Debra Wilson

American actressTemplate:SHORTDESC:American actress[[Category:**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Pagetype/config' not found.**s with short description]]
Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:BLP sources

* comedian

**Debra Wilson** (born April 26, 1962), also known as **Debra Wilson Skelton** or **Debra Skelton**, is an American actress, comedienne and television presenter. She is known for being the longest-serving original cast member on the sketch comedy series *Mad TV*, having appeared for the show's first eight seasons. She has also done voice work for various productions including *Avatar*, *American Dad!*, *Family Guy*, *Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil*, *The Proud Family*, *Star Trek: Deep Space Nine* and *The Boondocks*. Her voice acting has also been used for video games including *Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order*, *Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen,* *Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League*, and *Ruined King: A League of Legends Story.*

## Early life

Wilson was born and raised in New York City, in the neighborhood of Ozone Park, Queens, and attended the New York City High School of the Performing Arts. After graduation, she studied television and radio broadcasting at Syracuse University. She worked as pre-school teacher during the 1980s for the All Saints Church, in Sunnyside, Queens.

Wilson made her television acting debut on *The Apollo Comedy Hour* and *The Uptown Comedy Club*, where she became a series regular. She also co-hosted *Can We Shop?* with Joan Rivers. She continued her work in television working as a spokesperson for Burger King, and guest starring in *New York Undercover*.

## Career

### *Mad TV*

Wilson was one of the original eight cast members of *Mad TV* when the series aired in 1995. Wilson came to the show with a background in sketch comedy, improv and television.

Wilson was credited for creating some of the most popular recurring characters on the show. Among her characters were Latina bimbo Melina (*Lida and Melina*), *Reality Check'*s Tovah McQueen, *Stick Chick* Autumn, Kappa Kappa Kappa sorority sister Hayden Brooks, Alexis Dubane (*Prehistoric Glamazon Huntresses*), blaxploitation actress Cocoa Latette (*Son of Dolemite*), Lowered Expectations Host and Ms. Not Nice (*Jenny Jones*). Perhaps her best known character was the fast talking "Black American Princess" Bunifa Latifah Halifah Sharifa Jackson.

Her most recognized impressions on the show were of Oprah Winfrey and Whitney Houston. Her Oprah impersonation is so well regarded that in fact she has played Oprah or Oprah-like characters in other media, most notably *Scary Movie 4* and *The Proud Family*.

### Television projects

Since her debut on *MADtv*, Wilson has done voice acting on episodes on numerous television shows, landing some recurring roles on such shows as *Clone High*, *Family Guy*, and *The Mr. Potato Head Show*. She voiced Captain Lisa Cusak in the *Star Trek: Deep Space Nine* episode "The Sound of Her Voice".

Wilson has made numerous independent films, including *Naked Angel*, *Jane White Is Sick and Twisted*, *Skin Deep*, and *Soulmates*. She was also in an episode of *Without a Trace* as a doctor, and has appeared three times (to date) as a working girl Divine in episodes of *CSI: Crime Scene Investigation*.

She and Sullivan have done commercials for Pepsi's *Sierra Mist*. She appeared as herself on the February 15, 1999, episode of *WCW Monday Nitro* accompanying *MADtv* castmate Will Sasso in his professional wrestling match against Bret Hart. She also appeared on the UK "Whose Line Is It Anyway" - Season 10, Episode 9.

She was the co-host of TV Guide Channel's *TV Watercooler* with John Fugelsang, until she was replaced by Teresa Strasser in October 2006. She was also a co-host on *GSN Live* until she left in January 2010.

Wilson is currently the announcer of the revival of the NBC game show *Weakest Link* hosted by Jane Lynch.

### Theater projects

Wilson performed off-Broadway with the improvisational comedy troupe Noo Yawk Tawk directed by Richmond Shepard at The Village Gate (1988–1991).

