Photo: MingleMediaTVNetwork / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
To me, Nia Long is a living archive of 1990s Black cinema. From Boyz n the Hood to Friday, Love Jones, and Soul Food — plus holding her own as Lisa on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air — she anchored an era's most beloved stories with warmth and steel in equal measure. What I admire most is that she never coasted on nostalgia; her later work as a motivational speaker tells me the confidence she projects on screen is genuine, something she wants to pass on. Brooklyn-born and quietly authoritative, she is the kind of performer whose presence elevates every frame she enters.
Overview
Nia Talita Long ( NEE-yə; born October 30, 1970) is an American actress. Best known for her work in black cinema, Long rose to prominence after starring in the film Boyz n the Hood (1991), and for her portrayal of Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1991–1995). Long then appeared in the films Friday (1995), Love Jones (1997), and Soul Food (1997).
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Nia Long
- Name (Japanese)
- ニア・ロング
- Reading
- にあ・ろんぐ
- Born
- October 30, 1970 (age 55)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Dog
- Origin
- Brooklyn, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / motivational speaker / television actor / film actor / voice actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · Motivational speaker — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.