# Tichina Arnold

Tichina Rolanda Arnold (/tɪˈʃiːnə/; born June 28, 1969) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actor, appearing in supporting roles in Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and How I Got into College (1989) before being cast as Pamela "Pam" James on the Fox sitcom Martin, whom she portrayed from 1992 until the show ended in 1997. Arnold also portrayed the family matriarch Rochelle on the UPN/CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris from 2005 to 2009, and reprised the role in the animated revival Everybody Still Hates Chris (2024-). She portrayed Judi Mann in the TV Land original sitcom Happily Divorced from 2011 to 2013, and from 2014 to 2017, she acted the lead role of Cassie Calloway on Survivor's Remorse. As of 2018, Arnold portrays Tina Butler in the CBS sitcom series The Neighborhood. From 2018 to 2019, she acted the role of Paulette in the South African series Lockdown.

## Early life

Arnold was born in Queens, New York City, to a working-class family. Her mother, Diane, was a sanitation worker and her father Gene Arnold was a police officer. She was raised in the Church of God in Christ. She attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

## Career
### Film and television

In 1986, 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 (1986) along with future Martin co-star Tisha Campbell. Arnold was only sixteen at the time of filming, 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. Later that year, Arnold was cast as Sharla Valentine, a high-school friend of Emily Ann Sago (played by Liz Vassey) on the ABC-TV daytime drama All My Children. She continued in the role until 1991.
Arnold's best-known television role was Pamela James on Martin Lawrence's sitcom Martin (1992–1997). She also played the recurring 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 character's wife) in the big screen road comedy/buddy film Wild Hogs. In 2003, she appeared in Civil Brand. Arnold played the role of the matriarch, Rochelle, on the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris which premiered in September 2005 and ended in May 2009. In a departure from her known comedic roles, she played the title role in The Lena Baker Story (2008), which was about the first and only woman to be executed by the electric chair in Georgia.
Arnold also played the voice of the friend in The Boondocks episode "Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf Bitch", which aired in 2007. In 2009, Arnold appeared onstage in The Wiz revival at the New York City Center in 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.
Arnold played 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 good friends Michel'le, Tisha Campbell, Janet Jackson, Vivica A. Fox, Regina King, Christina Aguilera and LisaRaye McCoy were seen wearing Arnold's designs. When her daughter was born, she stopped production.
She was married to heavyweight boxer Lamon Brewster; they divorced in 1995.
Arnold has a daughter, Alijah Kai Haggins (b. March 16, 2004), with music producer Carvin Haggins. In an interview with Joan Rivers, Arnold revealed that she had thought she was unable to conceive after bouts with endometriosis.
On August 18, 2012, Arnold married St. Johns Men's Basketball assistant coach and former Golden State Warriors assistant coach DaRico Hines in Honolulu, Hawaii. In January 2016, Arnold's representative confirmed she and Hines were divorcing. The media reported that Hines had been unfaithful to Arnold, having made a sex tape with another woman during their marriage, which was later released to the public without his consent. They were divorced in July 2022.

