| T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh | |
| Birth Name: | Crystal Walker |
| Birth Date: | October 13, 1962 |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education: | Florida A&M University |
| Yearsactive: | 1982–present |
| Known For: | In Living Color Cosby That's So Raven |
| Awards: | 2012 – TV Land Groundbreaking Show Award (In Living Color)[1] |
T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh (born Crystal Walker;[2] October 13, 1962) is an American actress and singer. In addition to her status as an original cast member of the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color (1990–1994), Keymáh is also known for her roles as Erica Lucas on the CBS sitcom Cosby (1996–2000), Tanya Baxter on the Disney Channel sitcom That's So Raven (2003–2005), and as the star and host on the Keymáh Network sketch variety show The Cool Crystal Show (2020–present).[3]
Born Crystal Walker on October 13, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois, at Cook County Hospital, Keymáh was raised Catholic on the city's South Side.[4] [5] Her mother, Arlene Carter, a student at Chicago State University, died when Keymáh was two years old. Keymáh's father, William Walker Sr., was an Illinois state police trooper. He is of Seminole Indian descent from Springfield, Illinois.[5] Keymáh was raised by her maternal grandparents Mary Louis Zeno, a social worker for the Illinois public aid department, and Carneil Carter, an insurance salesperson with Metropolitan Insurance.[5] Keymáh began entertaining her family – singing, dancing, and reciting original poems and stories — at the age of three. Keymáh wrote her first play and her first song in elementary school. For high school, Keymáh is a 1981 graduate of the Academy of Our Lady.[5] Keymáh performed with Ali LeRoi and Lance Crouther in the Mary Wong Comedy Group in high school, and then enrolled in Florida A&M University’s School of Business and Industry.[2] In 1988, she adopted the stage name "T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh" after realizing her last name, Walker, reflected a slave name rather than her African roots. In a 1991 interview with the Chicago Tribune, she claimed that "T'Keyah" meant "mental revival of God's spirit" and that "Keymáh" meant "to establish oneself" in Hebrew but neither name appears to be of Hebrew origin by modern day findings."[6] [5]
During college and after graduation, Keymáh taught theater, dance, and mime. She has also done many theater performances, and produced and directed films. One of the original cast members of Fox Television's Emmy winning variety show, In Living Color, for five seasons Keymáh played a number of characters, including Cryssy, the central character of her self-written signature piece, "In Black World". She also sang and danced on the show. After In Living Color, she played contractor Scotti Decker in On Our Own; played comedy show writer Denise Everett on the 1996 TV series The Show; and provided the voices for Roz, Shavonne, Aki, Mrs. LaSalle, and many others in Waynehead. For four years, Keymáh was a series regular on Cosby, where she played flight attendant-lawyer-pastry chef-teacher Erica Lucas Hall.[7] Following Cosby, she appeared for three seasons on the Disney series That's So Raven as Raven's mother, Tanya Baxter. In season four, her character was written out of the plot so that Keymáh could care for her ailing grandmother. Keymáh co-wrote and costarred in a two-person stage show with music, called Sellout!?!, with fellow College alumnus Bryan C. Jones, who was also one of the many guests to appear in her hit variety show T'Keyah Live! On June 21, 2022, Entertainment Tonight announced that Keymáh would reprise her role as Tanya Baxter on the That's So Raven spin-off, Raven's Home.[8]
Keymáh performed a solo stage work titled Don't Get Me Started! She sang, performed impressions, and talked about the prison industrial complex as well as conspiracy theories. She debuted the show in 2011 at The Black Academy of Art & Letters (TBAAL) in Dallas, Texas.
T'Keyah Live! is a variety show and is Keymáh's third self-produced theatrical show. She has performed the show across the U.S. since 1999 with a number of different guest performers, including Todd Bridges, T. C. Carson, Ralph Harris, Dawnn Lewis, and Karen Malina White.[9]
Some of My Best Friends is a series of monologues in verse and prose embodied by a dozen diverse but somehow connected characters. In this humorous, tear jerking, thought-provoking theatrical production, Keymáh champions societal issues that are as relevant today as they were when the show debuted to sold out crowds at Chicago's South Shore Cultural Center in 1991. Overcoming obstacles, the devastation of AIDS, the search for love, race relations, and teen promiscuity are just some of the topics explored. The show was chiefly penned by Keymáh but includes pieces written by or in collaboration with Ali LeRoi, Harry Lennix, and poet Angela Jackson (And All These Roads Be Luminous: Poems Selected and New); and includes a dance choreographed by Maurice Hines. About her work in this show critics have said: "Keymáh is a Charismatic Actress... Chameleonic and Effervescent" – Los Angeles Times;"...Beyond Superlatives; She's Phenomenal!" – Earl Calloway, Chicago Defender; "Much More Than Comedy"- Lisa M. Pancia, New York Vignette; "...a Delightful, Multitalented Performer whose ability to create believable characters on stage is a Wonder to Behold"- Nat Colley, Los Angeles Reader; "Keymáh is Magnificent" – Linda Armstrong, Amsterdam News;"...Keymáh's Poignant, Detailed Portrayals are Never Less Than Magnificent"- Randy Trabitz, Los Angeles Weekly. The show garnered an AUDELCO Award nomination for Best Solo Performer, an NAACP Theatre Award nomination for Best Writing, and NAACP Theatre Awards for Best Performance and Best Play.
