Biography
A Renaissance performer who is perfectly at home (and who has proven herself adept) in a broad array of genres and formats, Niecy Nash dreamed of an acting career from early girlhood. She trained as a theater major at California State University, Dominguez Hills, then obtained her first paid acting assignment by virtue of an L.A.-area casting director who enlisted her in
Herbert Ross' 1995 comedy drama
Boys on the Side. That assignment resulted in a memorable scene opposite
Whoopi Goldberg, and Nash followed it up four years later with a small role in
Robert Altman's comedy
Cookie's Fortune (1999). The actress made her most enduring impact on television, however, with guest spots on
NYPD Blue and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, vocal work as Tollie Mae on the offbeat animated sitcom
Kid Notorious, and -- perhaps most endearingly -- a regular assignment as Deputy Raineesha Williams on the raunchy, rollicking police-themed sitcom Reno 911! In 2007, Nash starred as the character of Jacuzzi opposite
Cedric the Entertainer and
Lucy Liu in the comic thriller Code Name: The Cleaner. Nash also hosted the Style Network's home-makeover series
Clean House, and emceed both Emmy and Oscar pre-shows. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide