Were actually born on the same day in real lifeboth November 19th Scorpios.The first season, they paired Maxine up with going back and forth with Regine a lot. We are just the feistiest couple, and we go toe-to-toe with so much love and lust. Living Single didnt shy away from sex, but it did offer the characters an opportunity to explore love and romance beyond stereotypical images of black hypersexuality. John 'Overton' Henton Talks Audition For Living Single And Kim Coles: "This Was Destiny" Comedy Hype 810K subscribers Subscribe 29K views 3 years ago https://comedyhype.com/ - CH News caught. The Hughleys was Hentons biggest claim to fame after Living Single went off the air. Outside of notable guest appearances on fellow Netflix original series Cobra Kai and the aforementioned HBO comedy Insecure, Fields has done, and still does, a lot of work from behind the camera directing such series as Nickelodeons Kenan & Kel, Tyler Perrys Meet the Browns and House of Payne, and the upcoming Urbanflix TV drama Vicious, which is currently filming. Putting his suit looks together was probably one of the more fun ensembles that I looked forward to doing because Im like a tie connoisseur, honey. Alexander: Me and Latifah were the hardest to get to wardrobe. Advertisement. and so they put the two of us together and the impetus was, they had seenand this is the piece I never tell people, I forget about this. But he was always right. Yvette tells people the characters are all based on her, and I think that we all brought ourselves to it. Youve played so many different, a wide variety of characters. videos, What you saw on-screen was what was also the vibe behind the scenes. Photo by Warner Bros. Television. "You know, being challenged and just telling a story that we can bring home to peoples houses, bringing it right into your living room and having people connect with it, see you on the streets and naming their kids after you.". I would show up early for rehearsal, and thats all I can speak to. The cast continues to be close as stated by Kim Coles in an interview with. They would think its too soft or whatever, but he was like, Lets do some traditional this, and do these pants, and the drawstring this, and some interesting shoes. After his set on the late-night talk show, Henton's career took off. Season five begins as Overton and Synclaire enjoy their honeymoon and start their lives together. Its neat, its not hanging all over the place, its neat, its not, so why not have it? Her biggest stint as director thus far was on the sitcom "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns," overseeing 50 episodes of that show. Were still discovering who we are. So I'm excited.". Erika Alexander was recently spotted in the sitcom within a sitcom on Issa Raes Insecure show, and shes also been doing her thing on TV and film over the years, including a hilarious spot as a cop in Get Out.. Kyle was initially Overton's roommate, and in a lot of ways, the two were complete opposites. One example of that would be when we were testing the Overton-Synclaire relationship and we brought in Shemar Moore, and he kissed Synclaire. Henton: Nobody can imagine just being on TV continuously for 25 years, you know? He also appeared in numerous films between 1997 and 2015, most notably the iconic movie "Soul Food." Her career during and since "Living Single" has been prolific and successful indeed, including making history as the first female rapper to be nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 for her role in the film adaptation of "Chicago." Lee Bowser: Erika came in as part of the casting process and just blew us away. Henton: My favorite [hat] was the first one I wore, this one called Eracism. There was a guy that came up and he had a slogan and everything and it was just this pro-Black thing. I love you! Carson, Kim Fields, Mel Jackson, and John Henton. She was also sexy, but she was always experimental. Living Single (1993) Living Single (1993) Queen Latifah, Erika Alexander, Kim Fields, Terrence 'T.C.' Carson, Kim Coles, and John Henton in Living Single (1993) People Queen Latifah, Erika Alexander, Kim Fields, Terrence 'T.C.' Carson, Kim Coles, John Henton Titles Living Single Im a classic movie and TV lover, so there were times when toward the end, like at my very last episode, when I have on the wrap skirt with the leggings and the bodysuit with the cuffs and collar, thats very Lucy. And Im like, Im for that, but Im not gonna diss men. She became even more of a household name in 2002 after her iconic performance in Chicago, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Living Single is a beloved series that set a precedent for modern pop culture favorites such as Insecure. The ensemble was fantastic, and the black audiences loved it, so it was devastating for many when the show was canceled. I feel that sometimes people believe that in order to get ahead, you have to adopt another cultures aesthetic, you have to adopt another cultures way of being, and I dont think you do. