Content deleted Content added
m Repairing link to disambiguation page - You can help! |
No edit summary Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
||
| (241 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{short description|American actress}}
{{Multiple issues|{{notability|Bio|date=June 2017}}
{{Original research|date=June 2019}}
{{BLP sources|date=April 2020}}
{{Unreliable sources|date=April 2020}}}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sicily Sewell
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1985|10|1}}
| birth_place = [[Pontiac, Michigan]],<ref name= "opens up" /> US
| occupation = Restaurateur, actress
| yearsactive = 1998-present
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Chris Johnson|2006}}
* {{Marriage|Melanie Wilkerson|2022}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0796412/?mode=desktop | title=Sicily Johnson | Actress, Producer | website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>
}}
| children = 2
| othername = Sicily
}}
'''Sicily Sewell''' (born October 1, 1985) is an American chef, restaurateur, [[television producer]], and [[actress]].<ref name=theshaderoom2019-03-31/> She is sometimes credited in [[film]] or [[television]] as simply with a [[mononym]] '''Sicily'''. Following the birth of two daughters, Sewell became a restaurateur.
==Early life, family and education==
Sewell was born in [[Pontiac, Michigan]].<ref name= "opens up" /> Her parents divorced, and she and her mother and brothers relocated to [[California]] where other family resided.<ref name= "opens up" /> She has three brothers (one of which was born after their relocation to California).<ref name= "opens up" /> She resided in [[Los Angeles]] during her childhood.<ref name= "opens up" />
As an adult, Sewell attending the Hollywood campus of [[Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts]].<ref name= latimesblogs2020-11-09/>
==Career==
===Television and film===
Sewell made her television appearance on an Emmy Award-winning episode of ''[[Sesame Street]]'' when she was eight years old.<ref name=latimesblogs2020-11-09/> She played "Young Aisha" in a two-part episode of Season 2 of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' called "Rangers Back in Time", as well as in the 10 part miniseries ''[[Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers]]''. She starred as young Diana in the hit miniseries, ''[[Mama Flora's Family]]'' in 1998, and as [[Angela Bassett]]'s niece in the film ''[[How Stella Got Her Groove Back]]''.
For 4 seasons, Sewell portrayed Spirit Jones, the best friend of Breanna Barnes (played by [[Kyla Pratt]]) in the [[situation comedy|sitcom]] ''[[One on One (American TV series)|One on One]]''.<ref name=theshaderoom2019-03-31/> Citing a decision by [[UPN]] to move in a different direction for the fifth season, Sicily was released from the series on June 20, 2005, when it was nine episodes away from [[television syndication|syndication]].
Sewell also appeared in the [[Lifetime (TV network)|Lifetime]] original movie ''[[Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story]]'' alongside [[Ernie Hudson]], [[Edwin Hodge]] and [[Jami Gertz]] in August 2005.
===Chef and restaurateur===
Sewell's family has a long tradition of skilled cookery.<ref name=eater2019-12-11/> She has told interviewers she is much happier as a chef and restaurateur than she was an actor.<ref name=theshaderoom2019-03-31/>
In 2010, while Sewell was attending the Hollywood campus of [[Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts]], she was an intern at the ''Los Angeles Times''{{'}} Test Kitchen.<ref name=latimesblogs2020-11-09/> Sewell subsequently graduated, with honours.<ref name= cookingproject2018-05-04/>
Sewell and her mother are co-owners of a [[soul food]] restaurant known as ''Pinky and Red's'', in [[Berkeley, California]].<ref name=eastbayexpress2018-08-23/><ref name=dailycal2019-02-26/> In late 2019, Sewell was hired as the chef of a high-profile restaurant known as [[Colors (restaurant)|''Colors'']], in [[New York City]].<ref name=grubstreet2020-01-21/>
==Personal life==
Sewell [[coming out|came out]] as gay in a 2022 interview with Comedy Hype channel. She revealed that, despite still being [[closeted|in the closet]] to her ''One On One'' castmates, she was open about her attraction to women at a young age to her close friends.<ref name= "opens up">{{cite interview| author= Sicily Sewell| url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_QKFbOUpFA| title= Sicily Sewell Opens Up About Ending Acting Career, Hiding Sexuality, Flex Alexander, Cooking & More| interviewer= | publisher= Comedy Hype | date= 2023| via= YouTube| access-date= July 29, 2024}}</ref>
She married Melanie Wilkerson in 2022 and has two daughters.
==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film
|- align="center"
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Film
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes
|-
| rowspan=2|1998
| ''[[Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror]]''
| Chloe
|
|-
| ''[[How Stella Got Her Groove Back]]''
| Chantel
|
|-
|- align="center"
! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Television
|- align="center"
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Title
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes
|-
| 1995–1996
| ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''
| Young Aisha Campbell
| 11 episodes
|-
| 1998
| ''[[Mama Flora's Family]]''
| Teenage Diana
| Television Movie
|-
| 1999
| ''Power Rangers: The Lost Episode''
| Young Aisha Campbell
| Special episode (archival footage)
|-
| 2001–2005
| ''[[One on One (American TV series)|One on One]]''
| Spirit Jones
| 91 episodes
|-
| 2004
| ''[[The Proud Family]]''
| Teen Cece
| 1 episode
|-
| 2005
| ''[[Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story]]''
| Lisa Jones
| Television Movie
|-
| 2007
| ''[[Super Sweet 16: The Movie]]''
| Chloe Spears
| Television Movie
|-
|}
==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=latimesblogs2020-11-09>
{{cite news
| url = https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2010/11/so-you-want-to-be-a-test-kitchen-intern-meet-sicily-johnson.html
| title = So you want to be a Test Kitchen intern.... Meet Sicily Johnson
| work = [[Los Angeles Times]]
| author = Noelle Carter
| author-link = Noelle Carter
| date = 2010-11-09
| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20101111201536/https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2010/11/so-you-want-to-be-a-test-kitchen-intern-meet-sicily-johnson.html
| archivedate = 2010-11-11
| accessdate = 2020-04-07
| url-status = live
| quote = Here, I introduce Sicily Johnson, on loan from the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles (Hollywood Campus).
