Biography

Nikea Gamby-Turner (born July 31, 1974, raised in Los Angeles) is an American actress, writer, and director. The daughter of a single mother, she studied Mass Communications with a minor in drama at Jackson State University in Mississippi, where she discovered her passion for performing. After returning to LA she pursued stand-up comedy, starting at Mavericks Flats in 1996 and working her way up to the Comedy Store, The Improv, and Ha Ha Café. A member of the all-female African American sketch group Elite Delta Force 3, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer early in her career, which gave her the push to fully commit to acting. She has been cancer-free for over 15 years and is an advocate for breast cancer awareness. She also wrote for the Lifetime movie Like Mother, Like Daughter (2007) and has directed short films including Feminist Campfire Stories and Best Friends Forever. Her most notable film credits include Colombiana (2011) (Zoe Saldana, Michael Vartan), Behind the Candelabra (2013) (Michael Douglas, Matt Damon), and 12 Hour Shift (2020) (Angela Bettis, David Arquette). On television she is best known for her recurring role as Shanae on Abbott Elementary (2022), as Mildred Lindsey in Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022), and for appearances in Insecure (2021), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2019), Lucifer (2018), Rosewood (2015), The Mindy Project (2012), and How I Met Your Mother (2009).