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s it would be much the same, with Fields mostly just dabbling in acting while focusing most of her attention on directing. Like I just remember seeing him and going, Oh snap, that guys gonna be a star! It's just one of many reasons why the fifth season is not fondly remembered by fans, as it clearly smacked of some creative and personnel-related turmoil going on behind the scenes. The actress went on to make appearances on shows like Frasier, Six Feet Under, and My Wife and Kids, and she had a recurring role on The Geena Davis Show in 2000 as Judy Owens. Out of all of us, I would say T.C. But what have they all been up to in the years since the series ended? Much of the backbone of "Living Single" was fictional magazine "Flavor," which employed multiple characters on the show both main and recurring. Kim Coles' character would be renamed Synclaire James-Jones after marrying Obie, who was played by John Henton - a Cleveland-based comedian whose big break came with a The Tonight Show. hey Kim just saw you on the wendy williams show and you are amazing and I just wanted to tell you keep up the great job you are inspiring to me. She lived through her realities, dealt with them, and she still was able to get her fairytale. People just broke out laughing. The chick was undeniably talented, and a prodigy. I remember there was an article that was written that said we were an Emmy-worthy couple, an Emmy-worthy image. Carson. Cant nobody pick a tie better than I can. Let's go back to a '90s kind of world! That or hair and makeup. Fox. So to work with someone who was so known and so proficient at what she did, so excellentactually, to be honest, I was a little intimidated because I thought, Shes Queen Latifah. The one where EW follows up with the cast. They had been anticipating [it] the whole time. She was always head to toe on point, regardless. The fact that she got the "and" credit in the opening of "Living Single" proves that Kim Fields was the show's biggest name at the time, at least in terms of television. Teen Titans, and even the video game adaptation of Greys Anatomy from 2009. Im a Girls High graduate, and obviously a lot of my mentors, whether I met them or not, including Hillary Clinton, were the type of people I was naturally attracted to. These days, Henton enjoys spending time with his family, who live close to his Cleveland, Ohio home. As for the Icon herself, Queen Latifah noted her time on Living Singleas one of the highlights of her long-standing career. THE CAST AND CREW Ironically, Kim Fields played the bougie Regine Hunter on the show, while John Henton portrayed the lovable Overton. She doesnt have to be there all the time. Lee Bowser: What do people take away [from Living Single]? The cast of "Living Single" was led by Queen Latifah, a rapper who was only just starting what would become a very long and successful career as an actor. Henton: [Overton] was old-school, you know, just, like, had an old soul, and thats how I tried to play him because Overton wasI always like to say he was the wisest of all of them; he just had a country way of saying it. They were very, very protective of the characters, Lee Bowser said. The show didnt peddle an aspirational respectability so much as it reflected multiple strains of black life. The actor-comedian recovered from his ordeal by focusing on his life. Age hasn't slowed her down one bit, with the 70-year-old directing 25 episodes of Nickelodeon's "Young Dylan" in the last two years. Kim Coles. Queen Latifah has leveraged her career in Hip-Hop to a bevy of acting gigs, commercial contracts, singing performances and more. In April of 1993, Henton was cast in the FOX TV series "Living Single" starring Queen Latifah, Kim Fields and Kim Coles. That was one of the things Queen Latifah said: Can you grow a beard? The compromise will be that she lives across the street. The "Living Single" star recounts being on a break for the first time in a while before getting into the car accident. Much like Bowser, Coles doesn't believe there could ever be a reboot of the classic series, but she's on board for a possible reunion! In an interview, Henton reveals that Living Single was a number one show when they stopped filming. Henton: Overton and Synclaire, they were just like big kids, thats all. I just felt like they really worked at making sure that, again, I was comfortable, I was confident. And certainly, the deepness of the characters was definitely informed by all the other actors who were subsequently cast in the showyou know, Kim Fields and Erika Alexander. John Henton at an interview for the "Living Single" 25th Anniversary Special, July 2018 | Source: Getty Images. You put our hair and makeup on and we just went. We came on in 93 and Ive been on TV somewhere in some country across the world every week since 1993 and thats insane. Not only had she appeared in two episodes of "Fresh Prince," but Latifah already had three high-profile movies under