Stacey Dash

Stacey Lauretta Dash (born January 20, 1967) is an American actress, known for starring in the 1995 feature film Clueless and the television spinoff of the same name. She has also appeared in films such as Moving, Mo' Money, Renaissance Man and View from the Top. Other television work by Dash includes appearances in series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Single Ladies and the reality television show Celebrity Circus. She has also appeared in music videos for Carl Thomas' "Emotional" and Kanye West's "All Falls Down". On May 28, 2014, Fox News announced that Dash had been hired as a contributor for "cultural analysis and commentary."^[3]

Early life

Stacey Dash was born in The Bronx, New York. She is an alumna of Paramus High School in Paramus, New Jersey. She is part Barbadian, African American and Mexican.^[4] Her first cousin is Damon Dash, the former CEO and co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records.^[5]

Career

Dash made her first television appearance in the NBC crime drama pilot Farrell: For the People starring Valerie Harper and Ed O'Neill in 1982, which did not make it past its pilot episode.^[6][7] Her first notable appearance was as Michelle in the 1985 The Cosby Show episode "Denise's Friend" alongside Lisa Bonet, and in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.^[8] Dash's first substantial television role was in the 1988 television series TV 101, which also featured Matt LeBlanc and Sam Robards. The series was canceled after 13 episodes.

Dash's first major film role was in the Richard Pryor comedy Moving in 1988. She also had sizeable roles in Mo' Money and Renaissance Man during this time. In 1995, Dash starred as a femme fatale in the low-budget film Illegal in Blue. Dash received her big break with the 1995 teen comedy film Clueless, which also starred Alicia Silverstone and Brittany Murphy. Dash played Cher's high school best friend Dionne Marie Davenport, although Dash was twenty-eight at the time. In 1996, the film spawned a television spin-off of the same name, in which Dash reprised her role as Dionne and Rachel Blanchard played Cher. The series ran from 1996 to 1999.

After the television series ended, she appeared in View from the Top (2003) and smaller budget films, including Gang of Roses (2003), and Getting Played (2005). She also has appeared in small guest roles on television shows such as Eve and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Dash played Vanessa Weir in the television series, The Strip, which was not successful and was canceled after several episodes. In 2001, Dash was featured in a music video by Carl Thomas for the single "Emotional". In 2004, Dash was featured in a music video by Kanye West, labelmate of her cousin Damon Dash, for the single "All Falls Down". Dash posed nude in the August 2006 issue of Playboy. Also in 2006, she was featured in singer Marques Houston's video for "Favorite Girl". In 2006, she launched her own lingerie line called Letters of Marque.^[9]

In 2007, she completed filming roles in I Could Never Be Your Woman, Nora's Hair Salon II, Fashion Victim, Ghost Image and American Primitive. For 2008 release, she filmed Phantom Punch and Secrets Of A Hollywood Nurse for television, and the feature film Close Quarters. Dash performed in the 2008 reality television series Celebrity Circus. Prior to the series premiere, Dash suffered a broken rib while training. Despite the injury, Dash performed on the trapeze bungee during the premiere and continued on to be a finalist. Dash finished second behind Antonio Sabàto, Jr.

Dash appeared as a recurring character on the television series The Game in early 2009. In 2011, Dash starred in the first season of VH1's first scripted series, Single Ladies, playing Valerie "Val" Stokes, described as a "'good girl' looking for a good man".^[10] On August 31, 2011, it was reported that she would leave the series in order to focus on her family.^[11][12][13]

In 2012, Dash starred as Lisa, the female lead in the film Dysfunctional Friends, alongside Meagan Good, Tatyana Ali, Stacy Keibler and Terrell Owens. The film was written and directed by Corey Grant. It garnered favorable reviews from Wilson Morales of BlackFilm.com^[14] and Michael Dequina of TheMovieReport.com,^[15] but a negative review by John Anderson of Variety.^[16][17] In 2012, Dash was featured in Funny or Die and YouTube broadcast trailers and shorts for her web series Stacey Dash Is Normal.^[18] The scripted series will launch in 2013.^[19]

Personal life

Dash has two children, Austin Williams (born 1991, fathered by R&B singer Christopher Williams) and Lola Lovell (born 2003, fathered by Brian Lovell).^[20]

She has been divorced three times.^[21] In 2010, Dash filed a divorce and restraining order against her now ex-husband Emmanuel Xuereb.^[22][23] Dash claimed "Xuereb hit her on several occasions on her face, head and body throughout the marriage."^[24]

Though she was a Democrat and voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 US presidential election,^[25] Dash endorsed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney via her Twitter account on October 7, 2012. Other Twitter users responded with criticism, racial epithets and calls for her to commit suicide.^[26][27][28] Vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan personally telephoned her. During their conversation, Ryan thanked Dash for supporting the Romney–Ryan ticket, and "told her she was brave".^[29][25]

Since the 2012 elections, Dash has publicly expressed her political views. She criticized hip hop singers Jay-Z and Beyoncé's trip to Cuba in April 2013. Dash asked her fans on Twitter if they cared whether Jay-Z visited the Communist nation Cuba before the embargo was lifted.^[30]

Filmography

References

External links

• Stacey Dash at the Internet Movie Database
• Stacey Dash on Twitter
• Stacey Dash at Playboy Online