It’s all in the name: Jazz Raycole was born to dance. By the age of four she was competing in dance competitions, and won her state’s championship in several dance styles. She’s trained under famed choreographer Debbie Allen and has appeared in a variety of shows and events, showing off her talents. At the age of seven, she got to keep company with heavy-hitters like co-stars Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston, director Forest Whitaker, and author Terry McMillan when she landed the part of Onika in the movie Waiting to Exhale (1995). As a kid, she continued to rack up the credits, appearing on the series The Parent ‘Hood, Ellen, Smart Guy, The Jamie Foxx Show, and Malcolm & Eddie. Jazz also originated the role of Claire Kyle in the first season of My Wife and Kids, playing Damon Wayans’ daughter; she bowed out from subsequent episodes, though, because her mom didn’t like some of the plots the 12-year old would be involved in. When she hit adulthood, she played Melissa Hudson, Stanley’s daughter, on The Office in 2006 and 2007 episodes, and Lisa on Everybody Hates Chris in various episodes from 2005-2008. The dark-haired dish joined the cast of primetime’s Jericho as Allison Hawkins from 2006-2008, and as Lyric Ballentine in The Soul Man from 2012-2014. As Sydney Fletcher in 2017-2018 in the BET series The Quad, she loses a game of strip poker and gets all kinds of sexy with a nicely filled bra. Proving she has staying power, 27 years after she made her debut, she got a lead role as Izzy Letts in the Netflix series The Lincoln Lawyer in 2022. Jazz hands everybody, in celebration of Jazz herself!
