Denyce Lawton

Denyce Lawton (Korean: 데니스 마리 러튼; born May 2, 1978 as Denise-Marie Lawton) is an American actress and model.

Denyce Lawton
Born
Denise-Marie Lawton

(1978-05-02) May 2, 1978
Seoul, South Korea
OccupationActress, model, producer
Years active1999–present
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
RelativesGregory Lawton, Jr. (brother)

Biography

Lawton is of African-American and Korean descent. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Lawton is the middle child of three siblings. She lived a military life with her family abroad in such countries as South Korea and Japan. Her family moved around the United States, living primarily in Neptune, New Jersey then in Washington D.C. where she graduated from Largo High School in Largo, Maryland. She grew up with R&B singer Mýa and has been best friends since childhood.

Career

Lawton is best known for her four seasons as a series regular on the #1 Cable Comedy Series & 6 time NAACP Best Comedy Series Winner, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, where she plays the character Dana the manicurist in the barber shop.

Lawton has recently completed 9 films including her recent leading role in the Up Original Movie The Dempsey Sisters (in which she is also a co-producer) and Swirl Films & New Image Movie Frat Brothers, which she also co-produced. Lawton immediately went straight to filming and completed her leading role in the Dramedy Movie entitled Jump, where she held her own amongst the cast of comedians also starring Esau McGraw & Brian Hooks.

Her other film credits, include UP TV's Original Movie Between Sisters, Winnerz, Act Like You Love Me, Switchin’ The Script, ABFF & HBFF crowd pleaser The Coalition, UP TV Original movie The Love You Save, & Lions Gate Thriller The Helpers (Fall 2013).

Lawton also starred opposite Numb3rs stars Alimi Ballard & Rob Morrow in an Inception inspired short film title Interception, opposite Reagan Gomez-Preston & Wesley Jonathan in an original family web series Almost Home, as well as opposite Calvin Snoop Dogg Broadus in Malice N Wonderland.

Outside of House Of Payne and her other television and film work, Lawton has starred in Redline (an action auto thriller) & horror thriller Dead Tone.

Lawton began her entertainment goals and career as a background dancer in Broadway theater, and then later for recording artists such as 'N Sync, Mýa, Nelly, Jagged Edge, Ja Rule, Puff Daddy aka Sean Combs, & many others. Wanting to set her goals higher, Denyce ventured into the music industry as a backdoor into the film industry. Denyce served as assistant Vice President of Urban Promotions at Warner Bros. Records, then later became A & R at Priority Records in New York City.

A fast and dedicated worker, Lawton gained unmatched experience and knowledge that would prove to be critical in the development of creative properties working as personalassistant to Record Executive & mogul Irv Gotti at The Inc. Records (Formerly Murder Inc Records) then later finally transitioning into the film industry working as an Assistant Junior Publicist at 20th Century Fox Films. Soon after, Lawton utilized her deep-rooted creativity, WB ties and Fox affiliations to share her unique talent and on-screen charisma, hosting a multitude of shows and events.

With limited experience and opportunities, Lawton participated in several Theatrical Plays as well as the famous Shakespeare In The Park Company while she began modeling for Kemi Oil, FUBU, Adidas, Enyce, Karl Kani and Baby Phat. While pursuing her acting and modeling career, she conquered a solid presence in notable Hip Hop/R&B/Pop music videos; "The Way" by Clay Aiken, "Peaches & Cream" by 112, "One Mic" by Nas, and "Anything" by Jaheim, solely to accumulate enough camera experience and money to fund her acting pursuits & move to Los Angeles.

Amongst her accomplishments, Lawton has also become the new, fresh and first African American-Asian face of the AZN Comcast Campaign as well as a SummerCampaign for Coors Light. Lawton has also been in the "Bacardi & Cola" commercial series as well as Jeep Grand Cherokee, Pepsi, Nike, Turbotax and Coors Light commercials over the years.

She has also been featured in and graced the covers of several magazines, including MAMI Magazine, Black Men, The Source, Today's Black Woman, BQE Magazine, Smooth, Edge Magazine, XXL, J’Adore, Smooth Girl, Daily News, Mass Appeal, and XXL Presents Eye Candy Magazine.

Personal life

Lawton is conversational in Korean.[1] On March 24, 2011, Lawton's brother, Gregory Lawton, Jr., was murdered in Temple Hills, Maryland.[2]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Go for Broke Venom
2003 The Pendulum Tanya Young Film Festival
2003 Malibooty Beautiful Girl On the Beach
2004 Soul Plane Flight Attendant #3
2005 Dead Tone Anna
2006 It Ain't Easy Kelly
2007 Redline Mianda
2008 Vlog Jasmine
2010 Malice N Wonderland Love Short Film DVD
2011 Interception Sandy Short Film
2011 The Love You Save Shayla TV Movie
2012 Switchin The Script Lonnie Shepard
2012 The Coalition Skylar Hathaway
2012 The Helpers Brandy
2012 Winnerz Carmen
2012 The Love You Save Shayla
2013 Between Sisters Serena
2013 Act Like You Love Me Susan
2013 Frat Brothers Professor Simone Breaux Post Production
2013 The Dempsey Sisters Deena Dempsey Post Production
2017 Secrets Secret Movie
2019 Fanatic Lexi (Alexis Carrigan)

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Scratch & Burn Beautiful Woman Episode: "Grocery Store Romance"
2002 The Parkers Tyrell's Girlfriend Episode: "The Crush"
2002 Half & Half Beautiful Girl Episode: "The Big Sistah Sans Soul"
2004 Entourage Party Girl Episode: "The Review
2008 VLog Jasmine Recurring role (2 episodes)
2007-2009 Tyler Perry's House of Payne Dana Carter Recurring role (29 episodes)
2012 Almost Home Becca Recurring (2 episodes)
2014 Castle Ella's roommate Episode: "Dressed to Kill" - 2019 Chicago P.D. (TV series) Maya Williams Episode: "What Could Have Been"

References
  1. Sanders, David (12 February 2004). "Interview with Denyce Lawton". HalfKorean. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  2. "Actress Denyce Lawton From House Of Payne, Brother Murdered". 26 March 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
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