- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
Community’s Yvette Nicole Brown has signed with Innovative, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Brown plays Shirley, the opinionated — don’t call her sassy — mother hen of Greendale’s misfit study group, in the NBC cult comedy, now in its fifth season. She previously had recurring roles on Family Guy, Boston Legal, Sleeper Cell and Girlfriends, and has made guest appearances on Once Upon a Time (voicing Ursula the sea witch), Chuck, Rules of Engagement, Entourage, The Office, House, That ’70s Show and Two and a Half Men. Brown has been particularly active in children’s and teen’s programming, having recurred on the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh and currently voicing Cookie the boxer in The Hub’s animated Pound Puppies (opposite Eric McCormack and Michael Rapaport), among other youth-oriented credits.
A popular talk show personality, Brown co-hosted The Jeff Probst Show and has guest-hosted The Chew and Anderson Live and made frequent appearances on Hollywood Game Night, her Community co-star Joel McHale’s The Soup, Watch What Happens: Live and the Walking Dead aftershow, Talking Dead.
Last year Brown joined Missi Pyle and Mary Birdsong as one of the three Fates in Fox 2000’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Sea of Monsters. Her other big-screen credits include Repo Men, (500) Days of Summer, Tropic Thunder and Dreamgirls.
The Ohio native got her start in entertainment as a singer, signing with Motown Records after auditioning for New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe’s Michael Bivins as a teenager. She was an active part of Motown’s East Coast Family, appearing on Showtime at the Apollo, MTV, VH1 and BET as well as the album The East Coast Family Vol. 1 (which spawned the Top 20 single “1-4-All-4-1”), while completing her BFA at the University of Akron, Ohio.
Brown continues to be repped by Kazarian, Measures, Ruskin & Associates (KMR) for commercials and by attorney Gordon Bobb at Del Shaw.
Related Stories
Related Stories
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day