Robin Givens

Robin Givens (born November 27, 1964)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> is an American actress and director.<ref name="Katz">Template:Cite news</ref> Givens played Darlene Merriman in the ABC sitcom Head of the Class in 1986, and remained on the series for its five year duration. Her troubled marriage to boxer Mike Tyson in 1988 drew considerable media attention, as did their acrimonious divorce.<ref name="Oprah-2004">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="McKinney-2018"/> She later went on to become a spokesperson for the National Domestic Violence Hotline for several years.<ref name="Oprah-2009"/>

Givens continued her career with film and television roles such as The Women of Brewster Place (1989) and Boomerang (1992). In 1996, Givens co-starred on the sitcom Sparks, which aired for two seasons on UPN. In January 2000, she took over hosting duties on the syndicated talk show Forgive or Forget. In 2007, Givens released her autobiography, Grace Will Lead Me Home. She has since had recurring roles on The Game, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Chuck, Riverdale<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and its spin-off Katy Keene, and has been part of the main cast of Batwoman. In 2020, Givens began working as a television and film director.

Early life

Givens' mother raised Robin and her sister Stephanie in Mount Vernon and New Rochelle, New York.<ref name="Collier-1987">Template:Cite journal</ref> Givens was raised Catholic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She occasionally modeled and acted as a teen.<ref name="Arias-1987">Template:Cite web</ref> As a model, she appeared in magazines such as Seventeen and Mademoiselle. She made her film debut at age 14 in the film The Wiz (1978) as a guest at Aunt Emma's Party.

Givens graduated from New Rochelle Academy (a private school which closed in June 1987). At the age of 15, she enrolled at Sarah Lawrence College as a pre-medical major, becoming one of the youngest to attend the school.<ref name="Collier-1987"/><ref name="Arias-1987"/> While in school she acted in daytime dramas.<ref name="Collier-1987"/> She graduated at the age of 19 in 1984.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Givens claimed to have dropped out of Harvard Medical School to focus on her acting career, but the registrar's office stated that she never applied.<ref name="Katz"/>

Career

1980s–1990s

In 1985, Givens auditioned for a guest spot on The Cosby Show. She won the spot and Bill Cosby became her mentor.<ref name="Arias-1987"/> He persuaded her to drop out of school and promised that if she was not successful in two years, he would get her back into medical school and pay her tuition.<ref name="Collier-1987"/> Soon after Givens appeared in Diff'rent Strokes and the 1986 television film Beverly Hills Madam, opposite Faye Dunaway.<ref name="Collier-1987"/> That same year, she landed her breakthrough role as rich girl Darlene Merriman on the ABC sitcom Head of the Class.<ref name="Collier-1987"/> The series lasted five seasons, ending in 1991. In 1989, while starring in Head of the Class, she appeared in The Women of Brewster Place with Oprah Winfrey. She later starred in the feature films A Rage in Harlem (1991) and Boomerang (1992).

In 1994, Givens posed nude for Playboy magazine.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> During that period Givens felt she had lost her voice, so one of the reasons why she posed for the magazine was so that she could write her own article.<ref name="E-Online-2019">Template:Cite web</ref> Givens was ranked No. 88 on Empire magazine's "100 Sexiest Stars in Film History" list in May 1995.<ref name="askmen">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1996, Givens portrayed Claudia in the television movie The Face (also known as A Face to Die For) with Yasmine Bleeth. Later that year, she co-starred in the UPN sitcom Sparks, which ended its run in 1998.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> She also played Denise in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2000s–2010s

In January 2000, Givens appeared in a cameo in Toni Braxton's music video "He Wasn't Man Enough", as the wife of a cheating husband.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She returned to the entertainment industry later that year as the host of the talk show Forgive or Forget, replacing television personality Mother Love halfway through the show's second season. Ratings initially increased after Givens took over hosting duties,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but soon fell. The series was canceled after this season.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2006, Givens attempted a return to television on MyNetworkTV's telenovela Saints and Sinners,<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> but the show garnered low ratings and was soon canceled. Givens continued acting in made-for-television films while also making appearances on Trinity Broadcasting Network's Praise the Lord program (July 12, 2007), and Larry King Live. In June 2007, she released her autobiography Grace Will Lead Me Home.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Givens returned to feature films in Tyler Perry's Southern drama The Family That Preys (2008). She also had a recurring role portraying a fictionalized version of herself on the CW comedy-drama The Game. Additionally, she has had a recurring role on the TBS show Tyler Perry's House of Payne, and a guest role on USA Network's Burn Notice. In addition to television and film roles, Givens has performed onstage. In 2001, she appeared in an off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> From February to April 16, 2006, she played the role of Roxie Hart in the Broadway play Chicago.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2007, she toured the country playing a part in the I'm Ready Productions play Men, Money & Golddiggers. Givens starred in the 2009 stage play A Mother's Prayer, which also starred Johnny Gill, Shirley Murdock, and Jermaine Crawford.