her belt before "Living Single" debuted: "Jungle Fever," "House Party 2," and "Juice." I'm actually not surprised. My battle for Maxine. The budding romance between her and Overton is as charming as it is innocent, feeling more like young puppy love than the sexually-charged energy between characters like Kyle and Max. So thats the Maxine Shaw walkit comes from me making sure that Ive got attitude and stumble around on these things that are totally anathema to me. And, again, Im a product of Whoopi Goldbergs largesse and her success. Not bad for my first show., John Henton, Terrence C. Carson, Kim Fields and Kim Coles at a special taping for "Living Single" 25th Anniversary Special, July 2018 | Source: Getty Images. After his set on the late-night talk show,. Kim Coles still does stand-up (often co-headlining with her Living Single husband, John Henton) and offers lessons in public speaking and narrative development. Aside from "Living Single," the father-of-one has starred in "The Parkers" and "The Hughleys." A lot of times, African Americans are portrayed in one light and we dont get to show the rainbow. lists Fields' character on "Living Single" was Regina, a self-absorbed lover of gossip and drama who would go on to be a make-up artist for a fictional soap opera as well as a wedding planner. Wow. Born Dana Elaine Owens in New Jersey in 1970, Queen Latifahs groundbreaking emergence into the rap music scene in the late 1980s paved the way for her to be cast on Living Single, which would lead to a very successful movie career, including her Oscar-nominated role in Chicago from 2002. Since its sudden cancellation in 1998, the Living Single cast has gone on to lead some impressive careers, which we will take a deeper look at here, starting with hip-hops First Lady.. On his way out, a limo driver offered to take him home, but Henton refused the kind gesture and got into his Acura NSX. I said, Sure. My hairstyle was made out of knitting yarn. Max is from a very different place than Khadijah is, but you believe that these two girls went to college together and became the truest, bluest friends, and are to this day. Getting six series-regular actorsand even more guest starsto mesh perfectly is no simple science. It was there from inception. But I'm gonna believe it's coming mostly because we all still look good. This was the 90s and so this is when the idea of rappers taking jobs was really in, so I saw a recognizable face and Im like, Oh man, Im going to lose this job to this rapper. The show also explored a number of relevant issues of the time, with an approach that was far less didactic than shows like A Different World. Interestingly enough, like Overton actor John Henton, KimColes was primarily a stand-up comedian before her breakthrough acting role on "Living Single." So it really helped to push the boundaries of the walls of his character. Look for his name in just about any article related to Batman. And they told me that their mothers spelled it the way mine was: S-y-n-c-l-a-i-r-e. And that is just phenomenal to me. It was and remains an impressive feat. I ran into Marsha Ambrosius, the singer, at Essence Festival this summer, and she said to me, [imitates Ambrosiuss British accent] Oh my god! T.C. "[The highlights have been] working with people like Kim Coles, Kim Fields, Erika [Alexander] and doingThe Equalizer right now," the actress shared with ET. Theres just so much flavor and culture and, quite frankly, we were somewhat limited by our multi-cam format, but I think we captured it as well as [we] could have given the nature of our show and our limited budget. We didnt have the Friends budget, she continued. Its like the Scully Effect, but its particular to this character and theyre getting ready to do research around it through the Geena Davis Institute [on Gender in Media]. She was an international star by the time she was on the show. First of all, can we talk about how great everyone looks some 25 years later? We definitely enhanced it as we started to learn peoples strengths and weakness, but the Kyle and Max thing was there from the pilot, Lee Bowser said. Kim Coles is a member of the following lists: 1962 births, American film actors and American television actors. So I was excited about it, reading for a lot of stuff, and then my agent, Rick Greenstein, he told me that I had an audition for a show and Kim Coles would be my love interest if I got the part, which excited me because I was in love with Kim Coles because she was on In Living Color and she was hosting Showtime at the Apollo. The 26 Best Walmart Deals to Shop This Weekend, Queen Latifah Calls 'Chicago' the Film That Changed Her Life Ahead of 20th Anniversary (Exclusive). And she made me cry! They saw somebody walking by and they said, You wanna shave your hair off? That added more adjectives to my bag of tricks, which made him more multi-dimensional, and thats what expanded the opportunity to do more with him. Queen Latifah, Erika Alexander, Kim Fields, Terrence 'T.C.' Carson, Kim