Vanessa Bell Calloway
Bell Calloway in 2010
Born	Vanessa Bell (1957-03-20)March 20, 1957 (age 68) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater	Ohio University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1985–present
Spouse	Anthony Calloway ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	2
Website	vanessabellcalloway.com

Vanessa Bell Calloway (néeBell; born March 20, 1957) is an American actress. Beginning her career as a dancer, Bell Calloway became known for her film roles as Princess Imani Izzi in the 1988 comedyComing to America andits sequel. Since then, Bell Calloway appeared in more than 150 film and television productions. She is a nine-timeNAACP Image Awards nominee.

Bell Calloway appeared in filmsDeath Spa (1988),What's Love Got to Do with It (1993),The Inkwell (1994),Crimson Tide (1995),Daylight (1996),The Brothers (2001) andBiker Boyz (2003). Bell Calloway had several starring roles on television series and movies, include first African American prime time soap opera,Under One Roof (1995). She later played recurring roles onHawthorne,Shameless andThis Is Us. From 2016 to 2022, she starred as Lady Ella Johnson in theBounce TV prime time soap opera,Saints & Sinners and in 2022 began starring inBET+ crime drama,The Black Hamptons. Bell Callaway playedMarian Shields Robinson in the biographical drama filmSouthside with You (2016), andHarriet Tubman's mother in the biographical film,Harriet (2019).

Bell Calloway was born on March 20, 1957, inCleveland, Ohio.^[1] She received aBachelor of Fine Arts fromOhio University, where she became a member ofAlpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Bell Calloway also studied dance withAlvin Ailey,George Faison, and Otis Sallid. Bell Calloway began her career as a dancer inMichael Bennett's originalBroadway production ofDreamgirls.^[2][3] It was during this time period that Bell Calloway directed the music video "Angel Man" for soul singerRhetta Hughes. She also was in the ensemble of the short-lived musicalBring Back Birdie.^[4]

Bell Calloway began her acting career in the ABC daytime soap opera,All My Children in 1985. After moving to Los Angeles in 1986, she began appearing in episodes of prime time shows such asThe Colbys,Falcon Crest,227,China Beach,A Different World, andL.A. Law. She made her film debut onNumber One with a Bullet (1987), before supporting role ofEddie Murphy's character's arranged wife in the 1988 comedyComing to America. In 1990, she co-starred alongsideJoe Morton in the ABC drama series,Equal Justice.

During the 1990s, she had number of supporting roles in films, includingWhat's Love Got to Do with It (1993) oppositeAngela Bassett,The Inkwell (1994), andCrimson Tide (1995) asDenzel Washington's character wife. She also voiced a leading role in the 1992 dystopian animated film,Bebe's Kids.^[5] She had number of leading and supporting roles in the made for television movies. In 1995, she co-starred oppositeJames Earl Jones and former co-starJoe Morton in the short-livedCBS prime time soap opera,Under One Roof, the first drama series to feature African-American lead characters.^[6] For her role on the series, Calloway was nominated for theNAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series. She also had the leading roles on the short-leved NBC sitcomRhythm & Blues (1992–93), and starred alongsideLarry Hagman as his girlfriend in the CBS dramaOrleans (1997).

In the 2000s, she had recurring roles onBoston Public andThe District. She co-starred in films includingThe Brothers,All About You,Dawg,Biker Boyz,Love Don't Cost a Thing, andCheaper by the Dozen. Bell Calloway also guest starred onThe Division,Strong Medicine,The Closer,CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,Dexter,Rizzoli & Isles, andCastle. From 2010 to 2011, she had a recurring role in the TNT medical drama,Hawthorne. In 2011, she began appearing in the Showtime comedy-drama,Shameless.

In 2016, she was cast as lead character in theBounce TV first prime time soap opera,Saints & Sinners^[7] as Lady Ella Johnson, the widow of pastor and manipulative "First Lady of the Church".^[8] Also in 2016, Bell Calloway co-starred as president Obama's future mother-in-law,Marian Shields Robinson, oppositeTika Sumpter asMichelle Obama, in the comedy-drama filmSouthside with You, which premiered at the2016 Sundance Film Festival.^[9] She guest starred on the ABC medical dramaGrey's Anatomy.

In 2018, she appeared in the Christian drama filmUnbroken: Path to Redemption and the crime thrillerDragged Across Concrete. In 2019, she played abolitionistHarriet Tubman's mother in the biographical drama filmHarriet.^[10] She reprised her role as Imani Izzi in the 2021 sequel,Coming 2 America.^[11] The following year she was cast in theBET+ crime drama series,The Black Hamptons.^[12]

In 2023, Bell Calloway made her directorial debut with the drama filmBlack Girl Erupted forBET Her.^[13]

Bell Calloway marriedanesthesiologist Dr. Anthony Calloway in 1988. They have two daughters, Ashley and Alexandra.^[14] Ashley was one of the stars of theBET seriesBaldwin Hills which originally ran from 2007 until 2009.^[15]

In 2009, Bell Calloway was diagnosed withductal carcinoma, an early stage ofbreast cancer. She underwent twolumpectomies, and then amastectomy. She subsequently underwent reconstructive surgery, in which tissue from her stomach was used to reconstruct her breast. She recounted her experience in an October 2015 essay inEbony magazine, by which point she had been cancer-free for six years.^[14]

Vanessa was a member of Cleveland’s Karamu Dancers, at Karamu House, in the early 1970’s. She received her basic dance training in Eric Hawkins technique from Joan Hartshorne, a former Jose Limon dancer.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toVanessa Bell Calloway.

• Official website
• Vanessa Bell Calloway atIMDb

• 1957 births
• Living people
• African-American female dancers
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• 21st-century African-American actresses
• American female dancers
• African-American dancers
• American television actresses
• American film actresses
• American soap opera actresses
• American voice actresses
• Actresses from Cleveland
• Ohio University alumni
• 20th-century African-American actresses
• Dancers from Cleveland

• CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list
• Use mdy dates from July 2022
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• Commons category link from Wikidata