# Erika Alexander

Erika Rose Alexander (born November 19, 1969) is an American actress, writer, producer, entrepreneur and activist who played the roles of Pam Tucker on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show from 1990 to 1992, and Maxine Shaw on the Fox sitcom Living Single from 1993 to 1998. She has won numerous awards for her work on Living Single, including two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. Her film credits include The Long Walk Home (1990), 30 Years to Life (2001), Déjà Vu (2006), Get Out (2017), American Refugee (2021), Earth Mama (2023) and American Fiction (2023), for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Performance.

## Early life and education

Alexander was born on November 19, 1969, in Winslow, Arizona, and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona, until age eleven, when she and her family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is one of six children born to Robert and Sammie Alexander, a schoolteacher and a children's book author, respectively. She graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls.

## Acting career

Alexander was discovered at 14 by independent film company Merchant Ivory when she was attending the fifth week of a six-week summer acting class at the New Freedom Theatre. Her first major film role was that of Joan in 1986's My Little Girl. In 1989, she played Madri/Hidimbaa in Peter Brook's nine-hour epic play adaptation of The Mahabharata. She was also cast in Bill Gunn's The Forbidden City, the last play directed by Public Theater impresario Joseph Papp. The play also starred Gloria Foster, Frankie Faison and Akili Prince.
In 1990, Alexander starred opposite Whoopi Goldberg in the civil rights epic drama film The Long Walk Home. She was then cast as Pam Tucker on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, starring on the vastly popular series from 1990 until the show's finale in 1992. That same year, Alexander starred in the ABC comedy-drama series Going to Extremes, which centered on a group of American students at a medical school on a fictitious Caribbean island named Jantique. The series was canceled after one season in early 1993.
Later in 1993, Alexander began starring as fan-favorite, super attorney Maxine Shaw in the Fox sitcom Living Single, a role she played for five years until 1998. For this role, Alexander won two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series in 1996 and 1998. In 1996, she also made a cameo appearance in Toni Braxton's music video for her song "You're Makin' Me High".
In 1998, Alexander starred as "Young Flora", acting along with Cicely Tyson and her former Living Single co-star Queen Latifah, in the CBS miniseries Mama Flora's Family, based on a novel by Alex Haley. She also appeared in the 1998 drama film 54. In 2001, Alexander starred in the comedy film 30 Years to Life, receiving a Black Reel Award for Best Independent Actress for her performance.
In 2002, Alexander played as probation officer Dee Mulhern in the Showtime drama series Street Time, which ran for two seasons. She had recurring roles in Judging Amy, In Plain Sight, Low Winter Sun and Let's Stay Together. Alexander also guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Half & Half, ER, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds, House, Suits and Grey's Anatomy. Additionally, she appeared in a number of films during the 2000s and 2010s. In 2006, Alexander played the role of Shanti, a technical science engineer in the science fiction action film Deja Vu opposite Denzel Washington. She later starred opposite Benjamin Bratt and Jeremy Ray Valdez in the 2009 drama film La Mission.
From 2012 to 2015, Alexander had a recurring role as Carol Larabee, Mike and Vanessa's neighbor, in the ABC comedy series Last Man Standing. Tisha Campbell-Martin replaced her in this role during the show's seventh season. In 2014, Alexander had a supporting role in the comedy-drama Elsa & Fred starring Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer. In 2017, she played Detective Latoya in the critically acclaimed horror film Get Out.
From 2016 to 2017, Alexander starred as Constance Irving in the Amazon original drama, Bosch. She had recurring roles in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series Queen Sugar in 2016 and Freeform fantasy drama Beyond from 2017 to 2018. In 2018, she was cast in a recurring role as Perenna in the CW superhero series Black Lightning. She received an NAACP Image Award nomination in 2019 for Outstanding Guest Performance in a Comedy or Drama Series. Also in 2019, Alexander began starring in the Hulu drama series, Wu-Tang: An American Saga. In 2021, she began appearing in a recurring role in the Starz comedy series, Run the World. The following year, she starred in The Roku Channel drama series, Swimming with Sharks.
Alexander appeared in the 2019 horror-thriller film I See You and played the lead in the Blumhouse horror-thriller American Refugee (2021). She later appeared in the comedy-drama film, Wildflower, and the drama film Earth Mama. In 2023, she starred opposite Jeffrey Wright in the drama film, American Fiction. She received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Performance nomination for her performance.

## Writing and publishing

In 2012, Alexander co-created and co-wrote a science-fiction graphic novel, Concrete Park, with then-husband Tony Puryear. In 2018, she penned season eleven of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic Giles with Buffy creator Joss Whedon. In 2023, she created and co-wrote the Dupont Columbia Award-winning Audible true-crime series Finding Tamika.
Alexander is a co-founder (with Ben Arnon) of Color Farm Media, an entertainment, innovation, and social impact company; in 2020, they released John Lewis: Good Trouble, a documentary focusing on civil rights leader John Lewis.

## Political activity

Alexander actively campaigned for Hillary Clinton and toured college campuses with Chelsea Clinton during the 2008 Democratic Party primary.

