Paula Jai Parker

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Paula Jai Parker (born August 19, 1969) is an African American actress and comedian. She was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but moved to Washington, D.C. in 1987 to study at Howard University. After graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Arts, she moved to New York City and played a number of clubs. Her reputation as a comedian earned her a place on the FOX comedy program "The Apollo Comedy Hour," filmed live at the legendary Apollo Theater. She left the show after one year to pursue a film career, taking memorable roles in the F. Gary Gray urban comedy Friday and earned a Cable ACE Award for her role in the HBO anthology presentation, Comic Slop.

Parker returned to television in 1995 in the WB television series The Wayans Bros. opposite Shawn and Marlon Wayans. Throughout the 1990s, she appeared in several short-lived shows, including 1997's The Weird Al Show and David E. Kelley's Snoops in 1999. Between television projects, she appeared in a number of films, including the Million Man March docu-drama Get on the Bus (1996), the urban comedy Sprung (1997), and the Frankie Lymon biography, Why Do Fools Fall In Love (1998).

In 2001, Parker voiced the sophisticated Trudy Proud in the popular animated series The Proud Family. The series became a success, and has continued to be produced by Disney and gain a positive standing among television critics. Between voice sessions, Parker has continued to take supporting roles in films, though she has become type casted as urban characters, especially prostitutes (she portrayed such characters in 2002's Phone Booth and 2005's Hustle & Flow). A Proud Family film was released directly to DVD in late 2005.

In 2006, Parker starred in the feature film, The Genius Club for writer/director Tim Chey. She plays a genius with an IQ of 229 who must solve the world's problems in 1 night.