Vanessa Bell Calloway

Acting

Vanessa Bell Calloway

Born 1957-03-20 · Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Vanessa Bell Calloway is an American actress and dancer. She is known for her film roles as Princess Imani Izzi in the 1988 comedy Coming to America, as well as for her roles in What's Love Got to Do with It, The Inkwell, Crimson Tide, and Daylight. She is a nine-time NAACP Image Award nominee. She began her acting career in the ABC daytime soap opera, All My Children in 1985. After moving to Los Angeles in 1986, she began appearing in episodes of prime time shows such as The Colbys, Falcon Crest, 227, China Beach, A Different World, and L.A. Law. She made her film debut on Number One with a Bullet (1987), before supporting role of Eddie Murphy's character's arranged wife in the 1988 comedy Coming to America. In 1990, she co-starred alongside Joe Morton in the ABC drama series, Equal Justice. During the 1990s, she had a number of supporting roles in films, including What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) opposite Angela Bassett, The Inkwell (1994), and Crimson Tide (1995) as Denzel Washington's character wife. She also voiced main role in the 1992 animated comedy, Bébé's Kids. She had a number of leading and supporting roles in made for television movies. In 1995, she co-starred opposite James Earl Jones and Joe Morton in the short-lived CBS prime time soap opera, Under One Roof, the first drama series that featured African-American lead characters. For her role on the series, Calloway was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series. She had leading roles on the short-lived NBC sitcom Rhythm & Blues (1992–93), and starred alongside Larry Hagman as his girlfriend in the CBS drama Orleans (1997). In the 2000s, she had recurring roles on Boston Public and The District. She co-starred in films including The Brothers, All About You, Dawg, Biker Boyz, Love Don't Cost a Thing, and Cheaper by the Dozen. She has guest starred on The Division, Strong Medicine, The Closer, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Dexter, Rizzoli & Isles, Castle, and Grey's Anatomy. From 2010 to 2011, she had the recurring role in the TNT medical drama, Hawthorne. In 2011, she began appearing in the Showtime comedy-drama, Shameless. In 2016, she was cast as lead character in the Bounce TV first prime time soap opera, Saints & Sinners. Also in 2016, she co-starred as president Obama's future mother-in-law, Marian Shields Robinson, and in the comedy-drama film Southside with You. In 2018, she appeared in the Christian drama film Unbroken: Path to Redemption and the crime thriller Dragged Across Concrete. In 2019, she played abolitionist Harriet Tubman's mother in the biographical drama film Harriet. She reprised her role as Imani Izzi in the 2021 sequel Coming 2 America.

Acting credits

Coming to America poster
6.9

An African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished immigrant, the pampered prince quickly finds himself a new job, new friends, new digs, new enemies and lots of trouble.

Coming to America

1988

Crimson Tide poster
7.2

After the Cold War, a breakaway Russian republic with nuclear warheads becomes a possible worldwide threat. U.S. submarine Capt. Frank Ramsey signs on a relatively green but highly recommended Lt. Cmdr. Ron Hunter to the USS Alabama, which may be the only ship able to stop a possible Armageddon. When Ramsey insists that the Alabama must act aggressively, Hunter, fearing they will start rather than stop a disaster, leads a potential mutiny to stop him.

Crimson Tide

1995

Dragged Across Concrete poster
6.6

Two policemen, one an old-timer, the other his volatile younger partner, find themselves suspended when a video of their strong-arm tactics becomes the media's cause du jour. Low on cash and with no other options, these two embittered soldiers descend into the criminal underworld to gain their just due, but instead find far more than they wanted awaiting them in the shadows.

Dragged Across Concrete

2019

Cheaper by the Dozen poster
6.3

The Baker brood moves to Chicago after patriarch Tom gets a job coaching football at Northwestern University, forcing his writer wife, Kate, and the couple's 12 children to make a major adjustment. The transition works well until work demands pull the parents away from home, leaving the kids bored -- and increasingly mischievous.

Cheaper by the Dozen

2003

Love Don't Co$t a Thing poster
7.7

A high school outcast pays a cheerleader to pose as his girlfriend so he can be considered cool.

Love Don't Co$t a Thing

2003

Daylight poster
6.1

A group of armed robbers fleeing the police head for the New Jersey Tunnel and run right into trucks transporting toxic waste. The spectacular explosion that follows results in both ends of the tunnel collapsing and the handful of people who survived the explosion are now in peril. Kit Latura is the only man with the skill and knowledge to lead the band of survivors out of the tunnel before the structure collapses.

