'Living Single' cast: Where are they now? (original) (raw)

Before Friends came along, there was Living Single. 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. The show chronicled the adventures of four single ladies living in New York City, capturing viewers with its on-point comedy and catchy opening credits song. Featuring six Black comedic stars, the show quickly became the most popular sitcom of its era. See where the cast of Living Single has been since its 1998 finale.

Queen Latifah (Khadijah James)

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Before playing the role of a successful magazine founder in NYC, Queen Latifah was known for her musical talent. Latifah's career began in the early-'90s with her album All Hail the Queen, which featured her hit single "Ladies First." In '93, the same year she landed Living Single, Latifah earned a Grammy for her single "U.N.I.T.Y." She landed her first leading film role in the critically-acclaimed Set It Off (1996) alongside Jada Pinkett Smith and Vivica A. Fox.

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. Since then, Latifah has created her own daytime talk show, The Queen Latifah Show; earned an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie for the film Bessie (HBO), in which she portrayed blues performer Bessie Smith; starred in films like Girls Trip (2017), The Tiger Rising (2022), and Hustle (2022); and held lead roles on the Fox musical drama Star and the CBS crime series reboot of The Equalizer.

Kim Fields (Regine Hunter)

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Kim Fields grew up under the spotlight: Her mother, Chip Fields, was a singer, actress, and TV director. Years before landing the role of socialite wannabe Regine Hunter, Fields gained fame as Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey on The Facts of Life. Her role on the '80s coming-of-age sitcom launched her career.

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. In 2015, Fields joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, although her gig only lasted one season. The actress' dive into reality continued as she competed in season 22 of Dancing With the Starsin 2016, finishing in eighth place. She stars alongside Mike Epps and Wanda Sykes on the Netflix comedy series The Upshaws.

Kim Coles (Synclaire James-Jones)

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In the early-'90s, Kim Coles found success as part of the original cast of the sketch comedy series In Living Color. 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.

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. The actress was host of BET's game show Pay It Off and part of TBS' comedy 10 Items or Less. Coles continues acting and making guest star appearances on television, including on shows like A Black Lady Sketch Show and Home Economics.

Erika Alexander (Maxine Shaw)

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Erika Alexander got her break when she portrayed Pam Tucker on The Cosby Show, a part which secured her ascent to fame as a '90s sitcom star. Concurring with her role as Cousin Pam was her role alongside Whoopi Goldberg in the 1990 film The Long Walk Home.

After five years of playing Maxine on Living Single, the actress continued to work on TV, appearing in a recurring part on Judging Amy and making guest appearances on House, Grey's Anatomy, and Queen Sugar. She took on the role of Tess Shoemaker in Freeform's sci-fi drama Beyond. Alexander also played a role in the acclaimed film Get Out (2017) and starred in season two of Amazon Prime's Bosch, as well as Hulu's Wu-Tang: An American Saga, the Roku original Swimming With Sharks, and Apple TV+'s Shining Girls.

John Henton (Overton "Obie" Wakefield Jones)

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John Henton's rise to fame happened by chance — he was discovered in 1991 by a comedy executive for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. After his set on the late-night talk show, Henton's career took off.

Post-Living Single, the actor starred on ABC's The Hughleys with D.L. Hughley. In 2000, he was involved in a serious car accident that broke both of his legs and nine teeth, and shattered one of his eye sockets. After extensive reconstructive plastic surgery, he continued his work on The Hughleys. Henton subsequently made a few other guest appearances (in 2009 and 2014), but has seemed to stay away from television.

Terrence "T.C." Carson (Kyle Barker)

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Prior to his role as the charming and successful Kyle Barker, Terrence "T.C." Carson performed on stage in musicals like The Wiz and Dreamgirls. He crossed over into comedy when he starred in the film Livin' Large! in 1991.

After Living Single, Carson became a successful voice-over actor, giving life to Mace Windu on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Tales of the Jedi, Kratos in the PlayStation game God of War, and the Green Lantern on Justice League: Cosmic Chaos. He has also guest-starred on such shows as Nashville, Black Lightning, Star, and Last Call, and had roles in the films Hunther (2022) and Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (2023).

Cress Williams (Terrence "Scooter" Williams)

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Being the actor who played Khadijah's love interest (a notable music producer), Cress Williams is also well known for his participation in the era-defining Beverly Hills, 90210 as D'Shawn Hadell.

In the early-2000s, he was cast in another memorable role on Nash Bridges as Inspector Antwon Babcock. Williams' most notable characters also include Wyatt Mathewson, the hitman from the popular series Prison Break, and Tucker Jones, Miranda Bailey's first husband on Grey's Anatomy. He appeared on the CW's Hart of Dixie and CBS' Code Black before landing the plum gig as the lead of Black Lightning, the CW action series on which he starred as the show's titular hero persona from 2018 to 2021.

Mel Jackson (Ira Lee "Tripp" Williams)

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Prior to his role as Tripp on Living Single, Mel Jackson had made minor TV appearances until he landed a role in the film Soul Food in 1997. The actor was part of Living Single's cast for its last year on air, and it helped push his career through the early 2000s.

Jackson appeared in the film Deliver Us From Eva (2003) as well as the TV series The Parkers and The Division. The actor continued to score small roles in television up through 2015.