Coles, and John Henton in Living Single (1993) However, she got back into the swing of it after "Living Single" ended, appearing in films pretty frequently between 1998 and today including 2017's acclaimed "Get Out." And then they had something. I spent a lot of time with her and she's a person who is very aware of her power and was very, very early. Williams: Queen Latifahs a very strong woman, and so, when I looked back and Im like, Oh okay, so Young MC really didnt have much of a chance because hes not anythingIm 65, hes not anything close to 65. He sustained life-changing injuries, unfortunately. I think you just need to be good at what you do and do business well. And the things that she wants different for her life as an adult. It felt very much like they couldnt help it. Kim Coles is in line at the bank after her legendary run on FOX's Living Single when an old white man comes walking by. Connect any celebrity with Kim Coles to see how closely they are linked romantically! With Kim Fields Freeman and Queen Latifah. My father used to take me as a little girl in elementary school to this lil tiny lil hole in the wall place downtown, California Tie Shop. Whoopi Goldberg, who was known for being funny and kind of flat. I wanted to make the characters feel like they really would have these relationships. Due to the popularity of the show, Coles landed the role of the hilarious Synclaire on Living Single, which cemented her legacy in pop culture. But even the whole kente cloth thingbeing wrapped in his stupid blanket. And the older it got, the more it looked like locs. Spike Lees movie, Jungle Fever, there was a scene where a bunch of women were sitting around talking about men and life and all of that. Thousands of new high quality images are added every day. Making a splash: A deep dive into the live-action. I am actually talking about Living Single - the smash hit comedy that premiered on Fox in 1993, and which solidified rap artist and future Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah as a prominent acting talent and also reignited former The Facts of Life star Kim Fields reputation as sitcom royalty. This is not a good tie. Following the success of Living Single, the actors next taste of sitcom stardom was on star and co-creator D.L. But it was those coats, capesit was things that, there was flourish. The early 1990s saw the debut of a sitcom focusing on six twenty-somethings dealing with the common struggles of life, love, and their careers as they reside in New York City and, no, I am not talking about Friends. Everyone I spoke to was tentatively enthusiastic about the idea, but some expressed doubts about the projects feasibility. Playing Regine Hunter on Living Single saw the resurgence of Kim Fields sitcom stardom just five years after her stint as Dorothy Tootie Ramsey on The Facts of Life ended in 1988. So they originally all lived together and I was like, You know what? Not only was she known for her long-running role on "The Facts of Life," but Fields was also a supporting cast member on both "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Good Times." And so I got a chance to be involved in all of that. His vision for the show is crystal clear and my job is to just not get in the way. He has not done much acting since, outside of appearances on The Parkers and on Disney Channels Hannah Montana as a Randy Jackson doppelgnger, but, according to the Tahoe Daily Tribune, he managed to coast through quarantine pretty well. Alexander: Kim Fields was the biggest freakout for me, because Id grown up watching her in [The] Facts of Life. Aton Edwards and Kim Coles are divorced after a marriage of 10 years. That cast, we had more funyou know, people would always say, Boy, looked like yall was having a good time making it. I just landed this deal with Warner Bros. and Fox to develop a show with Kim Coles and Queen Latifah. I just think that thats the impact, and thats how the show got over there. After Living Single was canceled, Fields took on directing and has worked on a few of Tyler Perry's movies and BET's Let's Stay Together. We became family instantly and not for the sake of, Well yeah, we better be close because we makin a TV show. The series followed the lives of six friends living in a Brooklyn brownstone and featured Queen Latifah,. He Doesn't, Yet It Features in Several of His Roles, 'Happy Days's' Anson Williams Divorced the Same Woman Twice after Almost Losing His Life in the Early 2000s, Bob Saget's Longtime Home Gets $770K Price Cut Nobody Is Ready to Buy House He Lived in until His Tragic Death, Ray Romano Wed Teller Who Wasnt Materialistic Then - He Sends Her to Cry in a Bag of Money Now. Carson: [Hair] was talked about when I first got hired. She wasnt an easy win and he was used to easy wins. So Im just playing everything to her, and Im like, If I got her laughing, then obviously Im saying it the way that she wrote it and Im onto something, so I just played to her and I kept going backI think it was maybe four