## Personal life

From 1997 to 2017, Alexander was married to artist and screenwriter Tony Puryear.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | My Little Girl | Joan | |
| 1986 | George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation | Oney | TV movie |
| 1990 | The Long Walk Home | Selma Cotter | |
| 1990 | The Last Best Year | Amy | TV movie |
| 1991 | He Said, She Said | Rita | |
| 1992 | Fathers & Sons | Venell | |
| 1994 | Override | Shawana | TV movie |
| 1998 | 54 | Ciel | |
| 2001 | 30 Years to Life | Joy | |
| 2002 | Love Liza | Brenda | |
| 2002 | Full Frontal | Lucy | |
| 2004 | Tricks | Laurel | |
| 2006 | Déjà Vu | Shanti | |
| 2009 | La Mission | Lena | |
| 2014 | Elsa & Fred | Laverne | |
| 2014 | Secrets of the Magic City | Ms. Fletcher | |
| 2016 | Undone | Andrea Rose | Short |
| 2016 | Brave New Jersey | Helen Holbrook | |
| 2017 | Get Out | Detective Latoya | |
| 2019 | I See You | Lieutenant Moriah Davis | |
| 2021 | American Refugee | Helen Taylor | |
| 2022 | Wildflower | Mary | |
| 2023 | Earth Mama | Miss Carmen | |
| 2023 | American Fiction | Coraline | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | ABC Afterschool Special | - | Episode: "Teen Father" |
| 1989 | The Mahabharata | Madri/Hidimbaa | Main Cast |
| 1990 | Common Ground | Cassandra Twymon | Episode: "Part I & II" |
| 1990 | Law & Order | Doris Carver | Episode: "Poison Ivy" |
| 1990–92 | The Cosby Show | Pam Tucker | Main Cast: Season 7–8 |
| 1992–93 | Going to Extremes | Cheryl Carter | Main Cast |
| 1993–98 | Living Single | Maxine "Max" Felice Shaw | Main Cast |
| 1998 | Mama Flora's Family | Young Flora | Episode: "Episode #1.1 & #1.2" |
| 2001 | The Zeta Project | Agent Rush (voice) | Recurring Cast: Season 1 |
| 2001 | Judging Amy | Fran Winston | Recurring Cast: Season 2–3 |
| 2002–03 | Street Time | Dee Mulhern | Main Cast |
| 2004 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Kema Mabuda | Episode: "Ritual" |
| 2004 | LAX | Allison | Episode: "Thanksgiving" |
| 2005 | Half & Half | Maxine Shaw | Episode: "The Big Performance Anxiety Episode" |
| 2005 | 7th Heaven | Lynn Miles | Episode: "Leaps of Faith" |
| 2006 | In Justice | Alyssa Hill | Episode: "The Ten Percenter" |
| 2006 | Heist | Saundra Johnson | Recurring Cast |
| 2006 | ER | Vatima Abika | Episode: "No Place to Hide" |
| 2007 | Side Order of Life | Colette | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2007 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | A.D.A. Kirkson | Episode: "The Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp" |
| 2007 | Numb3rs | U.S. Marshal Tricia Yaegger | Episode: "In Security" |
| 2007 | CSI: Miami | Tanya Thorpe | Episode: "Guerillas in the Mist" |
| 2009 | Criminal Minds | Det. Lynne Henderson | Episode: "The Big Wheel" |
| 2010 | In Plain Sight | Theresa Simmons | Recurring Cast: Season 3 |
| 2011 | House | Ms. Fields | Episode: "Two Stories" |
| 2012 | Suburgatory | Gloria | Episode: "The Motherload" |
| 2012 | Suits | Sarah Layton | Episode: "Discovery" |
| 2012–15 | Last Man Standing | Carol Larabee | Recurring Cast: Season 2–5 |
| 2013 | Low Winter Sun | Louise "LC" Cullen | Recurring Cast |
| 2014 | Let's Stay Together | Blanche | Recurring Cast: Season 4 |
| 2014 | NCIS: New Orleans | Navy Commander Louanne Bates | Episode: "Carrier" |
| 2015 | Grey's Anatomy | Johanna McKay | Episode: "Crazy Love" |
| 2016 | Recovery Road | Trish's Mother | Episode: "My Loose Thread" |
| 2016 | Queen Sugar | LeAnne | Recurring Cast: Season 1 |
| 2016–17 | Bosch | Connie Irving | Recurring Cast: Season 2–3 |
| 2017–18 | Beyond | Tess Shoemaker | Recurring Cast |
| 2018 | Insecure | Yolanda | Recurring Cast: Season 3 |
| 2018–19 | Black Lightning | Perenna | Recurring Cast: Season 2 |
| 2019–23 | Wu-Tang: An American Saga | Linda Diggs | Main Cast: Season 1, Recurring Cast: Season 2–3 |
| 2021–23 | Run the World | Barb | Recurring Cast |
| 2022 | Swimming with Sharks | Meredith | Main Cast |
| 2022 | Shining Girls | Abby | Recurring Cast |
| 2023 | Black Pop: Celebrating the Power of Black Culture | Herself | Episode: "Film" |

### Music videos

| Year | Artist | Song | Role |
| 1996 | Toni Braxton | "You're Makin' Me High" | Friend |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Awards | Category | Recipient | Outcome |
| 1996 | NAACP Image Awards | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series | Living Single | Won |
| 1997 | NAACP Image Awards | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series | Living Single | Nominated |
| 1998 | NAACP Image Awards | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series | Living Single | Won |
| 2002 | Black Reel Awards | Black Reel Award for Best Independent Actress | 30 Years to Life | Won |
| 2017 | Phoenix Film Festival | Phoenix Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Acting | Brave New Jersey | Won |
| 2019 | NAACP Image Awards | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Guest Performance in a Comedy or Drama Series | Black Lightning | Nominated |
| 2022 | NAACP Image Awards | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Guest Actor or Actress in a Television Series | Run the World | Nominated |
| 2023 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | American Fiction | Nominated |