Jurnee Smollett

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Jurnee Smollett (born October 1, 1986 in New York City, New York) is an American actress.

The fourth of six performing siblings, she received critical acclaim for her title role in the finely-crafted independent "Eve's Bayou" (1997). The performance earned her a Young Star Award nomination. The young thespian pulled ahead of her brothers and sisters with her bracing portrayal of a ten-year-old who finds her father (Samuel L. Jackson) in a compromising position. She was just what writer-director Kasi Lemmons had envisoned for the lead in her film: "a light-skinned black child . . . who could convey the nuances of a Creole child in the 60s".

Jurnee Smollett has five brothers and sisters, all of which are actors:

Jazz Smollett
Jocqui Smollett
Jake Smollett
Jojo Smollett
Jussie Smollett

She co-starred with her siblings in the television comedy On Our Own (1994-1995) and appeared in numerous television shows such as Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Full House in which she played Michelle Tanner's young friend Denise. From 1998 to 2000, she appeared as a regular cast member of the Bill Cosby series titled Cosby. She also played as a regular in Wanda at Large as Wanda Sykes' niece Holly in 2003, and recently in the episode 'Fools for Love' as the character "Tracey" on House.

Jurnee recently starred with Bow Wow in the film Roll Bounce. She played the role of Danyelle Rollins in the 2006 film Gridiron Gang, and also played leading roles in the racial drama Selma, Lord, Selma, as well as Beautiful Joe (alongside Sharon Stone and Billi Connolly) and Ruby's Bucket of Blood.

Outside of acting she has been active in HIV/AIDS involved causes since she was twelve.^[1] She has spoken at the Ryan White Youth Conference, and elsewhere, on this issue. Her first encounter with the disease came at age seven when a crew member of "On Our Own" died of AIDS.^[2] She is also on the Board of Directors of "Artists for a New South Africa"^[3] a group dedicated to dealing with the HIV/AIDS in Africa.