Daylight

1996

One of Them Days poster
6.7

Best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa are about to have One of Them Days. When they discover Alyssa’s boyfriend has blown their rent money, the duo finds themselves going to extremes in a comical race against the clock to avoid eviction and keep their friendship intact.

One of Them Days

2025

Lakeview Terrace poster
6.0

A young interracial couple has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their relationship. A tightly wound LAPD officer has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood. His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly aggressive to the newlyweds. These persistent intrusions into their lives cause the couple to fight back.

Lakeview Terrace

2008

Coming 2 America poster
6.3

Prince Akeem Joffer is set to become King of Zamunda when he discovers he has a son he never knew about in America – a street savvy Queens native named Lavelle. Honoring his royal father's dying wish to groom this son as the crown prince, Akeem and Semmi set off to America once again.

Coming 2 America

2021

What's Love Got to Do with It poster
7.0

Singer Tina Turner rises to stardom while mustering the courage to break free from her abusive husband Ike.

What's Love Got to Do with It

1993

Biker Boyz poster
6.4

A mythic motorcycle tale of father and son, this is the story of Manuel Galloway, also known as "the King of Cali", the president of a motorcycle club whose members are all African-American men, mostly white-collar workers who exchange their suits and ties at night and on weekends for leather outfits and motorcycle helmets.

Biker Boyz

2003

Unbroken: Path to Redemption poster
6.7

Zamperini returns to California where he wound up marrying Cynthia Applewhite while wrestling with untreated PTSD, suffering constant nightmares, angry, bitter and deeply depressed, his wife convinces Zamperini to attend the 1949 Billy Graham Crusade.

Unbroken: Path to Redemption

2018

Under the Boardwalk poster
7.3

Two crabs embark on an epic journey to get home after a storm sweeps them away. Their courage soon unites their families, paving the way for great summers to come.

Under the Boardwalk

2023

Death Spa poster
5.2

Michael's health club is beseiged with a series of terrible murders involving killer saunas and other grisly devices. Michael's wife killed herself a while before and her brother holds Michael responsible. Michael needs to stop the bloodshed before he loses all of his clients.

Death Spa

1988

Harriet poster
7.3

The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes. Her courage, ingenuity and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.

Harriet

2019

Mosquito poster
NR

A tale of sacrifice and showmanship told through rival doctors in the old west.

Mosquito

2022

Starkeisha poster
4.5

A woman, stressed before an import job interview, goes on a journey of self-discovery through her own subconscious.

Starkeisha

2022

The Cherokee Kid poster
5.5

Isaih Turner didn’t want to be a hero-all he wanted was revenge. Orphaned when both his parents were cruelly murdered by the wealthy and powerful Cyrus Bloomington, the young Isaiah grew up with one air in mind: to find the man who killed his folks and take him down.

The Cherokee Kid

1996

Good Hair poster
6.5

An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, GOOD HAIR visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of the black community.

Good Hair

2009

Polly poster
8.2

An musical adaptation of the book "Pollyanna" set in the 1950's in which an orphan tries to use gladness to unite the people in a small southern town.

Polly

1989

Southside with You poster
5.6

Chronicles a single day in the summer of 1989 when the future president of the United States, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady on an epic first date across Chicago's South Side.

Southside with You

2016

Her Only Choice poster
4.9

A woman is faced with a choice to fight for her life or sacrifice it for another. After years of infertility, a newly-expectant mother is diagnosed with a life-altering disease.

Her Only Choice

2018

American Skin poster
7.0

A Marine veteran working as a school janitor tries to mend his relationship with his son after a divorce. When his son is killed by a police officer found innocent without standing trial, he takes matters into his own hands.

American Skin

2019

Archibald the Rainbow Painter poster
7.0

Vietnam veteran Archibald Wright is a house painter hired to work on a Beverly Hills mansion where he becomes involved in the life of the resident family. The owner Elaine left her husband J.P. while he was serving in Vietnam, causing him to become an alcoholic hobo living in downtown Los Angeles. Archibald tries to help their daughter Tory to continue her relationship with her father, even though Elaine is strongly against it.

Archibald the Rainbow Painter

1998

Behind the camera