ERIKA ALEXANDER

Best known for her role as Attorney Maxine Shaw on the TV sitcom "Living Single," Erika Alexander has the attitude, intelligence and personal presence to make any character come to life.

Born on November 19, 1969, Erika took to acting early on and at age 15, landed her first role in a film called "My Little Girl". She attended the Philadelphia High School for Girls and graduated in the late 80's. She was also a student at Philadelphia's Freedom Theater.

Bill Cosby invited Erika to create the character of Pam Tucker (Cousin Pam), who was featured on the "Cosby Show" show during its last two seasons. Realizing that she'd been lucky to receive help from someone already established in the industry, Erika decided to help upcoming performers others also. She established a $20,000 scholarship for Freedom Theatre's preforming arts program, for anyone who is going to pursue a career in the performing arts.

She went on to do another sitcom that cast her even further into the limelight. She captured the hearts of "Living Single" fans as Maxine Shaw (Attorney at law). Her portrayal of the witty, money hungry Max \won her an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Female Actress in a Comedy Series.

Even though she played a single sister on "Living Single", Erika married painter/screenwriter Tony Puryear. As a wedding gift, he presented her with a wall-sized portrait of her that he had painted himself.