In 2007, Givens published a memoir entitled Grace Will Lead Me Home. In it, she reflects on the life of her praying grandmother, Grace, her experiences of domestic violence, her strong will to survive, feeling abandoned by her father, and her faith in God.<ref>Robin Givens: Truly Knowing God. The 700 Club.</ref> In 2011, she guest-starred in three episodes of NBC's spy-comedy Chuck: "Chuck Versus the Masquerade", "Chuck Versus the A-Team", and "Chuck Versus the Muuurder", as Jane Bentley. Later that year, she performed as Angel, a struggling blues singer, in the play Blues for An Alabama Sky at Pasadena Playhouse.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2015, she starred alongside Clifton Powell, Mishon Ratliff, and Malachi Malik in the segment "Mama's Boy" of TV One's anthology romance horror film Fear Files.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Givens was the spokesperson for the National Domestic Violence Hotline for several years.<ref name="Oprah-2009">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="E-Online-2019"/>

In 2017, Givens hosted the San Diego Black Film Festival as she had for the several previous years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2020s

In 2020, Givens made her directorial debut with the Lifetime mystery thriller film, A Murder to Remember.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She later directed films Favorite Son (2021) and its sequel, Favorite Son Christmas (2023), A Jenkins Family Christmas (2021) and The Christmas Clapback (2022), all for BET+.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2021, she directed the horror films Haunted Trail and Horror Noire. In 2023 she directed the comedy film, The Nana Project.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2021, Givens was cast in season three of Batwoman as Jada Jet, the CEO of Jeturian Industries and Ryan Wilder's biological mother who is based on Jezebel Jet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2022, Givens appeared in the Lifetime film He's Not Worth Dying For as part of its "Ripped from the Headlines" feature films that was inspired by the feud of Rachel Wade and Sarah Ludemann. She portrayed Cher Heinemann, the mother of Grace Heinemann who was based on Ludemann.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Givens directed the episodes of television series Riverdale, Dynasty, Nancy Drew, So Help Me Todd and Elsbeth.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Givens began dating boxer Mike Tyson in 1987.<ref name="Collier-1987"/> According to Givens, Tyson was physically abusive before they wed on February 7, 1988.<ref name="Oprah-2004"/><ref name="Hasen-1989">Template:Cite web</ref> Tyson stated that he was "severely traumatized by that relationship."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Tyson was then estimated to be worth $50 million; he and Givens did not have a prenuptial agreement.<ref name="Soble-1988"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During their marriage, Givens bought a $4.3 million mansion in the affluent suburb of Bernardsville, New Jersey with money withdrawn from Tyson's brokerage account.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news "The food lies untouched. The only sounds across the breakfast table in the Bernardsville, N.J., mansion are the loud silences of words being swallowed. Finally, Robin Givens, 24, star of the ABC-TV sitcom Head of the Class, pushes herself away from the table and announces, 'I have to pack.' 'Me, too,' says her husband, Mike Tyson, 22, the world heavyweight boxing champion. Suddenly the Sunday morning atmosphere is tense and full of menace."</ref> They appeared in a Diet Pepsi commercial together and on the cover of Life magazine.<ref name="Jet-1988">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After her miscarriage in June 1988, their marriage began to fall apart.<ref name="McMurran-1988"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Tyson claims Givens' pregnancy and miscarriage were part of a ruse to rush him into marriage, claiming that in all the time she was supposedly pregnant, Givens never gained a pound.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In a joint interview with Tyson on 20/20 in September 1988, Givens told Barbara Walters that life with him was "torture, pure hell, worse than anything I could possibly imagine," and she went on to describe his volatile temper.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In October 1988, Givens filed for divorce, citing spousal abuse and was granted a temporary restraining order.<ref name="Jet-1988"/> Her attorney Marvin Mitchelson said, "She loves Michael Tyson, but there is continued violence, and she fears for her safety."<ref name="Soble-1988">Template:Cite web</ref> Tyson sought an annulment, accusing her of stealing millions of dollars and manipulating the public.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Givens responded by filing a $125 million libel suit for defamation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Their divorce was finalized on Valentine's Day in 1989.<ref name="Hasen-1989"/>