### Video games

Wilson has voiced many video game characters, such as her role as Grace Walker in *Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus* and her role as Cere Junda in *Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order*. She also appeared in *Call of Duty: Modern Warfare* as General Lyons. Her other video game voice work includes *The Outer Worlds*, *Gears 5*, *Wolfenstein: Youngblood*, *Rage 2*, *Days Gone* and *Far Cry New Dawn*. She is the voice of Draka in *World of Warcraft: Shadowlands*. She is the voice of Savathûn in Destiny 2.

## Personal life

Wilson married writer and director Cliff Skelton in April 2006. They separated in 2010 citing irreconcilable differences.

## Filmography

### Television

Web series roles
 2017

## References

1. ↑ West, Diane (October 1, 2006). "Debra Wilson On Success, Snakes and Spirituality". New York Tails. http://www.newyorktails.com/debrawilson.htm.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Debra Wilson Biography". Turner Classic Movies. https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/346948%7C0/Debra-Wilson/#biography.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fischer, Paul (April 19, 2003). "Debra Gets Twisted". FilmMonthly. http://www.filmmonthly.com/Profiles/Articles/DWilson/DWilson.html.
4. ↑ "New York Undercover Season 2, Episode 1 Cast". https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/new-york-undercover/episode-1-season-2/high-on-the-hog/203422/.
5. ↑ Greiving, Tim (May 18, 2016). "An Oral History of MADtv, the Sketch Show That Never Quite Changed Comedy". Vulture. https://www.vulture.com/2016/05/oral-history-madtv.html.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pantoja, Kevin (May 27, 2019). "10 Funniest Cast Members of MadTV (And Where They Are Now)". https://screenrant.com/madtv-cast-members-where-are-they-now/.
7. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Persaud, Christine (May 28, 2019). "Where Are They Now? The Cast of MadTV". https://screenrant.com/where-are-they-now-mad-tv-cast/.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mar, Pollo Del (January 27, 2017). "Debra Wilson Talks Queer Legacy of MADtv Whitney Houston Parodies, New Series 'My Sister Is So Gay'". Huff Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/debra-wilson-talks-the-queer-legacy-of-madtv-whitney\_b\_588bef5fe4b0de286b257356.
10. ↑ Voger, Mark (April 12, 2013). "'Veep,' 'Madtv' on home video". https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2013/04/veep\_julia\_louis-dreyfus.html.
11. ↑ "Scary Movie 4 \*\*½", *The Globe and Mail* (April 14, 2006).
12. ↑ "Oprah comic shuns TV role", *New York Post* (July 14, 2010).
13. ↑ Bastién, Angelica Jade (January 4, 2018). "The Best Episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Ranked". https://www.vulture.com/2018/01/star-trek-deep-space-nine-best-episodes-ranked.html.
14. ↑ Shanley, Patrick (November 13, 2019). "'Star Wars' Actor Debra Wilson Is a Prolific Force Among Video Game Performers". The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-wars-jedi-fallen-order-actor-debra-wilson-is-a-prolific-force-1254542.
15. ↑ Blizzard Entertainment (2020-09-03). "Watch Shadowlands Afterlives: Maldraxxus". https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23507728/. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
16. ↑ "This Week At Bungie – 8/26/2021 > News" (in en). https://www.bungie.net/en/Explore/Detail/News/50655.
17. ↑ ""MADTV" STAR Headed for Divorce Court". *10 May 2012*. TMZ. http://www.tmz.com/2011/10/05/mad-tv-debra-wilson-divorce-court-whitney-houston-cliff-skelton/.
18. ↑ Couch, Aaron (June 16, 2021). "Animated ‘Mortal Kombat Legends’ Sequel Arriving This Summer (Exclusive)". https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/mortal-kombat-legends-battle-of-the-realms-cast-1234968317.
19. ↑ "Indivisible Cast List Revealed" (in en-GB). *Indivisible*. August 6, 2019. https://indivisiblegame.com/2019/08/06/indivisible-cast-list-revealed/.
20. ↑ "Persona 5 Strikers (2021 Video Game)". https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Persona-5-Strikers/. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.

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