This bright-eyed and beautiful young African-American performer was discovered in the manner of Hollywood legends of old. Fox was working as a waitress in a Sunset Boulevard eatery when she caught the eye of producer Trevor Walton who liked her looks and had a deal at Paramount. He auditioned her for one of his films and introduced her to the woman who became her agent. Fox made her screen debut with a bit part as a hooker in Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989). TV work soon followed on daytime soaps, the short-lived black-oriented "Generations" on NBC and "The Young and the Restless" on CBS, and primetime guest spots beginning with a turn on the popular Will Smith vehicle "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". On the latter, Fox played a beautiful but venomous "date from Hell" whom Will tries to fix up with his cousin. This led to a brief stint as a regular on the sitcom "Out All Night" (NBC, 1992-93) on which she played the fashion stylist daughter of nightclub owner Patti LaBelle.
After bit parts in several comedy features, Fox gained notice in the unlikely but winning role of a fiercely devoted single mother who supports her child and herself by working as a stripper in the sci-fi blockbuster "Independence Day" (1996). She was well paired with the dashing Will Smith as her flyboy beau. This high-profile exposure opened the floodgates and work poured in. Feature leads followed in the black feminist-inflected actioner "Set It Off" (1996), as part of a quartet of femme bank robbers; the safe sex comedy "Booty Call" (1997) and a supporting role as Ms. B Haven, a moll of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze, in the highly touted sequel "Batman & Robin" (1997). Fox also landed the female lead in Arsenio Hall's sitcom comeback, "Arsenio" (ABC, 1997), which failed to attract viewers and was cancelled after a few airings. She faced a similar fate with her follow-up TV vehicle the Fox sitcom "Getting Personal" (1998). Although it debuted as a midseason replacement and managed to earn a fall renewal, the sitcom's poor showing in the ratings forced its cancellation in October after only a handful of episodes had aired.
Fox returned back to the big screen and was immediately cast alongside Halle Berry and Lela Rochon in "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (1998), a feature film about the life and death of Frankie Lymon. She continued her work on the big screen and on television before picking up another television project. "City Of Angels" (2000), a television series that co-starred Fox as Dr. Lillian Price. In 2001, Fox was cast in "Little Secrets" and the following year she portrayed a WNBA star in the cross-dressing comedy "Juwanna Mann" (2002). After a role opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the dismal comedy "Boat Trip" (2002), Fox was cast in one of best and most visible roles to date, playing the hard-hitting Vernita Green, one of the cadre of assassins marked for retribution by The Bride (Uma Thurman) in writer-director Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill, Vol. 1" (2003).
After a cameo appearance as herself in “Hair Show” (2004), an independently made beauty shop comedy trying to capitalize on the success of “Barbershop” (2002), Fox played the Fairy Lucinda who gives a young girl (Anne Hathaway) the gift—and eventual curse—of obedience at birth. She was next seen in two straight-to-video releases, “Getting Played” (2006), a romantic comedy about three women tired of men who try to ensnare a random target for fun, and “The Hard Corps” (2006), an action flick about a combat vet hired to protect a former boxing champion from an unscrupulous rap mogul. Meanwhile, Fox joined ten other celebrities as a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC, 2005- ), a weekly competition that paired professional dancers with inexperienced celebrities, some of whom have two left feet. Fox impressed the judges with her combination of grace and sex appeal, earning respectable and improving scores—particularly for her Dorothy Dandridge-inspired Tango—during her first few weeks of competition.
* Also Credited As:
Vivica Anjanetta Fox, Vivica Fox
* Born:
on 07/30/1964 in Indianapolis, Indiana
* Job Titles:
Actor
Family
* Father: William Fox. divorced Fox's mother c. 1968
* Mother: Everlyena Fox. divorced Fox's father c. 1968
Significant Others
* Companion: Elden Campbell. played basketball for L.A. Lakers; dated in early 1990s; no longer together
Milestones
* 1982 Moved to Hollywood after graduating high school
* 1986 "Discovered" while waitressing at a restaurant on Sunset Boulevard by Trevor Walton, then a producer at Paramount; Walton introduced her to the woman who subsequently became her agent (date approximate)
* 1989 Screen debut as a hooker in "Born on the Fourth of July"
* 1991 First primetime guest shot, an episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"; first acted with sitcom's star Will Smith
* 1992 Debut as a series regular, "Out All Night"; played the fashion stylist daughter of nightclub owner Patti LaBelle
* 1994 Appeared on CBS's daytime soap "The Young and the Restless" in the recurring role of Dr. Stephanie Simmons
* 1995 Cast in a feature supporting role in the high-profile sequel "Batman and Robin"; had leading roles in "Set It Off" and "Booty Call"
* 1995 Cast in first featured film role, played Will Smith's stripper/single mother girlfriend in the sci-fi blockbuster "Independence Day" (released 1996)
* 1995 TV-movie debut, "The Tuskegee Airmen" on HBO
* 1997 Co-starred with Arsenio Hall in his short-lived ABC sitcom "Arsenio"
* 1997 Signed deal to devlop own sitcom for Twentieth Century-Fox
* 1998 Had co-starring role as one of the wives of pop singer Frankie Lymon in "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"
* 1998 Starred in the Fox sitcom "Getting Personal"
* 2000 Acted in first 13 episodes of the CBS medical drama "City of Angels"
* 2001 Co-starred in "Kingdom Come" as LL Cool J's wife
* 2001 Starred opposite Morris Chestnut in "Two Can Play That Game"
* 2002 Co-starred in "Juwanna Mann" with Miguel A. Nunez Jr.
* 2003 Starred as assassin Copperhead opposite Uma Thurman in Quentin Tarantino's film, which was released in two Volumes "Kill Bill Vol. 1" in 2003 and "Kill Bill Vol.2" in 2004
* 2004 Cast as Fairy Lucinda in "Ella Enchanted"
* 2006 Competed on the third season of "Dancing with the Stars" (ABC)
* 2007 Joined the cast of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" for the HBO series' sixth season
* Appeared as Maya Davis, a recurring character, on "Generations", an NBC daytime soap targeted at black audiences
* Appeared on stage in "In the Abyss of Coney Island" and "Generations of the Dead" in L.A.
* Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana
* Played bit parts in "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood" and "A Low Down Dirty Shame"
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