Biography
Vanessa Bell Calloway is an American actress and dancer, recognized for her role as Princess Imani Izzi in the 1988 comedy Coming to America, as well as her performances in What's Love Got to Do with It, The Inkwell, Crimson Tide, and Daylight. She has been nominated nine times for the NAACP Image Award.
Her acting career began in 1985 on the ABC daytime soap opera All My Children. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1986, she appeared in prime time series such as The Colbys, Falcon Crest, 227, China Beach, A Different World, and L.A. Law. Calloway made her film debut in Number One with a Bullet (1987) before playing Eddie Murphy’s character’s arranged wife in Coming to America (1988).
In 1990, she co-starred with Joe Morton in the ABC drama Equal Justice. Throughout the 1990s, she took on supporting roles in films including What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) alongside Angela Bassett, The Inkwell (1994), and Crimson Tide (1995), where she portrayed Denzel Washington’s character’s wife. She also voiced a main character in the 1992 animated comedy Bébé's Kids.
Calloway appeared in various made-for-TV movies, and in 1995 co-starred with James Earl Jones and Joe Morton in the CBS prime time soap opera Under One Roof, notable for featuring African-American lead characters. Her performance earned her a nomination for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series. She held leading roles on the NBC sitcom Rhythm & Blues (1992–93) and starred alongside Larry Hagman as his girlfriend in the CBS drama Orleans (1997).
In the 2000s, she had recurring roles on Boston Public and The District. Her film credits include The Brothers, All About You, Dawg, Biker Boyz, Love Don't Cost a Thing, and Cheaper by the Dozen. She guest-starred on shows such as The Division, Strong Medicine, The Closer, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Dexter, Rizzoli & Isles, Castle, and Grey's Anatomy. From 2010 to 2011, she had a recurring role on the TNT medical drama Hawthorne, and in 2011 began appearing on the Showtime comedy-drama Shameless.
In 2016, Calloway was cast as the lead in Bounce TV's first prime time soap opera, Saints & Sinners. That same year, she portrayed Marian Shields Robinson, President Obama's future mother-in-law, in the comedy-drama Southside with You. In 2018, she appeared in the Christian drama Unbroken: Path to Redemption and the crime thriller Dragged Across Concrete. In 2019, she played the mother of abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biographical drama Harriet. She reprised her role as Imani Izzi in the 2021 sequel Coming 2 America.