Givens received negative press following her split from Tyson, particularly within the sports and African-American communities.<ref name="McKinney-2018">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Headlines heralded her as "the Most Hated Woman in America" and she was described as a "gold digger who married Tyson solely for his millions."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Givens denied that she received a reported divorce settlement of over $10 million from Tyson, stating that she "didn't receive one dime."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

According to the 1989 biography Fire and Fear: The Inside Story of Mike Tyson, Tyson admitted he punched Givens, stating "that was the best punch I've ever thrown in my entire life."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tyson later claimed the book was "filled with inaccuracies."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 2009, Tyson joked about "socking" Givens on Oprah, which caused laughter in the audience. Winfrey later issued an apology to Givens.<ref name="Oprah-2009"/>

In 1993, Givens adopted her first son, Michael "Buddy" Givens.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1997, she married her tennis instructor, Svetozar Marinković. Givens filed for divorce months later.<ref name="askmen"/> In 1999, she had a biological son, William "Billy" Jensen, with ex-boyfriend, tennis player Murphy Jensen.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In January 2004, Givens struck a pedestrian while driving an SUV through a Miami, Florida, intersection.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Givens was ticketed for failing to use due care with a pedestrian in a crosswalk, but the charges were later dismissed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2004, the injured party filed a civil lawsuit against Givens for an unspecified amount.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A May 7, 2009, article in Forbes magazine reported that the Internal Revenue Service was suing Givens for unpaid federal income taxes totaling $292,000 ($Template:Inflation in present-day USD when adjusted for inflation), an amount which included interest and penalties. The government had asked a federal court in Florida for a judgment against her on 39 assessments covering a span of eight years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	The Wiz	Guest at Aunt Emma's Party
1986	Beverly Hills Madam	April Baxter	TV movie
1989	The Penthouse	Dinah St. Clair
1991	A Rage in Harlem	Imabelle
1992	Boomerang	Jacqueline Broyer
1993	Angel Street	Det. Anita King	TV movie
1994	Foreign Student	April
	Blankman	Kimberly Jonz
1995	Dangerous Intentions	Kaye Ferrar	TV movie
1996	A Face to Die For	Claudia
1998	Secrets	-	Short
1999	Michael Jordan: An American Hero	Juanita Vanoy	TV movie
2000	Everything's Jake	Publisher
	The Expendables	Randy	TV movie
2001	The Elite	Ashe
	Spinning Out of Control	Erin	TV movie
2002	Book of Love	Iyanna
	Antibody	Dr. Rachel Saverini	Video
2003	Head of State	Kim
	A Good Night to Die	Dana
	Love Chronicles	Monifa Burly
	Hollywood Wives: The New Generation	Kyndra	TV movie
2005	Flip The Script	Rain Jones
	Captive Hearts	Jade Marlo	TV movie
2006	Restraining Order	Diane McNeil
2008	The Family That Preys	Abigail "Abby" Dexter
2009	God Send Me a Man	Kim
	Little Hercules In 3-D	Dana
	Sounds of Poetry	Eleanor	Short
	Preaching to the Pastor	Dr. Leslie Williams
	A Mother's Prayer	Brenda	Video
2010	Enemies Among Us	Gloria
2011	Church Girl	Cat
	Should've Put a Ring on It	Sherri
	Breathe	Nurse Nancy
	The Love You Save	Alexis	TV movie
2012	Waiting for Angels	Jack's Daughter	Video
2013	Je'Caryous Johnson's Marriage Material	Shauna
	Will a Man Rob God?	Mrs. Alexis	Video
	JK's House	Dr. Amber Jenkins
2014	Airplane Vs Volcano	Lisa Whitmore	Video
	Four Seasons	Helen
	Unspoken Words	Mrs. Lewis
	On Angel's Wings	Amber
2015	Fear Files	Elaine Channing	TV movie
	Perfect Match	Wedding Coordinator
	A Christmas to Remember	Veronica
2016	Definitely Divorcing	April
	The Perfect Match	Geneva
