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Debra Renee Wilson Skelton (born April 26, 1962) is an American comedian and actress. Wilson is most notable for being one of the original cast members on sketch comedy series MADtv.

Biography

Debra Wilson was born and raised in New York City in the neighborhood of Ozone Park, Queens. Wilson attended the New York City High School of the Performing Arts. After graduation, she continued her studies at Syracuse University, working in television and radio broadcasting. Her acting debut was on the television pilot "The Apollo Comedy Hour." Following this success she became a series regular on "The Uptown Comedy Club" and co-hosted Can We Shop? with Joan Rivers. She is currently hosting various programming on the TV Guide Channel.

Marriage

In 2006 she married Cliff Skelton.

Career

MADtv

Wilson was one of the original nine cast members of MADtv when the series aired in 1995. Unlike some of her fellow original repertory performers on MADtv, Wilson came to the show with limited sketch comedy experience and hardly any television background. However, she did have a well established background in stand-up comedy, which aided her ability to captivate audiences with her humor.

Wilson was credited for creating some of the most outrageous characters ever to appear on MADtv. Some of her characters included the following: Latina bimbo Melina (Lida and Melina), Reality Check Tovah McQueen, Stick Chick Autumn , Kappa Kappa Kappa sorority sister Hayden Brooks, Alexis Dubane (Prehistoric Glamazon Huntresses), blaxploitation actress Cocoa Latite (Son of Dolemite), Lowered Expectations Host and Ms. Not Nice (Jenny Jones). Perhaps her best known character was the fast talking "Black American Princess" Bunifa Latifah Halifa Sharifa Jackson. The character makes extensive use of the ebonic language when speaking, and quickly accuses other characters' most basic assertions as motivated by racism. An early form of this character appeared in season one, but she was more articulate and a doctor.

However, Wilson would find her forte with impressions of today's megalomanical divas/celebrities. Her Oprah Winfrey sketches were considered the funniest, whether she was paired up with Michael McDonald as supposed lover Dr. Phil McGraw or Aries Spears as long-time companion Steadman Graham. Most of these sketches would end in Oprah evolving into an evil supernatural being with powers after being provoked by an audience member. The Oprah character would be reprised in Scary Movie 4, in which the movie spoofed the Tom Cruise incident in 2005.

Her most well known and acclaimed impersonation that Wilson found success in would be R&B diva Whitney Houston. She would overemphathize the diva's actions, whether it was her frequent fights with her husband Bobby Brown (Phil LaMarr in season 4, Aries Spears in the rest) or her reported drug use (in the Christmas 2002 episode, Wilson portrayed Houston with frequent facial tics, suggesting that she had withdrawn out from using cocaine).

Other impressions Wilson surprised audiences with included Beyoncé Knowles, Brandy, Chris Tucker, Condoleezza Rice, Downtown Julie Brown, Lil' Kim, Macy Gray, Mariah Carey, Rosie Perez, and Whoopi Goldberg.

When Nicole Sullivan left MADtv in 2001, Wilson became the last original cast member on the show. For the next two years, she served as the matriarch of the MADtv family by providing a strong sense of continuity between the old era of the show and the new cast members. After eight seasons as a cast member, Wilson retired in 2003 as a reperetory player on the show. She and Nicole Sullivan were the only two cast members to be given a special recognition by the other cast members at their last show as a current cast member. At the time of her departure, Wilson held the record for the longest serving MADtv cast member. However, since her departure, both Aries Spears and Michael McDonald have tied her record eight year tenure. Wilson, along with Sullivan, would reappear in the 2004-2005 season, both reprising some of their famous characters.

Characters

• Alexis Dubane (Prehistoric Glamazon Huntresses)
• Audience Member (The Wayne Brady Show)
• Autumn (Stick Chicks)
• Beth
• Bunifa Latifah Halifa Sharifa Jackson
• Cocoa Latite (Son of Dolemite)
• Hayden Brooks (Sorority Row)
• Lowered Expectations Host (Lowered Expectations)
• Melina Hascinto (Lida and Melina)
• Miss Sylvia
• Miss Not Nice (The Jenny Jones Show)
• Nautica Brown (Real Mother****ing Talk)
• Rosa Marticorena (News at Six)
• Thelma (Big Carl/John's Shirt and Tie Barn)
• Tukah, Queen of the Chinese (Rocket Revengers)
• Tovah McQueen (Reality Check)
• Vicky the Dog Girl

Impressions

• Alanis Morissette
• Beyoncé Knowles
• Brandy
• Chris Tucker
• Condoleezza Rice
• Coretta Scott King
• Della Reese
• Diana Ross
• Dionne Warwick
• Downtown Julie Brown
• Eartha Kitt
• Eve
• Harriet Tubman
• Jackée
• Jacqueline Lavinia Brown
• Jada Pinkett Smith
• Janet Jackson
• Jennifer Lopez
• Janet Littledove
• Juanita Jordan
• LaToya Jackson
• Lil' Kim
• Lorraine Bracco
• Macy Gray
• Mariah Carey
• Marla Gibbs
• Melanie Brown
• Michael Michele
• Miss Cleo
• Mystikal
• Nichelle Nichols
• Oprah Winfrey
• Pam Grier
• Queen Latifah
• Rosa Parks
• Sheila E.
• Tina Turner
• Tisha Campbell
• Vivica A. Fox
• Whitney Houston
• Whoopi Goldberg

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Catch phrases

• "Oh no you di'int!" - Bunifa Latifa Halifa Sharifa Jackson
• "I said..." - Bunifa Latifa Halifa Sharifa Jackson
• "What did I do?" - Bunifa Latifa Halifa Sharifa Jackson
• "You need to learn how to respect a sista" - Bunifa Latifa Halifa Sharifa Jackson
• "Let me tell you something girlfriend!" - Oprah Winfrey
• "I've got money up my butthole!" - Oprah Winfrey
• "Hey that's mine now!"- Tovah McQueen
• "BOBBAY!" - Whitney Houston

Television projects

Since her debut on MADtv, Wilson has done voice acting on episodes on numerous television shows, landing some recurring roles on such shows as Clone High, Family Guy, and The Mr. Potato Head Show. Wilson has made numerous independent films, including Jane White Is Sick and Twisted, Skin Deep, and Soulmates. She does commercials with fellow MADtv alumnus Nicole Sullivan for Pepsi's Sierra Mist. She was also in a Without a Trace episode as a nurse. She was the co-host of TV Guide Channel's "TV Watercooler" with John Fugelsang, until she was replaced by Teresa Strasser in October of 2006. She will also be starring in Celebrity Paranormal Project, where she becomes the first contestant to have a spirit attempt to posess her.

Trivia

• Wilson has 2 boa constrictors, 2 cats, and an Indonesian Emperor scorpion.
• She is left-handed.
• She did her first full frontal nude scene in the 2003 film Skin Deep.
• Wilson enjoys playing with marionettes.
• Wilson plays one of her most famous characters, Oprah Winfrey, in the 2006 film parody, Scary Movie 4.
• She voiced Captain Lisa Cusak in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode The Sound of Her Voice.
• Wilson recently co-hosted TV Guide Channel's show TV Watercooler, but has recently moved on to better things.
• Wilson often volunteers as an actress with the Young Storytellers Program.
• Wilson presented the 2006 Ugliest Dog Competition trophy.

Filmography

Television

Voice acting and video game appearances

External links

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