Biography

Karen Holness (born March 15, 1977, in London, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian actress, dancer, and singer, the sister of singer Deborah Cox and singer/host Nicole Holness. She attended Performing Arts High School in Toronto before studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, and is a co-founding member of the Beacon Theatre Company. She is based in Vancouver and is married with one child. On stage, Holness has performed in Rent, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Crazy for You, and Dreamgirls (as Deena Jones). Her most notable film credits include a featured dancer in Chicago (2002), Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), Always Be My Maybe (2019, as Kathy), The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019), and Torn: Dark Bullets (2020, as Imani Bell, for which she won the Best Actress Award at the Salt House Creative International Film Festival). On television she is best known as Blythe Ann Workman in The 100 (2019–2020, seasons 6–7), Ms. Diona in Make It Pop (2015–2016), Liz McKendra in Cashing In (2009–2014), with additional credits in Superman & Lois (2021), Firefly Lane (2022), A Million Little Things (2020), Lucifer (2016), Travelers (2016), Riverdale (2017), Once Upon a Time (2014), and Psych (2014). Beyond acting, she performs as a jazz singer with her bands Jazz Baby and Boogie Fever, the latter of which has played internationally at the Jamaican Jazz and Blues International Festival in Montego Bay.