or five times, it was a lot. But it was a lot of cool sayings and anything that was cool that was pro-Black, you know, that was what the show was about so I would definitely wear. I think in the pilot you can actually hear I had a little bit of flair because [he] was one of my favorite comics and we were all working on the road all the time and I had a little bit of Steve Harvey country. And so, we knew there would be looong laughs, and there were. Help us build our profile of Kim Coles! In the early-2000s, he was cast in another memorable role on Nash Bridges as Inspector Antwon Babcock. Along with fellow Fox series "Martin," it was among the first network sitcoms to focus primarily on agroup of Black professional twentysomething friends without some forced gimmick to tie the whole thing together. and more from FamousFix.com, Kimberly Coles, Kim LaShaunda Coles, Kim Coles. Coles most recently had a role on the Season 2 premiere of the Emmy-nominated HBO original comedy A Black Lady Sketch Show, on which her good friend, former Community star Yvette Nicole Brown, also had a role. We were what is right now called working poordumpster diving, all thatamidst the first 11 years of my life in a hotel called Starlight [Pines], off Route 66. The. Queen Latifah has many projects in progress in both the acting and producing departments (such as the upcoming film adaptation of Kate DiCamillos book The Tiger Rising). . Did the show air in England? Synclaire is Khadijah's cousin, Regina is her childhood friend, and Max her best friend from college. I was filming [Black Lightning] yesterday and we had a young actor on our set and he was like, Youve been able to be so versatile. [Henton] took that very personally.. It never felt lecherous or weird. It was pretty busy because I just recently, like two years earlier, I just got an agent, so this is like my second pilot season. And then theyre very much informed by the actors who played them. The success of Living Single may have been unanticipated, but it was no accident. They were both orphans. Should he do something with it and do we need to have him cut it? By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. The show never came to fruition, however, and I think the sitcoms biggest fans would agree that rewatching the original series with the original Living Single cast is good enough. And so they said they really wanted to try to get somebody who was a bit of a veteran, if you will, to kinda anchor things. I wanted him to be from Cleveland. LIVING SINGLE, Erika Alexander, Queen Latifah, Kim Fields, Kim Coles, 1993-1998, (c) Warner Brothers, John Henton (Overton "Obie" Wakefield Jones), Cress Williams (Terrence "Scooter" Williams). Maxine was a high-powered lawyer who had no qualms about sharing her resources with her girls, but even she sometimes fell victim to the unstable returns of corporate life. Copyright 2023 WWETV Network - Website Design & Algorithm By AuroIN Digital Marketing Agency - World Wide Entertainment TV Contact Email: [email protected]. Despite that, viewers saw plenty of Max, a lawyer who was frequently around to raid the fridge and to give Kyle a hard time. I think thats the thing that people see in the show. I turned those lemons into lemonade. Her "Living Single" character was Max, the only of the core six characters to not live in one of the two apartments that the others all live in for much of the series. It just felt natural and people loved them. Each of the characters are parts of me and my girlfriendstheyre all amalgamations. Fields: [T.C.s hair episode was] very organic. And so [Living Single] was such a great start. Like her daughter, Chip also has an affinity for directing and took it up around the same time that Kim did. What theyre watching is very delicate, and again, it has nothing to do with even the words on paper. The actor was even on set filming for The Hughleys six weeks after the tragic car accident. When we were filming that, you could feel the anticipation in the warehouse, in the studio. So I think it really set a beautiful tone to start a career as an African American. . Ceci: Regine was a fashionista, sassy. Alexander: Im a product of very strong women and men. In April of 1993 Henton was cast in the FOX TV series "Living Single" starring Queen Latifah Kim Fields and Kim Coles. Shes sexy, shes a boss. When the show came to an end after five years, Henton was proud and pleased . & 2023 CBS Studios Inc. and CBS Interactive Inc., Paramount companies. On the show, Hentons character was madly in love with the good-natured receptionist Synclaire James played by Kim Coles, who would later become his wife on the program. Latifah's career began in the early-'90s with her album All Hail the Queen which featured her hit single "Ladies First." I think people know that now, but at the time she was a rock star. Shes a badass, she a boss, shes hard-edge, you have the little Afrocentricity to her. He wasnt an ex-con, he didnt have a gun in his hand. I was so young and so nave and so