	God's Not Dead 2	Principal Kinney
2017	Dreams I Never Had	Prosecuting Attorney Hernandez
2018	The Products of the American Ghetto	Penny
	God Bless the Broken Road	Kareena Williams
	Never Heard	Shala Davis
2019	Gully	Irma
2020	The Sin Choice	Grace Thompson
	Dear Christmas	Penny	TV movie
2021	Saints & Sinners Judgment Day	Wilhelmina Parker
2022	Last Looks	Fontella Davis
	Kimi	Angela's Mother
	He's Not Worth Dying For	Cher	TV movie
	A New Diva's Christmas Carol	Sahra
2023	The Nana Project	Director
	Christmas Rescue	Mama Rose	TV movie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Template:Sortname	Susanne	Episode: "Theo and the Older Woman"
	Guiding Light	Diana	Episode: "Episode #1.9784"
1986	Soul Train	Herself	Episode: "Al Jarreau/Vesta Williams"
	Diff'rent Strokes	Ann	Episode: "The Big Bribe"
	Philip Marlowe, Private Eye	Token Ware	Episode: "Pickup on Noon Street"
1986–1991	Head of the Class	Darlene Merriman	Main role
1987	Hollywood Squares	Herself/Panelist	Episode: "April 27, 1987"
1988	Sonny Spoon	Alvita	Episode: "Crimes Below the Waist"
1989	The Women of Brewster Place	Kiswana/Melanie Browne	Miniseries
1992	Angel Street	Detective Anita King	Main role
1995	Me and the Boys	Nina	Recurring role
	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Denise	Episode: "Cold Feet, Hot Body"
	Courthouse	Suzanne Graham	Main role
1996	In the House	Alex Peterson	Recurring role
1996–1998	Sparks	Wilma Cuthbert	Main role
1997	Moesha	Ladonna	Episode: "Strike a Pose"
1999	The Love Boat: The Next Wave	Dana Chase	Episode: "Don't Judge a Book by Its Lover"
	Cosby	Ms. Malone	Recurring role
2000	Hollywood Squares	Herself/Panelist
	Intimate Portrait	Herself	Episode: "Robin Givens"
	Forgive or Forget	Herself	Host
	Chicken Soup for the Soul	Counselor	Episode: "The Right Thing"
	DAG	Jennifer	Episode: "Jennifer Returns"
2003	Driven	Herself	Episode: "Mike Tyson"
2003–2004	One on One	Sheila	Recurring role
2007	Saints & Sinners	Kelly Mitchell	Episode: "Plumbing Problems"
2008	The Game	Herself	Recurring role
	Tyler Perry's House of Payne	Tanya	Recurring role
	Burn Notice	Kandi	Episode: "Scatter Point"
	Everybody Hates Chris	Stacy	Episode: "Everybody Hates Doc's"
2010	My Parents, My Sister & Me	Keela Goldman	Main role
	Drop Dead Diva	Ann Simpson	Episode: "A Mother's Secret"
	Nikita	Mary Miracle	Episode: "All the Way"
2011	Chuck	Director Jane Bentley	Recurring role
	Reed Between the Lines	Dominique	Episode: "Let's Talk About Jealousy"
2012	RuPaul's Drag U	Herself	Episode: "Revenge of the Nerds"
	Suburgatory	Tulsa	Episode: "Independence Day"
	Retired at 35	Dr. Keller	Episode: "The Dates"
	Are We There Yet?		Episode: "Open Mic Gaffe"
2013	90210	Cheryl Harwood	Recurring role
	Twisted	Judy
	The First Family	Melanie	Episode: "The First Pageant"
2016	Unsung Hollywood	Herself	Episode: "Eartha Kitt"
	Man Seeking Woman	Vicki Claus	Episode: "Tinsel"
	Lucifer	Leila Simms	Episode: "Sin-Eater"
2017	About Him 2: The Revolution	Dr. Alfeni Henderson	Main role
	Malibu Dan the Family Man	Jessica Dankles	Recurring role
2017–2018	Once Upon a Time	Eudora
2017–2021	Riverdale	Sierra McCoy
2018	Saints & Sinners	Wilhelmina Hayworth
	The Bold and the Beautiful	Dr. Phillips	Main role
2019	25 Words or Less	Herself	Recurring role
	The Fix	Julianne Johnson
	Ambitions	Stephanie Carlisle	Main role
2019–2022	Step Up	Dana	Recurring role
2020	Worst Cooks in America	Herself	Main role
	Katy Keene	Sierra McCoy	Episode: "Chapter Six: Mama Said"
2021	Head of the Class	Darlene Merriman	Recurring role
2021–2022	Batwoman	Jada Jet	Main role
2022	Queens	Robin	Episode: "Let the Past Be the Past"
2024	So Help Me Todd	Director	Episode: "Dial Margaret for Murder"

Music video

Year	Song	Artist
2019	"Shoes"	Mina Tobias

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Film
1991	ShoWest Convention, USA	Template:Won	Female Star of Tomorrow
2004	Black Reel Awards	Template:Nom	Television: Best Supporting Actress	Hollywood Wives: The New Generation

Books

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External links

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