Biography

Demetria Dyan McKinney (born August 27, 1979) is an American actress and singer. From 2006 to 2012 she starred in the TBS sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne. Her other series regular roles include Tv One sitcom The Rickey Smiley Show, Bounce TV prime time soap opera Saints & Sinners and Syfy horror drama Superstition.

Her stage credits include playing Coretta Scott King in the Rhythm and Blues Opera I Dream (2010), and well as role of Deena Jones in Dreamgirls (2012). In 2017, McKinney played Whitney Houston in the TV One film Bobbi Kristina. She released her debut album Officially Yours in 2017. Plays Cedric's mother in the BET series The Quad.

McKinney starred as Janine Shelton-Payne on the TBS comedy series Tyler Perry's House of Payne from 2006 to 2012. She was nominated for a 2009 National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications Vision Award for Best Performance in a Comedy, in recognition of her work on House of Payne. She set to return for her in the House of Payne spin-off The Paynes in 2018. McKinney also guest starred on Necessary Roughness, Drop Dead Diva,Devious Maids, Chicago Med, and Being Mary Jane. She has been a guest star on The Real Housewives of Atlanta airing on the Bravo Television Network since its 7th season premiere on November 9, 2014.

From 2012 to 2014, McKinney had series regular role on the TV One comedy series, The Rickey Smiley Show. In 2016, she was cast as Tamara Austin in the Bounce TV prime time television soap opera Saints & Sinners. In 2017, she was cast opposite Mario Van Peebles and Robinne Lee in the Syfy horror drama Superstition. Also in 2017, McKinney starred in the TV One movie Bobbi Kristina as Whitney Houston, the late icon and mother to Bobbi Kristina.

In 2017, McKinney released her debut album Officially Yours. She received nomination for NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: ahmetkozan

Demetria McKinney, a triple threat in the truest sense of the term. A vocal powerhouse, an award-winning actress, a skillful songwriter and a trend setter. Demetria has played many diverse roles on both the big and small screen. She is showing us why she is making her mark on your TV screens, in movie theaters and on stage.

Demetria will be seen next as a series regular on the upcoming and much anticipated FREEFORM series, "Motherland: Fort Salem", she plays 'Anacostia' an articulate, tough and passionate sergeant whose sole focus is keeping the young recruits alive through their basic training. The show is set to debut in March 2020. She is also concurrently recurring on BounceTV's, "Saints & Sinners" and "A House Divided" for UMC. You may recognize McKinney from her role as 'Janine Payne' on the hit TBS sitcom "Tyler Perry's House of Payne", which produced over 250 episodes and received five NAACP Im- age Awards for Best Sitcom. The show now airs in syndication on BET Networks.

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico to a Military family, Demetria has lived all over the world and was given a drive that resembled that of her parents growing up. Her work ethic, way of life and how she sees life is that of her relationships with her family. Finding an interest in theater since she was little, Demetria decided to go to Okaloosa Walton Community College to study theater, where she took part in different theatrical plays outside and inside the college circuit. However, she didn't finish her degree because other opportunities came calling her name, one being Mr. Tyler Perry. Mr. Perry discovered her in a play that was touring called, "The Woman I am Today," which she will say "kick started" her career.

McKinney also worked with Tyler on his stage play, "Meet the Browns" and went on to star in several of his other plays including "What's Done in The Dark", "Why Did I Get Married?" and "Madea's Family Christmas". Her additional stage work includes leading roles in the plays "The Mountaintop", "Church Girl", the musical "I Dream" (in which she portrayed Mrs. Coretta Scott King) and "Dreamgirls", where she performed alongside the legendary Jennifer Holliday.

Demetria always makes time for her first love: music. In October 2017, she released her debut album Officially Yours, featuring the single Easy which was a top 5 hit on the Billboard and Urban AC radio charts. Demetria has opened on tour for R&B mainstays including Tyrese, BBD, Tank, and Fantasia. She received a 2017 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding New Artist.

For Fun, Demetria loves spending time with her family, taking in a good movie, traveling and even painting art. She is very passionate about cancer research, due to her father, a cancer survivor. On top of that, she spends time in the women empowerment space, especially with young African American women in her community, which plays a big role in her life, sexual abuse, homelessness and Earth Awareness.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Abbey Sibucao-MacDonald