T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh

T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh (born Crystal Walker;[2] October 13, 1962) is an American actress and singer. In addition to her status as an original cast member of the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color (1990–1994), she is also known for her roles as Erica Lucas on the CBS sitcom Cosby (1996–2000), and as Tanya Baxter on the Disney Channel sitcom That's So Raven (2003–2005).

T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh
T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh in Los Angeles California on July 3, 2019
Born
Crystal Walker

(1962-10-13) October 13, 1962
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
EducationFlorida A&M University
OccupationActress, singer
Years active1983–present
Awards2012: TV Land Groundbreaking Show Award (In Living Color)[1]
Websitetkeyah.com

Early life

Keymáh was born Crystal Walker in 1962, in Chicago.[3] Since the age of three, she has enjoyed entertaining her family – singing, dancing, and reciting original poems and stories. She wrote her first play and her first song in elementary school. She performed with Ali LeRoi and Lance Crouther in the Mary Wong Comedy Group in high school, before she enrolled in Florida A&M University (FAMU) at the School of Business and Industry.[2] Her brother is Commander of the DC US Army National Guard, Major General William J. Walker.[4][5]

Career

During college and after graduating from FAMU, Keymáh taught theater, dance, and mime. She has also done many theater performances, and produced and directed films.

One of the original cast members of Fox Television's Emmy winning variety show, In Living Color, for five seasons Keymáh played a number of characters, including Cryssy, the central character of her self-written signature piece, "In Black World". She also sang and danced on the show.

After In Living Color, she played contractor Scotti Decker in On Our Own; played comedy show writer Denise Everett on the 1996 TV series The Show; and provided the voices for Roz, Shavonne, Aki, Mrs. LaSalle, and many others in Waynehead. For four years, Keymáh was a series regular on Cosby, where she played flight attendant-lawyer-pastry chef-teacher Erica Lucas Hall.[6] Following Cosby, she appeared for three seasons on the Disney series That's So Raven as Raven's mother, Tanya Baxter. In season four her character was written out of the plot so that Keymáh could care for her ailing grandmother.

Keymáh co-wrote and costarred in a two-person stage show with music, called Sellout!?!, with fellow FAMU alumnus Bryan C. Jones, who was also one of the many guests to appear in her hit variety show T'Keyah Live! They did the first workshop presentation of Sellout!?! at FAMU..

In Living Color characters
  • Cryssy (Black World)
  • Hilda Hedley (Hey Mon)
  • LaShawn
  • Leslie Livingston (Homey the Clown)
  • Mrs. Buttman (The Buttmans)
  • Shawanda Harvey, host of Go on Girl

In Living Color impressions

Other impressions

Don't Get Me Started!

Keymáh performed a solo stage work titled Don't Get Me Started! She sang, performed impressions, and talked about the prison industrial complex as well as conspiracy theories. She rewrote pointedly political lyrics to songs by Nina Simone and Eartha Kitt. She debuted the show in 2011 at The Black Academy of Art & Letters (TBAAL) in Dallas, Texas.

T'Keyah Live!

T'Keyah Live! is a variety show and is Keymáh's third self-produced theatrical show. It includes witty repartee, musical numbers, endearing characters, audience participation, impressions, video presentations, jokes and guests. She has performed the show across the U.S. since 1999 with a number of different guest performers, including Todd Bridges, T. C. Carson, Ralph Harris, Dawnn Lewis, and Karen Malina White.[7]

Some of My Best Friends

Some of My Best Friends is a series of monologues in verse and prose embodied by a dozen diverse but somehow connected characters. In this humorous, tear jerking, thought-provoking theatrical production, Keymáh champions societal issues that are as relevant today as they were when the show debuted to sold out crowds at Chicago's South Shore Cultural Center in 1991. Overcoming obstacles, the devastation of AIDS, the search for love, race relations, and teen promiscuity are just some of the topics explored. The show was chiefly penned by Keymáh but includes pieces written by or in collaboration with Ali LeRoi, Harry Lennix, and poet Angela Jackson (And All These Roads Be Luminous: Poems Selected and New); and includes a dance choreographed by Maurice Hines. About her work in this show critics have said: "Keymáh is a Charismatic Actress... Chameleonic and Effervescent" – Los Angeles Times;"...Beyond Superlatives; She's Phenomenal!" – Earl Calloway, Chicago Defender; "Much More Than Comedy"- Lisa M. Pancia, New York Vignette; "...a Delightful, Multitalented Performer whose ability to create believable characters on stage is a Wonder to Behold"- Nat Colley, Los Angeles Reader; "Keymáh is Magnificent" – Linda Armstrong, Amsterdam News;"...Keymáh's Poignant, Detailed Portrayals are Never Less Than Magnificent"- Randy Trabitz, Los Angeles Weekly. The show garnered an AUDELCO Award nomination for Best Solo Performer, an NAACP Theatre Award nomination for Best Writing, and NAACP Theatre Awards for Best Performance and Best Play.