eager, that I just took my role in the casting process to the next level. Kyle as his mentor and Khadijah as Synclaires mentor, and Khadijah ultimately learning to put work aside and open up herself to love, and Max also learning to take off some of her armor and not be afraid to be effeminate and also be vulnerable. I had to go back and forth and it was just less and less people and it just got down to, it was just me and another guy, and I went up to him and I said, You know, with this show, this one aint for you, brother, because Ive got to have it. Coles: I knew that the plan was for these two characters [Synclaire and Overton] to eventually become a couple. You know, because [as a recurring guest] I was there quite a bit and whenever I was there, I felt like part of the group. In 2015, Fields joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, although her gig only lasted one season. Five years of doing something is a long time. Free shipping for many products! Williams: It was virtually my first job and what was interesting and rare and great is that it was a 100-percent positive character. I was in New York. I love them, and so I think that was the germ of the idea. I remember especially back then, I was tall but I had such a young-looking face. More recently, she has seemingly rediscovered her love of acting: she is currently a main cast member of the Netflix series "The Upshaws," with the show's second season currently in the works. Living Single, the popular sitcom that made its debut 25 years ago on this day in 1993, was powered behind the performances of lead actress Queen Latifah, veteran actress Kim Fields, comedienne Kim Coles, and The Cosby Show alum, Erika Alexander. Despite his "Living Single" career being over almost as soon as it started, Jackson was far from done with acting at that point. Oh and video game heads, he was the voice of Kratos for God Of War too. And I think if thats black love, then yeah. The characters had both flings and long-term relationships. The Ohio native's journey into comedy began in 1991 after he won the "Johnny Walker National Comedy Search.". If he was like, Nah, nah just give me some jeans and a T-shirt, it would not have been as interesting. He had a long plan. Really enjoyed you on Wendy Williams show last night! and hes like, [Imitating T.C.s voice] Yass, buuuurgundy. Kim Coles. After extensive reconstructive plastic surgery, he continued his work on The Hughleys. But I knew right away that she was Max. Carson and John Henton were also members of the main cast of characters who dwelled in a snazzy Brooklyn brownstone long before the current trend of gentrification that has overtaken the New York borough. Justine Skye's Parents Were Successful but Her Mom Sold Her Valuables for Their Daughter's Career, Is Cybill Shepherd Married? And those conversations resulted in a better show and a show that had more richness and dimension to it than just the writers could provide. Naturally, the actors knew their roles were just thatcharactersbut that didnt stop them from getting attached to the storylines (or each other). He just had this weird way of saying everybody just thought that was crazy, but he was right all the time, so hes just the wisest of the show. He has also done a lot more live theater in the past few years where his acting career originally began most recently in the traveling production of "War Words.". In fact, the then-president of NBC admitted that he regretted not picking up "Living Single" and only a year later, here came "Friends.". Still, Russell was a fun character and one that probably deserved more episodes than he ended up getting. Living Single is one of the greatest TV shows of all-time. To take Max out of the show is to take me out of the show, and Id rather not do it. That was my aim with [Kyle Barker], was to make sure, even with his bravado, other people understood that he was a really good brother. He cared about his brothers and sisters and his friends. In 1993, the race for Sunday night ratings was a tight one critics agreed that the big contenders were CBS' Murder, She Wrote and NBC's seaQuest DSV, but out of left field came a sitcom deemed underdog: Fox's Living Single. sweet, dopey handyman Overton (John Henton) and suave womanizer Kyle (Terrence "T.C . Overton was the maintenance man for the building that the majority of the show took place in the only other regular location on the show being the offices of the fictional magazine "Flavor." But she is. But I didnt think at the time, Oh snap, this is gonna be iconic. The actress found success as host of BET's game show Pay It Off and was part of TBS' comedy 10 Items or Less. Because the show was only 23 minutes and it was three or four house laughs in there and we left that in, we wouldnt even get the whole story in. Carson), and finally, Ira or "Tripp" (Mel Jackson). How to Watch King Charles' Coronation Live in the U.S. Although he didn't die, the almost fatal crash cost him to lose eleven teeth and break his two legs.