Kenya Moore

Kenya Summer Moore (born January 24, 1971),^[1] is an American actress, model, producer, author, television personality, and entrepreneur. She currently stars in the Bravo TV series The Real Housewives of Atlanta and was a member of the cast of The Celebrity Apprentice 7 (2015). Moore rose to prominence in 1993 after winning the Miss USA contest which led her to compete in that year's Miss Universe pageant ultimately landing her among the top six. She subsequently appeared in films including Waiting To Exhale (1995) and Deliver Us From Eva (2003), and in multiple television series including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Parent 'Hood, and Girlfriends. Moore has produced several film projects, had a book published, and starred in her own exercise video.

Early life, modeling and pageants

Moore was born in Detroit, Michigan,^[1][2] the daughter of teenagers Patricia Moore and Ronald Grant, and was raised by her paternal grandmother and aunt after her mother abandoned her at birth. The reality TV show star revealed that her mother never named her. "Since birth, my mother made the decision at age 16 to pretend she never had me. She has never spoken to me,” Kenya wrote. “Even if present in the same room with other people and family, she pretends that I simply don’t exist. She pretends I’m invisible" Kenya revealed on her Bravo blog.^[3] She graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1989^[4] and attended Wayne State University, where she majored in psychology and minored in communication,^[5] She began modeling at the age of 14 and in the course of her modeling career was the January 1992 cover girl for Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Company's Ebony Man's (EM) magazine.^[6] She also became a model for the Ebony Fashion Fair cosmetic line. At 22, Kenya Moore won Miss Michigan USA (1993) and then became the second African American woman to win Miss USA. She then represented the United States in the Miss Universe 1993 pageant and placed sixth.^[7]

Post-pageant career

Moore appeared in television programs including: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Meet The Browns, Homeboys in Outer Space, Sparks, Smart Guy, Video Soul Living Single, Damon, In the House, The Jamie Foxx Show, The Parent 'Hood, The Steve Harvey Show, Martin, Nubian Goddess, Men, Women & Dogs, The Parkers, Under One Roof, and Girlfriends. She has also appeared on the covers of Glamour, Seventeen, Ebony, and Essence magazines and can be seen in the music videos for Jermaine Dupri's "Money Ain't a Thang" (1998), Nas's "Street Dreams" (1996), Shai's "I Don't Wanna Be Alone" (1996),^[8] and Tupac's "Temptations".^[9] Additionally, Moore has appeared in several films: Waiting to Exhale (1995), Senseless (1998), Trois (2000), Deliver Us from Eva (2003), Brothers in Arms (2005), Cloud 9 (2006), I Know Who Killed Me (2007), and Trapped: Haitian Nights (2010). Her advice book "Game, Get Some!" was published in November 2007.^[5] Since then she has also been producing and directing, and launched her own company, Moore Vision Media in 2008.^[10] Moore Vision Media produced the erotic thriller “The Confidant”. In May 2012, Moore joined the season five cast of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta.^[11] In 2013, she released a workout DVD titled Kenya Moore: Booty Boot Camp.^[12] In 2015 Moore was cast on The Celebrity Apprentice 7.^[13]

Production

Moore is credited as producer/director of the film Trapped: Haitian Nights.^[14] After the project lost its director, Moore took over the production and completed the film. When the film failed to find distribution, Moore founded Moore Vision Media, an independent movie production and home-video distribution company.^[10] The company's first production was The Confidant, released by Universal Vivendi on August 24, 2010.^[15]

Filmography

References

External links

• Kenya Moore at the Internet Movie Database
• Kenya Moore's Official Website
• Game, Get Some! on Amazon.com
• Trois – Box Office Mojo