Personal life

Keymáh is an avid gardener and a vegetarian,[8] as well as an active, Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She was initiated into the Beta Alpha chapter at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.[9]

Keymáh self-published two books: Some of My Best Friends: A Collection of Characters, the book version of the stage show she performed for ten years,[10] and Natural Woman / Natural Hair: A Hair Journey – Hairstyles and Hairstories from the Front with Simple, Step-by-Step Instructions on Taking Care of your Natural Hair, an instructional hair care manual with anecdotes about her experiences with Afro-textured hair. She also contributed essays for "The HBCU Experience Book," "Dining with the Ancestors," and "The Burden."[11]

Legacy

Associated Black Charities operates a donor-advised Keymah Cultural Fund, which provides tickets to youth groups to attend theatrical performances and funds artistic groups that serve or comprise teens and children.[12]

There is a theater scholarship named for Keymáh at her alma mater, Florida A&M University.[13]

There is a medical scholarship named for her at Meharry Medical College.[14]

Educator

T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh served as a K–8 substitute teacher for the Chicago Board of Education for 4 years.[15][16] She has presented her "Tools of the Trade" actors preparation workshops at theatre festivals and other events in the United States,[17][18] and she has lectured abroad. In the fall of 2017, Keymáh served as Florida A&M University's first ever W.K. Kellogg Foundation Artist-in-Residence in the College of Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities Theatre department.[19] Her residency included directing Pearl Cleage's The Nacirema Society Requests Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First 100 Years, teaching an Acting for the Camera course, and providing industry workshops and mentoring students.

Filmography

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
1985The Miss Black America PageantContestantMiss Illinois and 1st runner up for Miss Black America[6]
1987Big ShotsSecretaryUncredited [20]
1997Jackie BrownRaynelle
2000Tweety's High-Flying AdventureAoogahUncredited
2001The Gilded Six BitMissy MaeShort film
2004The Creature of the Sunny Side Up Trailer ParkTonya
2012Lost AngelsHadassahShort film
2012Daughter of FortuneVogel PetersonShort film
2014UnsolvedMargaret HanesShort film
2015BailGladys/BobbieShort film
2015Chi-RaqLorde
2016InstanceMs. KaplanShort film
2015What Happened Last Night?Beverly

Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1990–1994In Living ColorVariousSeries Regular - 140 episodes
1992Quantum LeapPaulaEpisode: "A Song for the Soul - April 7, 1963"
1993RocDarrelleEpisode: "Ebony and Ivory"
1993-1997Soul TrainHerself - Guest Host2 episodes
1994The CommishGrace CaldwellEpisode: "Born in the USA"
1994–1995The John Larroquette ShowSara2 episodes
1995On Our OwnScotti DeckerSeries Regular - 7 episodes
1996–2000CosbyErica LucasSeries Regular - 94 episodes
Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1998–99)
1996WayneheadRozSeries Regular - 13 episodes
1996The ShowDenise EverettSeries Regular - 8 episodes
1998Pinky and the BrainSingerEpisode: "Inherit the Wheeze"
2000Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every ChildGrandmother / Robber GirlEpisode: "The Snow Queen"
2000–2001Batman BeyondOld Woman, Makeba and Dispatch OperatorEpisode: "Babel, Untouchable and Countdown"
2002–2003Static ShockTeen Girl #1 and NailsEpisode: "Power Play and Hard as Nails"
2003–2005That's So RavenTanya BaxterSeries Regular - 50 episodes (Seasons 1–3)
2004My Wife and KidsRealtorEpisode: "Moving on Out"
2004–2005Teen TitansBumblebee4 episodes
2005–2006American Dragon: Jake LongVarious3 episodes
2007–2008Jury DutyHerself5 episodes
2013Let's Stay TogetherDr. Blair Riley2 episodes
2016Sharknado: The 4th AwakensTech Terry @ Astro XSyfy movie
2017There's...Johnny!RozSeries Regular - 6 episodes
2018KiddingAmikaEpisode: "Pusillanimous"

Video games
YearTitleRoleNotes
2006Teen TitansBumblebee

Awards

[6]

References
  1. TV Land Groundbreaking Show Award – Winners. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  2. Mills, David (June 13, 1991). "In living Crystal: Chicago actress gets bizarre roles on Fox comedy". The Record. Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. p. C19.
  3. "T'Keyah Crystal Keymah Biography (1962–)". FilmReference.com.
  4. Myers, Meghann (August 7, 2017). "New general taking temporary command of DC National Guard". Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  5. "General Officer Announcements". Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  6. "Official Website of T'Keyah Crystal Keymah". T’Keyah Crystal Keymáh. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  7. "T'Keyah Crystal Keymah stars live at the South Shore Cultural Center". October 9, 2001. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2018. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. "Comedy With a Conscience". Washington Post. May 5, 1991. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  9. "T'Keyah.com Motto: "Where Crystal Visions Come To Life". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  10. "Booking". T’Keyah Crystal Keymáh. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  11. "Bio". T’Keyah Crystal Keymáh. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  12. "The Crystal Shop". T’Keyah Crystal Keymáh. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  13. "T'Keyah Crystal Keymah endowed theatre scholarship application" (PDF). Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  14. Hollett, Charlotte R. (1964). "Meharry Medical College". Science. 145 (3633): 660–663. Bibcode:1964Sci...145..660H. doi:10.1126/science.145.3633.660-a. PMC 2569376. PMID 17754659. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  15. "T'Keyah Crystal Keymah - The HistoryMakers". www.thehistorymakers.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  16. Cryssy's World Chicago Tribune. 13 October 1991. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  17. "Keymáh Presents: T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh's Tools of the Trade Workshop and Private Sessions at the DC Black Theatre Festival 2015". June 13, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  18. "Tkeyah Workshop". DC Black Theatre Festival. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  19. "T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh to Serve as Resident at FAMU". Electronic Urban Report. August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  20. "T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh". IMDb. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
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