| Golden Brooks | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 1, 1970 San Francisco, California |
| Occupation | actress |
| Years active | 1996–present |
Golden Ameda Brooks (born December 1, 1970 in San Francisco, California) is an American actress. She is best known for her nine-year role as Maya Wilkes on the UPN/CW comedy Girlfriends.
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As a child she was a figure skating competitor and won several trophies. Brooks is also a classically trained dancer; she studied and taught ballet, jazz, and modern dance.
Brooks studied literature and sociology, and is a graduate of UC Berkeley. Her concentration was Media Representation of Minorities; her minor was Theater. She earned a Masters degree from Sarah Lawrence College. She has a daughter with her former boyfriend D.B. Woodside, Dakota Tao Brooks-Woodside, born on September 1, 2009.[1]
Brooks is best known for her portrayal of the character Maya Wilkes (Joan's former sharp-tongued secretary and now acclaimed author) on the CW sitcom Girlfriends, in which she starred from 2000-2008.[2]
She directed the 2006 episode titled "Hustle & Dough,"[3] and wrote the 2007 episode titled "Snap Back,"[4] which featured guest star Erykah Badu.
The character Maya is portrayed to be several years younger than the other characters Joan, Toni, and Lynn, but in reality Brooks is the eldest among the actors.
Brooks has been featured in many films and television shows, and has appeared alongside actors such as Queen Latifah, Alicia Silverstone and Kevin Bacon. She appeared in an episode of Pete and Pete, playing big Pete's love interest Heather. She was also featured in the movie Motives co-starring with Vivica Fox and Shemar Moore. She was featured in the 50 Cent music video for "Straight to the Bank." On television, she appeared in a 2000 episode of The Jamie Foxx Show as a girl named Nancy, who Jamie confuses with Fancy. In 2001 she appeared in an episode of Moesha, portraying her Girlfriends character Maya Wilkes.
She currently has several projects in post-production, including the 2009 films Polish Bar and My Place in the Horror.[5]
Brooks voulunteers with the Pediatric AIDS Foundation and AIDS Project Los Angeles. She is active with actors such as Danny Glover in the Robey Theater Company.
In April 2011, the straight-to-DVD movie The Inheritance was released. Brooks co-stars in the horror/thriller along with Darrin Dewitt Henson, D.B. Woodside, Keith David and Rochelle Aytes.[6]