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Taral Hicks

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Taral Hicks
Born (1974-09-21) September 21, 1974 (age 50)
The Bronx, New York City, U.S.
EducationGrace Dodge Vocational High School
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active1993–present
Spouse
Loren Dawson
​
(m. 2001)​
FamilyD'atra Hicks (sister)
Musical career
Genres
LabelsMotown
Websitetwitter.com/TaralHicks

Taral Hicks (born September 21, 1974) is an American actress and R&B singer. Hicks is best known for her acting in such films as 1993's American crime drama film A Bronx Tale and her 1997 debut R&B studio album This Time which featured a cover of Deniece Williams' "Silly" that peaked at No. 4 on Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.

Raised in Bronx, NY, Hicks graduated from Grace Dodge in 1993.[1]

Career

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Acting

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Hicks began her film career with a role in the critically acclaimed 1993 film, A Bronx Tale. Her subsequent film roles were small: 1995's Just Cause with Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne, and 1996's Educating Matt Waters and The Preacher's Wife with Whitney Houston. She appeared in the movie Belly in 1998. In 2000, she appeared on screen in the short film, Are You Cinderella?, with actor Wood Harris. Her later film roles were in independent films such as 2005's The Salon, with Vivica A. Fox, Dondre Whitfield, and Darrin Henson; 2006's Forbidden Fruits with Ella Joyce, Fredro Starr, and R&B singer Keith Sweat; 2007's Humenetomy; and 2010's Ex$pendable. Hicks featured in the HBO television series Subway Stories in 1997. Two guest roles followed: 2002's 100 Centre Street in the episode titled "Fathers", and a 2003 episode of Soul Food: The Series titled "The New Math".

Hicks co-starred in the musical stage play Tyler Perry's Aunt Bam's Place with Paris Bennett, Cassi Davis, Jeffrey Lewis, Maurice Lauchner, and Melonie Daniels. It had a 3-day run beginning August 30, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia (Cobb Energy Center) and was filmed for a DVD release on June 12, 2012.[2]

Music

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In 1995, Hicks signed a deal with Motown Records and released an album titled This Time. The single "Ooh, Ooh Baby", written by and featuring Missy Elliott, charted on the Billboard R&B singles chart. However, the lead single intended to debut her singing career was "Distant Lover", an uptempo track produced by Teddy Riley. The album did not take off until the second single, "Silly", a remake of the classic R&B hit by Deniece Williams, was released. Featuring a black-and-white music video directed by Hype Williams, the single charted well on the R&B chart. After collaborating on the video for "Silly", Williams cast Hicks as in his directorial film debut, 1998's Belly, as Keisha, DMX's girlfriend. The video for "Silly" appeared in one of the film's scenes. Hicks has expressed interest in pursuing a career in gospel music.[3]

Personal life

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Hicks is a 1993 graduate of Grace Dodge Vocational High School in the Bronx, New York.[1] She is the younger sister of actress and singer D'atra Hicks. In 1999, Hicks began dating Loren Dawson,[4] and the couple married in 2001.[citation needed]

Discography

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Singles

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Year Song Peak positiona
US Pop US R&B
1996 "Ooh, Ooh Baby" (featuring Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott) — 81
1997 "Distant Lover" — 60
1998 "Silly" 104[5] 54
"How Can I Get Over You" — —
Soundtracks

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1993 A Bronx Tale Jane Williams
1995 Just Cause Lena Brown
1996 The Preacher's Wife Teen
1997 Subway Stories Woman with Flowers TV movie
1998 Belly Keisha
2000 Are You Cinderella? Homeless Woman Short
2005 The Salon Trina
2006 Forbidden Fruits Nicole Walters Video
2007 Humenetomy Member of Gospel Choir
2010 Ex$pendable Brenda Video
2012 Aunt Bam's Place Mona
2014 The Hilltop Barbershop Member of the church choir
2016 Where Hearts Lie Shante Jackson
A Sub in the Brick City Detective Tammy Short
The 1 Closest 2 U Le-Le
Supposition Cheryl Jameson
King of Newark Mistress
2017 The Hills Dr. Welker
North Housing Authority Billy Blaire News Caster
2018 King of Newark 2 Lawyer
2020 Bitch Lover Mrs. Marshall
2022 Gaslight Kendra
Sleepyhead Yvonne
A Second Chance Shena
A Father's Pride Sister Rose

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2002 100 Centre Street - Episode: "Fathers"
2003 Soul Food Naomi Episode: "The New Math"
2018 Illusions Kelly Main Cast
2020 Chase Street Beverly Johnson Main Cast

References

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  1. ^ a b Beckerman, Jim (August 19, 2000). "Where Stars Are Born". The Record (North Jersey). Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2020. When Shanell Jones graduated from Teaneck High School in June, she already had a deal with Def Jam, a major recording label. But as former Motown Records artist Taral Hicks (Teaneck, Class of 1994) and Alligator recording artist Shemekia Copeland (Teaneck, Class of 1997) could tell her, that's no big deal in this neck of the woods.
  2. ^ "Tyler Perry's Aunt Bam's Place Starring Paris Benet & Taral Hicks Comes to DVD Tomorrow". Urbanbridgez.com. June 11, 2012. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  3. ^ "Taral Hicks: From the Belly of the Beast". All Hip Hop.com. September 1, 2009. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009.
  4. ^ Hicks, Taral. "Happy 20th V-Day my love 😍 💕❤️💕@lorendawson". Instagram.com. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  5. ^ "Billboard – Music Charts, News, Photos & Video". Retrieved May 15, 2017.
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