandler's boss on Friends in 2002, began a recurring role as Lisa Williamson on One Life to Live in 2005, and appeared as Yvonne on General Hospital in 2018. Her work on King Ester earned a Daytime Emmy nomination, and she appeared in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion Special (2020).