Biography
Sandra Prosper is a Haitian-American actress originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She is best recognized for her role as Sheila Morris on the television series Charmed and her co-starring role alongside Morris Chestnut in Like Mike.
Sandra moved to the United States from Haiti at the age of four. She grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, where her father was a doctor and her mother a nurse. As the middle child of five siblings, Sandra was a high school track athlete, a Girl Scout, and volunteered on weekends at soup kitchens across New York City.
After high school, Sandra attended NYU, graduating with honors with a B.A. in Political Science. During her time at NYU, she attracted the attention of photographers and modeling agents, becoming the face of major campaigns for brands such as Revlon, Clinique, Avon, and Newport. Her passion for fashion led her to work as a buyer for Bergdorf Goodman, a premier luxury department store in New York. Traveling internationally to fashion hubs like Paris, Milan, and Hong Kong, Sandra eventually grew weary of the constant travel. On a flight back from Europe, she decided to leave the fashion industry to pursue her original ambition of becoming a lawyer.
While preparing for the law school admissions exam and between jobs, a celebrity actress friend encouraged Sandra to audition for television commercials to earn extra income. Embracing the challenge, Sandra met with an agent arranged by her friend, quickly securing representation and signing a contract. She booked twelve national commercials within six months, sparking her interest in acting as a means to fund her law school tuition.
Sandra enrolled in the renowned William Esper two-year acting program, where she studied the Meisner Technique. During this period, she appeared in three independent films. Her performances caught the attention of a producer who cast her as the lead female attorney Shawn Holley Chapman in the original movie about the O.J. Simpson trial, titled An American Tragedy. Realizing her passion for acting surpassed her desire to practice law, Sandra embraced her newfound path of portraying lawyers on screen. She eventually moved from Manhattan to Los Angeles, where she has appeared in memorable roles on popular dramas including Soul Food, ER, and First Monday.
Beyond acting, Sandra runs an organic food business called Sandra's Soups and Sweets. She is also an accomplished screenwriter, having written four scripts, and is currently working on a semi-autobiographical screenplay inspired by her own life.
