Robin Givens

Robin Givens (born November 27, 1964) is an American actress.

She made her film debut at age 14 in the film The Wiz (1978) as a guest at Aunt Emma's Party.

She graduated at the age of 19 in 1984.

Givens claimed to have dropped out of Harvard Medical School to focus on her acting career, but the registrar's office stated that she never applied.

In 1985, Givens auditioned for a guest spot on The Cosby Show.

She won the spot and Bill Cosby became her mentor.

He persuaded her to drop out of school and promised that if she was not successful in two years, he would get her back into medical school and pay her tuition.

Givens played Darlene Merriman in the ABC sitcom Head of the Class in 1986, and remained on the series for its five year duration.

Soon after Givens appeared in Diff'rent Strokes and the 1986 television film Beverly Hills Madam, opposite Faye Dunaway.

That same year, she landed her breakthrough role as rich girl Darlene Merriman on the ABC sitcom Head of the Class.

Givens graduated from New Rochelle Academy (a private school which closed in June 1987).

At the age of 15, she enrolled at Sarah Lawrence College as a pre-medical major, becoming one of the youngest to attend the school.

While in school she acted in daytime dramas.

Her troubled marriage to boxer Mike Tyson from 1988 drew considerable media attention, as did their acrimonious divorce.

She later went on to become a spokesperson for the National Domestic Violence Hotline for several years.

Givens continued her career with film and television roles such as The Women of Brewster Place (1989) and Boomerang (1992).

In 1989, while starring in Head of the Class, she appeared in The Women of Brewster Place with Oprah Winfrey.

The series lasted five seasons, ending in 1991.

She later starred in the feature films A Rage in Harlem (1991) and Boomerang (1992).

In 1994, Givens posed nude for Playboy magazine.

During that period Givens felt she had lost her voice, so one of the reasons why she posed for the magazine was so that she could write her own article.

Givens was ranked No. 88 on Empire magazine's "100 Sexiest Stars in Film History" list in May 1995.

In 1996, Givens co-starred on the sitcom Sparks, which aired for two seasons on UPN.

In 1996, Givens portrayed Claudia in the television movie The Face (also known as A Face to Die For) with Yasmine Bleeth.

Later that year, she co-starred in the UPN sitcom Sparks, which ended its run in 1998.

She also played Denise in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

In January 2000, she took over hosting duties on the syndicated talk show Forgive or Forget.

In January 2000, Givens appeared in a cameo in Toni Braxton's music video "He Wasn't Man Enough", as the wife of a cheating husband.

She returned to the entertainment industry later that year as the host of the talk show Forgive or Forget, replacing television personality Mother Love halfway through the show's second season.

Ratings initially increased after Givens took over hosting duties, but soon fell.

The series was canceled after this season.

In 2006, Givens attempted a return to television on MyNetworkTV's telenovela Saints and Sinners, but the show garnered low ratings and was soon canceled.

In 2007, Givens released her autobiography, Grace Will Lead Me Home.

She has since had recurring roles on The Game, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Chuck, Riverdale and its spin-off Katy Keene, and has been part of the main cast of Batwoman.

Givens' mother raised Robin and her sister Stephanie in Mount Vernon and New Rochelle, New York.

Givens was raised Catholic.

She occasionally modeled and acted as a teen.

As a model, she appeared in magazines such as Seventeen and Mademoiselle.

Givens continued acting in made-for-television films while also making appearances on Trinity Broadcasting Network's Praise the Lord program (July 12, 2007), and Larry King Live.

In June 2007, she released her autobiography Grace Will Lead Me Home.