Keymáh is an avid gardener and a vegetarian,[10] as well as an active, Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She was initiated into the Beta Alpha chapter at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.[11] Keymáh's brother is former Commander of the DC US Army National Guard, current Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives, the Honorable Major General William J. Walker.[12] [13] [14]
Keymáh self-published three books: Cycle of Love: 28 Days of Organization, Rejuvenation and Meditation for Inspired Self Care, an inspirational self-help book with recipes, exercises and meditations; Some of My Best Friends: A Collection of Characters, the book version of the stage show she performed for ten years;[15] and Natural Woman / Natural Hair: A Hair Journey – Hairstyles and Hairstories from the Front with Simple, Step-by-Step Instructions on Taking Care of your Natural Hair, an instructional hair care manual with anecdotes about her experiences with Afro-textured hair. She also contributed essays to "The HBCU Experience Book," "Dining with the Ancestors: When Heroes Come to Dinner," and "The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impact of Slavery."[16]
Musical artist Flyy Moon pays tribute to Keymáh's iconic "In Black World" performance piece, by including the opening lines in the intro of her 2021 debut song release, "Black." Associated Black Charities operates a donor-advised Keymáh Cultural Fund, which provides tickets to youth groups to attend theatrical performances and funds artistic groups that serve or comprise teens and children.[17] There is a theater scholarship named for Keymáh at her alma mater, Florida A&M University.[18] and medical scholarship named for her at Meharry Medical College.[19]
T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh served as a K–8 substitute teacher for the Chicago Board of Education for 4 years.[20] [21] She has presented her "Tools of the Trade" actors preparation workshops at theatre festivals and other events in the United States,[22] [23] and she has lectured abroad. In the fall of 2017, Keymáh served as Florida A&M University's first ever W.K. Kellogg Foundation Artist-in-Residence in the College of Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities Theatre department.[24] Her residency included directing Pearl Cleage's The Nacirema Society Requests Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First 100 Years, teaching an Acting for the Camera course, and providing industry workshops and mentoring students.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The Miss Black America Pageant | Contestant | Miss Illinois and 1st runner up for Miss Black America | |
| 1987 | Big Shots | Secretary | Uncredited[25] | |
| 1995 | Tales from the Hood | Nurse Parchman | Uncredited | |
| 1997 | Jackie Brown | Raynelle | ||
| Tales from the Hood | School Nurse | Uncredited | ||
| 2000 | Tweety's High-Flying Adventure | Aoogah | Voice, uncredited | |
| 2001 | The Gilded Six Bit | Missy Mae | Short film | |
| 2004 | The Creature of the Sunny Side Up Trailer Park | Tonya | ||
| 2012 | Lost Angels | Hadassah | Short film | |
| 2012 | Daughter of Fortune | Vogel Peterson | Short film | |
| 2014 | Unsolved | Margaret Hanes | Short film | |
| 2015 | Bail | Gladys/Bobbie | Short film | |
| 2015 | Chi-Raq | Lorde | ||
| 2016 | Instance | Ms. Kaplan | Short film | |
| 2015 | What Happened Last Night? | Beverly | ||
| 2018 | Revival | Rebah | ||
| 2020 | Patsy Lee & The Keepers of the 5 Kingdoms | Lorraine | ||
| 2020 | Ungubani | Moms | Short film | |
| 2020 | For Prophet | Dr. Sharon Fisher | ||
| TBA | Patsy Lee & The Keepers of the 5 Kingdoms | Lorraine |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–1994 | In Living Color | Various | Series regular - 140 episodes | |
| 1992 | Quantum Leap | Paula | Episode: "A Song for the Soul - April 7, 1963" | |
| 1993 | Roc | Darrelle | Episode: "Ebony and Ivory" | |
| 1993-1997 | Soul Train | Herself - Guest Host | 2 episodes | |
| 1994 | The Commish | Grace Caldwell | Episode: "Born in the USA" | |
| 1994–1995 | The John Larroquette Show | Sara | 2 episodes | |
| 1995 | On Our Own | Scotti Decker | Series regular - 7 episodes | |
| 1996–2000 | Cosby | Erica Lucas | Series regular - 94 episodes Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1998–99) | |
| 1996 | Waynehead | Roz, Shavonne | Voice, main role[26] | |
| 1996 | The Show | Denise Everett | Series regular - 8 episodes | |
| 1998 | Pinky and the Brain | Singer | Voice, episode: "Inherit the Wheeze" | |
| 1999 | Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain | Nurse Gland | Voice, episode: "Mr. Doctor" | |
| 2000 | Grandmother / Robber Girl | Voice, episode: "The Snow Queen" | ||
| 2000–2001 | Batman Beyond | Old Woman, Makeba, Dispatch Operator | 3 episodes | |
| 2002–2003 | Static Shock | Allie Langford / Nails, Teen Girl #1 | Voice, 2 episodes | |
| 2003–2005 | That's So Raven | Tanya Baxter | Series regular - 50 episodes (Seasons 1–3) | |
| 2004 | My Wife and Kids | Realtor | Episode: "Moving on Out" | |
| 2004–2005 | Teen Titans | Bumblebee | Voice, 4 episodes | |
| 2005–2006 | Various | Voice, 3 episodes | ||
| 2007–2008 | Jury Duty | Herself | 5 episodes | |
| 2013 | Let's Stay Together | Dr. Blair Riley | 2 episodes | |
| 2016 | Tech Terry @ Astro X | Television film | ||
| 2017 | There's...Johnny! | Roz | Series Regular - 6 episodes | |
| 2018 | Kidding | Amika | Episode: "Pusillanimous" | |
| 2020 | Two Degrees | T'Keyah | Episode: "Dessert & Down From There" | |
| 2020-2021 | The Cool Crystal Show | Host / Various | Series Regular - 7 episodes | |
| 2022 | Raven's Home | Tanya Baxter | Episode: "Bridge Over Troubled Daughter" |