}}
</ref>
<ref name=eater2019-12-11>
{{cite news
| url = https://ny.eater.com/2019/12/11/21010847/colors-lower-east-side-restaurant-nyc-open
| title = I Want to Make Really Good, Black-Ass Food
| work = [[Eater (website)|Eater]]
| author = Caroline Hatchett
| date = 2019-12-11
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| accessdate = 2020-04-07
| quote = Sewell-Johnson, who began cooking professionally after more than 15 years as an actor, ultimately wanted to create a deeply personal restaurant for the community. Her family has been in the business for generations: She owned a Berkeley restaurant with her mother, her aunt owned a restaurant in Chicago, and seven generations ago, one of her maternal forebears was the enslaved head cook on a Tennessee plantation.
}}
</ref>
<ref name=eastbayexpress2018-08-23>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.eastbayexpress.com/WhatTheFork/archives/2018/08/23/five-la-cocina-incubator-businesses-run-by-women-and-people-of-color-open-up-on-cal-campus
| title = Five La Cocina Incubator Businesses Run by Women and People of Color Open Up on Cal Campus
| work = [[East Bay Express]]
| author = Momo Chang
| date = 2018-08-23
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| accessdate = 2020-04-07
| quote = Pinky & Red’s is run by mother-daughter pair Bernadine Sewell and Sicily Sewell-Johnson.
}}
</ref>
<ref name=theshaderoom2019-03-31>
{{cite news
| url = https://theshaderoom.com/wheretheyatnow-sicily-sewell-johnson-reflects-on-her-amazing-acting-career-and-talks-about-her-new-career-as-a-chef/
| title = WhereTheyAtNow: Sicily Sewell-Johnson Reflects On Her Amazing Acting Career And Talks About Her New Career As A Chef!
| work = [[The Shade Room]]
| date = 2019-03-31
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| accessdate = 2020-04-07
| quote = Sicily appeared on the show for the first four seasons from 2001 to 2005. However, before starring on the popularized sitcom she also starred alongside Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, Whoopi Goldberg and a host of others in the 1998 “How Stella Got Her Groove Back.”
}}
</ref>
<ref name=grubstreet2020-01-21>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.grubstreet.com/2020/01/nyc-colors-abruptly-closes.html
| title = Colors, ROC United's Downtown Restaurant, Abruptly Closes
| work = [[Grub Street]]
| author = Chris Crowley
| date = 2020-01-21
| page =
| ___location =
| isbn =
| language =
| trans-title =
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| accessdate = 2020-04-07
| quote = <!-- The Lower East Side restaurant Colors abruptly closed on Sunday, just one month after reopening. --> Staff found out about the news during dinner service at around 8 p.m. on Thursday, when the restaurant’s chef, Sicily Sewell-Johnson, was informed via text that the restaurant would have to close. <!-- It was a sudden ending to what Sewell-Johnson describes as a tumultuous experience. {{'}}As far as structure, we never had that,{{'}} she tells Grub. {{'}}It was like a constant fight.{{'}} -->
}}
</ref>
<ref name=dailycal2019-02-26>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.dailycal.org/2019/02/26/community-needs-to-support-black-owned-businesses/
| title = Community needs to support Black-owned businesses
| work = [[Daily Californian]]
| author = Sicily Sewell-Johnson
| date = 2019-02-26
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| accessdate = 2020-04-07
| quote = Watching my daughter’s Black History Month town hall where Black excellence was being normalized, I realized how my children have the luxury of seeing me and their grandmother own Pinky and Red’s.
}}
</ref>
<ref name=cookingproject2018-05-04>
{{cite tweet
| url = https://twitter.com/cooking_project/status/992416984405966848?lang=en
| title = Our guest chef last week was Sicily Sewell-Johnson @SicilySierra - a successful Executive Chef who graduated with the highest of honors from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts and is one half of her restaurant Pinky & Red's, a mother- daughter business @lacocinasf
| user = cooking_project
| number = 992416984405966848
| work =
| author = The Cooking Project
| date = 2018-05-04
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| accessdate = 2020-04-07
| quote =
}}
</ref>
}}
==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0796412|name=Sicily Sewell}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:21st-century African-American actresses]]
[[Category:21st-century American actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Michigan]]
[[Category:African-American child actresses]]
[[Category:African-American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Alumni of Le Cordon Bleu]]
[[Category:American child actresses]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American lesbian actresses]]
[[Category:American restaurateurs]]
[[Category:American television actresses]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Michigan]]
[[Category:People from Pontiac, Michigan]]
| |||