### Philanthropy

In 2013, Arnold and her sister created the We Win Foundation, a foundation for people with lupus; her sister, Zenay, has the disease.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | The Brass Ring | Mary | TV movie |
| 1984 | The House of Dies Drear | Pesty | TV movie |
| 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 | |
| 1998 | Perfect Prey | Susie | TV movie |
| 1999 | A Luv Tale | Wendi | |
| 2000 | Dancing in September | Robber | |
| 2000 | Big Momma's House | Ritha | |
| 2002 | Civil Brand | Aisha | |
| 2002 | Yo Alien | Ray Goods | |
| 2005 | Preaching to the Choir | Desiree | |
| 2005 | Getting Played | Woman in Restaurant | TV movie |
| 2007 | Wild Hogs | Karen Davis | |
| 2008 | Drillbit Taylor | Photography Teacher | |
| 2008 | Hope & Redemption: The Lena Baker Story | Lena Baker | |
| 2009 | Dance Flick | Ray's Mamma | |
| 2012 | Stolen Child | Claudia | TV movie |
| 2012 | The Great Divide | Tosha | |
| 2013 | Summoned | Mylene | TV movie |
| 2014 | More to Love | Margo | |
| 2014 | A Day Late and a Dollar Short | Charlotte | TV movie |
| 2014 | Top Five | Theatre Manager | |
| 2015 | Royal Family Thanksgiving | Chevonne | TV movie |
| 2015 | Royal Family Christmas | Chevonne | TV movie |
| 2018 | A Father's Love | Miss Danine | Short |
| 2019 | The Last Black Man in San Francisco | Wanda | |
| 2019 | Countdown | Nurse Amy | |
| 2019 | All the Way with You | Lorreta | |
| 2020 | Runt | Principal Carey | |
| 2020 | Clover | Pat | |
| 2020 | The Main Event | Denise Thompson | |
| 2023 | So Fly Christmas | Wyvetta | TV movie |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | Sesame Street | Tichina | Episode: "Another Cold Day on Sesame Street" |
| 1987–89 | Ryan's Hope | Zena Brown | Regular Cast |
| 1989 | The Cosby Show | Delores | Episode: "Theo's Women" |
| 1990 | Law & Order | Leona | Episode: "Out of the Half-Light" |
| 1990–91 | All My Children | Sharla Valentine | Regular Cast |
| 1992–97 | Martin | Pamela "Pam" James | Main Cast |
| 1994 | Soul Train | Herself/Guest Host | Episode: "Xscape/Gerald Albright" |
| 1998 | The Jamie Foxx Show | Carla | Episode: "Soul Mate to Cellmate" |
| 1999 | Pacific Blue | Dana Brown | Episode: "Ghost Town" |
| 1999 | The Norm Show | Mrs. Murphy | Episode: "Norm vs. the Boxer" |
| 2001 | The Test | Herself | Episode: "The OCD Test" |
| 2001–05 | One on One | Nicole Barnes | Recurring Cast: Season 1–3, Guest: Season 4 |
| 2002 | Intimate Portrait | Herself | Episode: "Tisha Campbell-Martin" |
| 2002 | Biography | Herself | Episode: "Martin Lawrence: Comic Trip" |
| 2002 | Soul Food | Adina | Episode: "Past Imperfect" |
| 2004 | Punk'd | Herself | Episode: "Episode #3.2" |
| 2004 | Listen Up | Kiara | Episode: "Thanksgiving" |
| 2005–09 | Everybody Hates Chris | Rochelle | Main Cast |
| 2006 | Hi-Jinks | Herself | Episode: "Tichina Arnold" |
| 2007 | The Boondocks | Nicole/Brenda Harvey (voice) | Episode: "Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf Bitch" |
| 2009 | Played by Fame | Herself | Episode: "Anger Management" |
| 2009 | Sherri | Russell's Mamma | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2009 | Brothers | Cynthia | Recurring Cast |
| 2010–11 | Pair of Kings | Aunt Nancy | Episode: "Return of the Kings" & "The Bite Stuff" |
| 2011 | Are We There Yet? | Vicky Howard | Episode: "The Fight Party Episode" |
| 2011 | American Dad! | Deborah (Voice) | Episode: "A Ward Show" |
| 2011 | Raising Hope | Sylvia | Recurring Cast: Season 1 |
| 2011–13 | Happily Divorced | Judi Mann | Main Cast |
| 2011–13 | Let's Stay Together | Dr. Knotts | Guest Cast: Season 1 & 3 |
| 2014 | Celebrity Wife Swap | Herself | Episode: "Tichina Arnold/Kelly Packard" |
| 2014 | Hit the Floor | Mary Roman | Episode: "Blow Out" & "Winner Takes All" |
| 2014–17 | Survivor's Remorse | Cassie Calloway | Main Cast |
| 2015 | Chopped | Herself | Episode: "Sitcom Moms" |
| 2015 | Black Dynamite | Honeybee's Singing Voice (voice) | Episode: "The Wizard of Watts" |
| 2015 | Born Again Virgin | Quinn | Episode: "Off to See the Wizard" |
| 2015–16 | Celebrity Name Game | Herself/Celebrity Player | Episode: "Gilles Marini & Tichina Arnold #1-#3" |
| 2017 | Daytime Divas | Mo Evans | Recurring Cast |
| 2018 | Lockdown | Paulette | Main Cast |
| 2018–21 | Soul Train Music Awards | Herself/Co-Host | Main Co-Host |
| 2018–present | The Neighborhood | Tina Butler | Main Cast |
| 2020 | Celebrity Family Feud | Herself | Episode: "Cedric The Entertainer vs. Wayne Brady and The Hills" |
| 2020 | The Price Is Right at Night | Herself | Episode: "The Neighborhood" |
| 2021 | Devil May Care | Jezebeth (voice) | Episode: "The Sisters" |
| 2022 | Phat Tuesdays: The Era Of Hip Hop Comedy | Herself | Recurring Guest |
| 2022 | Celebrity Game Face | Herself | Episode: "Cedric The Entertainer Busts Kevin's Chops" |
| 2022 | Bob Hearts Abishola | Tina Butler | Episode: "Compress to Impress" |
| 2023 | Yes We Cannabis | Gladys (voice) | Recurring Cast |
| 2024 | Everybody Still Hates Chris | Rochelle (voice) | Main Cast |

## Awards and nominations

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