Karen Malina White

Biography

The Philadelphia-born actress Karen Malina White has worked in film and television since the late 1980s, and she studied at the city's High School for Creative and Performing Arts before earning a fine arts degree from Howard University. Her first major role came in Lean on Me (1989), playing Kaneesha Carter opposite Morgan Freeman, and it earned her a Young Artist Award nomination. On television she was Charmaine Brown in the last two seasons of The Cosby Show and in a season of its spin-off A Different World, and Nicolette Vandross on Malcolm & Eddie. She voiced Dijonay Jones on the animated Disney Channel comedy The Proud Family from 2001 to 2005 and returned to the part for the 2022 revival, which brought an Annie Award nomination. Her theater work includes The Mountaintop and Eight Nights.

61years old

Turns 62 on July 7in 267 days

Born July 7, 1965Philadelphia
Star sign: CancerThe sign runs June 21 to July 22

Movie Career

Films: 4
Career span: 32 years1989 to 2021

Every film, newest first

2021'Tis the Season to be MerryIMDb rating 6.8
2021Love, For RealIMDb rating 6.4
2005The Proud Family MovieIMDb rating 5.4
1989Lean on MeIMDb rating 7.4

Genres

Did you know?!

Languages
White has been learning American Sign Language since she was 15, and she used it in her role as Shirley Hughes on Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
First role
White won the title of Miss Howard University during her senior year, and that same year she landed her first acting role.
Big break
White considers her role in the 1989 film Lean on Me, starring alongside Morgan Freeman, to be her first major part.
Getting ready for a role
White voiced Dijonay Jones on The Proud Family, the animated Disney Channel series, between 2001 and 2005. She said Bruce W. Smith, the show's creator, designed the character while she read lines for an initial presentation.