Dionne Berkeley

Dionne Berkeley (2022)

**Dionne Jeroma Berkeley** (née **Steele**, formerly **Potts**, born September 26, 1971) is a Bermudian-American actress and screenwriter.

## Biography

### Early Life

Dionne Jeroma Steele was born on September 26, 1971 in Hamilton, Bermuda. Her parents are Kendrick Steele (born 1945) who worked as an architect and builer, and Glenys (née Kitson, born 1946) who was a teacher who later became housewife and later started working as a seamstress. She is the eldest of their four daughters and also has a half-brother Kendrick Jr. (born 1965) from her father's previous relationship. She is mostly of African descent but also has small amounts of English and French descent. She studied business administration for a year at Bermuda College but dropped out.

### Career

Steele began her acting career in 1990, when she starred in an episode of Bermudian soap opera *Blend*. Later she starred in a Bermudian vacactions commercial and received guest roles in television series such as *Revealed Secrets* (1991) and *Caribbean Garden* (1992). In 1994 she made her big-screen debut in a Bermudian-American comedy adventure film *Survivor*. In 1995 she got a supporting role in a British thriller *Temporary Thief*. After arriving in United States in late 1996, she got a role in popular soap opera *Written Life*, where she was playing until 1999. In 2000, she got her first main role in criminal film *Lost*, where she played a Lousiana Creole woman who is searching for her lost sister. *Lost* got a nommination for an Oscar. One year later she played in *American Karate*, which got an Oscar for the best film and Steele got an Oscar for The Best Supporting Actress. In 2003 she wrote her first scenario which was used to a musical *With Tenderness*. She also wrote scenarios for hit films such as *House in the Suburbs* (2004), *Music Gallery* (2006) and *Winged Hope* (2008), and Steele played in the last one. *Winged Hope* won an Oscar for the Best Original Script. From 2010 to 2014 she played role of Brenda Franklin in a television show *Common Ones*. In 2015 she co-wrote scenario for an Oscar-winning medical drama *Surgeon's Secret*. In 2017 she was casted in a *Dodge*. She played supporting roles in films like *Little Girl* (2019) and *Cotton Candy* (2021).

### Personal Life

On September 2, 1992 she wed Herbert Potts, the son of 1989-1993 Bermuda prime minister Horace Potts. She met Potts in a restaurant while she had a break from filming Revealed Secrets in 1991. After wedding she adopted his surname. Their daughter Adairis Maxette was born on October 15, 1993. She and Potts announced their separation in May 1995 in an interview in Bermudian talk show All Year. Their divorce was finalized in January 1996 and after divorce she came back to her maiden surname. In July 1996 with her daughter, Steele moved to Las Vegas. In March 1997 they moved to Houston and in December same year settled in Sacramento. In June 1998 she started dating actor Reginald Berkeley. They got engaged in June 2000 and wed on August 16, 2003 in a private ceremony held on a beach in Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles. After wedding she adopted his surname and changed Adairis' last name to Potts-Berkeley, she and her daughter also gained American citizenship. They have two children together, son Kevan Neal (born December 20, 2001) and daughter Amina Selenis (born March 28, 2004). She divides her time between Sacramento and Boston, Massachusetts. Her daughter Adairis is a long jump athlete who represents Bermuda.