Actor Biography

Tracee Ellis Ross is the star of the Emmy-nominated ABC comedy series black-ish. For her role, Ross has been nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and won the 2015 and 2016 NAACP Image Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. In addition, Ross was honored and acknowledged at the 2016 ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood luncheon, receiving the Fierce and Fearless award.

Ross is best known for her starring role on the hit sitcom Girlfriends, which ran for eight seasons on The UPN/CW network. Her role earned her eight NAACP Image Award nominations, including two wins, one in 2007 and another in 2009, in the category of Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. She also starred in and produced the BET series Reed Between the Lines, which won her a third NAACP Image Award. Ross was also seen in the short film series FIVE, a collection of five short films that aired on Lifetime in October 2011. She appeared in Lili, directed by Alicia Keys and produced by Jennifer Aniston and Paula Wagner, among others.

Other credits include turns in Love, Loss, and What I Wore on stage in New York and LA; guest starring roles on ABC's Private Practice, CBS' hit crime drama CSI, and HBO's LIFE Support, with Queen Latifah; and feature films Hanging Up, with Jennifer Connelly and Marcia Gay Harden, and Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls.

Ross returned to the BET Network to co-host the popular award show Black Girls Rock with Regina King for the fourth televised installment.

Ross is a dedicated and passionate motivational speaker. She created and teaches "Taping Into Your Creative Well," a workshop that encourages participants to discover and utilize their inner joy to keep their lives on course. She also works closely with teenage girls by volunteering with Aviva Family and Children Services in Los Angeles and The Big Brother Big Sister Program where she has held self-esteem workshops nationwide. Ross was honored by The Los Angeles Urban League as "Volunteer of the Year" in 2004 and was the 2009 recipient of the Impact Award from the Aviva Organization.

Ross is delving into the crevices of her imagination, unearthing bold, eccentric and deeply flawed characters. In crafting these captivating "fictional" women, she allows them to live in the "real" world. For example, Ross has attended New York Fashion Week as two of her characters: Madame Hiver, an extravagant, lovable, alcoholic life-coach to the stars; and Caliope Champignon, an opinionated French fashion blogger who claims to have "created" Barneys New York. Most recently, the grill-wearing skeptical rapper TMURDA, an internet sensation who made her television debut on BET's Black Girls Rock.

In 2012, the fashion influencer expanded her vast digital influence by launching her official website Traceeellisross.com. The lifestyle site utilizes Ross' unique cross-cultural and joyful point of view to inspire the soul, body and mind of her followers.