Danielle Brooks
Danielle Brittany Brooks (born September 17, 1989) is an American actress. Her breakthrough role as prison inmate Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson in the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019) gained her three Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and three NAACP Image Awards nominations.
Danielle Brooks | |
|---|---|
Brooks in 2014 | |
| Born | Danielle Brittany Brooks September 17, 1989 Augusta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Education | Juilliard School (BFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Spouse |
Dennis Gelin (m. 2022) |
| Children | 1 |
In 2015, Brooks made her Broadway debut in the musical revival of The Color Purple as Sofia, for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award and won the Grammy Award. In 2023, Brooks reprised her role as Sofia in the film adaptation of The Color Purple and was nominated for an Academy Award, British Academy Film Award, and Golden Globe Award for her performance. In 2021, she played gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in the made-for-television biographical film Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia, for which she received nominations for Critics' Choice Awards, Satellite Awards, and NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special, and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie as an executive producer.
In 2022, Brooks hosted Netflix's reality series Instant Dream Home and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Program Host. The same year Brooks starred in the superhero series Peacemaker (2022–present), and returned to Broadway in the revival of the August Wilson play The Piano Lesson, for which she received Drama Desk Award nomination.