actor
Personal Information
Born Elise Neal on March 14, 1970, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Career
Actress. Stage: Oh, Kay!, 1991; television series: Loving, 1994; SeaQuest, 1995-96; The Hughley's, 1998-; TV guest appearances: Law & Order, 1992; Family Matters, 1993; Chicago Hope, 1995, The Steve Harvey Show, 1997; Fantasy Island, 1998; TV specials: 12th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards, 1997; Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, 1998; "Bloopers," 1999; "26th Annual American Music Awards, 1999; films: Malcolm X, 1992; Rosewood, 1997; How to Be a Player, 1997; Money Talks, 1997; Scream 2, 1997; Restaurant, 1998; Mission to Mars (2000); The Rising Place, 2001.
Life's Work
With a starring role on a popular television sitcom and several film roles to her credit, Elise Neal, nicknamed the "Tennessee Tulip," is well on her way to the top. Seen weekly as Yvonne Hughley in ABC's The Hughleys, Neal has received an NAACP Image Award nomination for her portrayal of an African-American wife and mother acclimating to an upwardly-mobile lifestyle.
Elise Neal was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 14, 1970. She got her first taste of show business as a child when her dancing group made it to the finals on Star Search. She cited Shirley Temple movies as an early teacher and claims to have practiced her dance-steps with the movies. While in high school, Neal, a cheerleader and participator in state dance competitions, was voted homecoming queen. Always maintaining the dream of leaving her home town to be a dancer and choreographer, Neal overcame the skepticism of her teachers who encouraged her to set more realistic goals.
After a group of college friends traveled from their school in Philadelphia to dance auditions in New York, Neal left college for a job as a dancer in a family show in an Atlantic City hotel. In 1989 Neal appeared in Aretha Franklin's music video, "A Rose Is Still a Rose." Several stage roles followed. In 1991, Neal appeared in New York City at the Richard Rogers and the Lunt-Fontanne theaters in Oh, Kay! She also toured major world cities in Sophisticated Ladies.
It was Neal's love for dancing that led to an acting career. She began dancing in television commercials advertising products as various as soap and shoes. An acting workshop expanded her acting opportunities. Neal spoke to The Commercial Appeal about her early days as an actress for commercials: "Some of the first tapes of me were horrible. I didn't know how to act and be still. It was a challenge for me to learn how to portray characters and show all this emotion with my eyes and with my face. It was totally the opposite of this person who (just) knew about showing emotions with arms and legs and body." Nevertheless, the focus of Neal's career soon changed from dancing to acting.
Since moving to Los Angeles, she has become one of the fastest-rising and most attractive young stars in film and television. Neal began with a series of guest appearances, including "Law and Order" (1991), "Family Matters" (1993), "Chicago Hope" (1995), "High Incident" (1996), and "Fantasy Island" (1998). Neal's film career began with the small role of a prostitute in the 1992 film Malcolm X. In 1994, Neal won the role of Janie Sinclair on ABC's daytime drama Loving, in which she played a waitress who soon became the girlfriend of the lead male character. The following year, she played Lt. J.J. Fredricks on NBC's SeaQuest DSV.
In 1997 Neal added four more films to her list of credits. She took on the role of Beulah in John Singleton's Rosewood. This was Neal's first major film role and she played a school teacher in a booming southern and primarily black town that faced destruction amid the resentment of a neighboring white community. Neal explained to The Commercial Appeal: "I think one of the reasons they saw me playing her--especially with as little experience as I had at that time--was the fact that I was Southern. My accent, I'm sure, was the most authentic that they heard." Later that year, she appeared opposite Chris Tucker and Charlie Sheen in the action comedy Money Talks. She also played a college student targeted by a copycat killer, in Scream 2. She then appeared with Bill Bellamy in How to be a Player. In 1998 Neal appeared in Restaurant, which debuted in the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.
Neal's big break came in 1998, when she was cast as Yvonne Hughley in the hit television series The Hughleys. Co-starring comedian D.L. Hughley, the show revolves around an upwardly-mobile African-American family that has moved to a swanky Los Angeles suburb. Yvonne and the children have adjusted to their new environment well, finding good friends, for instance, in the white family across the street. But husband Darryl, a successful, self-made black business owner who comes from a working class background is constantly afraid that somehow he has "sold out" by joining the affluent whites in the affluent suburb. He worries that he and his family will lose their African-American heritage. The show has gathered a loyal following--it is the top-rated show by black audiences and among the top 20 shows for all audiences--as well as People's Choice Award nominations for both the series and for D.L. Hughley.
Hughley, also the producer and co-writer of the sitcom, chose Neal for the part with no audition, having seen her act two years earlier. In an interview with Jet, he spoke positively about Neal's impact on the show: "There's something about that lady besides being an aesthetically beautiful woman. She has a soul that reminds me so much of my wife. It's just a rare spark that you see in a woman like that."
Neal has great respect for Hughley and his sitcom creation as well. "I love the character that I play on The Hughleys. When I read the pilot it was about a strong black family, and I rarely saw that on TV, so I thought that it was a great idea." Neal continued in this interview with The Commercial Appeal to relate her respect for the show to her personal commitment to the character. "I wanted her to be strong. I didn't want her to be a 'Yes, dear' type of wife. I wanted her to care about her kids but still care about the things that were important to her and make those known in a lot of the scenes."
The success of The Hughley's has opened the door to more film roles for Neal. In 2000 she appeared in Brian DePalma's science fiction tale, Mission to Mars. The following year, Neal won a starring role in the independent film, The Rising Place, a film depicting a 1940s friendship of a white girl and a black girl and its impact on their respective families. Such successes persuade Neal that she has yet to reach the peak of her career. "There is so much I would like to do." she told The Commercial Appeal. "This is, to me, a kind of the tip of the iceberg. With anything, there are learning processes. And (with) each one I've learned a little more. I've taken a lot more in. And now I'm just starting to feel like I get it."
A single woman, Neal, like many an attractive young stars in Hollywood, has discovered that her busy schedule does not allow much time for relationships. The press has only added to that difficulty, for, as Neal told Today's Black Woman, "they'll have you walking down the aisle with someone you just met." However, Neal has always looked forward to starting a family of her own one day. "I love challenges and new experiences," Neal told Today's Black Woman. "It's all about opening your horizons."
Further Reading
Periodicals
- The Commercial Appeal, October 24, 2000.
- Jet, December 7, 1999.
- Today's Black Woman, April 1999.
- Additional material was obtained online at http://www.upn.com, http://www.imdb.com, and from Production Information supplied by the United Paramount Network (UPN).
— Rose Blue and Jennifer M. York
