Nicole Ari Parker was born in Baltimore on Oct. 7, 1970. The actress, mom and wife is best known for her role as Teri Joseph in the Showtime TV series Soul Food from 2000-2004, and for portraying strong Black women in major films and TV shows.

Parker was a dedicated actress as a teen; she began studying at the Baltimore Actors Theatre and then the Washington Ballet Company. She won the Best Actress award in a Maryland high school competition and went on to perfect her craft at New York University’s famous Tisch School of the Arts. Parker jumped from the graduation stage to the main stage making acting appearances in the films Boogie Nights, Remember the Titans and the 1999 Sundance Film Festival winner The Adventures of Sebastian Cole. 

Her role as Teri Joseph, the corporate, tough-loving eldest sister in the adapted-for-television series Soul Food, had a dramatic impact in Parker’s life both on and off camera. She also met her husband, co-star Boris Kodjoe, on set.

Parker and Kodjoe married on May 21, 2005, and welcomed their first child, Sophie, in March of that year; and their second child, son Nicolas, in 2006. In addition to adding the roles of wife and mother to her plate, Parker also became an advocate for spina bifida, which Sophie was diagnosed with at birth. She and Kodjoe founded the charity Sophie’s Voice Foundation to raise awareness for the disease.

Parker has been nominated for several NAACP Image Awards. She was recently cast for a lead role in the new Jerry Bruckheimer-produced NBC drama pilot The Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives. 

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(Photo: Derrick Salters/WENN.com)