Salli Richardson

Richardson was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Marcia Harris and Duel Richardson, who is the director of Neighborhood Relations/Educational Programs and Office of Community Affairs for the University of Chicago. Her father is Irish and Italian American and her mother is Cherokee and African American. Richardson played high school tennis, and launched her acting career in the Kuumba Workshop theater there.

Salli had a short lived romance with fellow actor Matthew McConaughey and the late rapper/actor Tupac Shakur. On September 8, 2002, she married long-time beau, Dondre Whitfield, a fellow actor. She and Whitfield have one daughter, Parker Richardson Whitfield. Richardson's acting credits include: A Low Down Dirty Shame, Posse, and Antwone Fisher. She has also guest starred in numerous television shows such as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Silk Stalkings, New York Undercover, The Pretender and Secret Agent Man. Richardson had a recurring role as "Kim" on the show Mercy Point and as Nancy Adams on Rude Awakening. She played Viveca Foster on the television drama Family Law. She voiced the character of Elisa Maza on the animated series Gargoyles. Currently she is cast as Department of Defense agent (and later head of Global Dynamics) Allison Blake in the television series Eureka, which airs on the Sci-Fi Channel.