Elise was born as Kimberly Elise Trammel in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of Erna Jean (née Johnson), an elementary school teacher, and Marvin Trammel, who owns an executive search firm. She has three siblings. Elise studied film and acting at the University of Minnesota and earned a BA in Mass Communications. She was married to Maurice Oldham from 1989 until 2005; they have two children, Read more...

Elise's first movie was Set It Off (1996), in which she played one of four women who resort to robbing a bank for money. However, her first big break came in 1997 when she was cast in the Family Channel original television movie The Ditchdigger's Daughters, based on the Pulitzer-prize nominated and critically acclaimed 1995 memoir The Ditchdigger's Daughters: A Black Family's Astonishing Success Read more...

Kimberly Elise Trammel (born April 17, 1967) is an American film and television actress.