Tracee Ellis Ross

Tracee Ellis Ross is an American actress, producer, and entrepreneur. Born Tracee Joy Silberstein on October 29, 1972, in Los Angeles, California, she is the daughter of Motown singer and actress Diana Ross and music business manager Robert Ellis Silberstein. She attended The Dalton School, Riverdale Country School, and Switzerland's Institut Le Rosey before earning a theatre degree from Brown University in 1994. Early in her career, she worked as a model and contributing fashion editor for magazines such as Mirabella and New York.

Ross made her feature film debut in 1996's Far Harbor and hosted the Lifetime television magazine show The Dish starting in 1997. She subsequently appeared in the TV movie Race Against Fear: A Moment of Truth (1998), the independent film Sue, and the feature film Hanging Up (2000), alongside a regular role in MTV's sketch program The Lyricist Lounge Show.

Her breakthrough came in 2000 when she was cast as lawyer Joan Clayton in the comedy series Girlfriends, which aired until 2008. During this period, she also appeared in project roles such as the HBO movie Life Support (2007) and the films I-See-You.Com (2006) and Daddy's Little Girls (2007). In 2011, she starred as Dr. Carla Reed in the BET sitcom Reed Between the Lines and appeared in the Lifetime movie Five.

From 2014 to 2022, Ross starred as Dr. Rainbow Johnson in the ABC comedy series Black-ish. Her work on the show brought widespread recognition, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, alongside nominations for five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Critics' Choice Television Awards. During her time on the series, she co-created its prequel spin-off Mixed-ish (2019), serving as narrator, and starred in the 2020 musical film The High Note, for which she made her singing debut on its soundtrack.

Over her career, Ross has earned nine NAACP Image Awards across her roles in Girlfriends, Reed Between the Lines, and Black-ish. She has held various hosting roles, including the BET Awards, the American Music Awards, and The Fashion Awards, and served as an emcee at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. In addition to her entertainment work, she founded and serves as CEO of Pattern Beauty LLC, a hair care product brand launched around 2018. In 2021, she was named to the Time 100 list of influential people.

Her later projects include hosting the podcast I Am America (2021–2023), producing the docuseries The Hair Tales (2022), and appearing in films such as Cold Copy (2022), American Fiction (2023), and Candy Cane Lane (2023). In 2025, she premiered the travel series Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross on the Roku Channel, which was renewed for a second season. In 2026, she signed an overall deal with Fox Entertainment Studios and was announced to make her Broadway debut in the play Every Brilliant Thing.