Kim Hawthorne

Kim Hawthorne was an American actress who was best known for her starring role on the OWN drama series "Greenleaf" (OWN, 2016- ). Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Hawthorne always had a natural inclination to perform. At the age of 12 she took an active interest in opera, and by the time she was 18, Hawthorne earned a scholarship to study classical music at Alabama's Birmingham Southern College. She graduated four years later, with honors, and soon embarked on a career in musical theater at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. Hawthorne appeared in numerous plays during her tenure at the Alliance, before relocating to New York City in the mid-90s to appear in both Off-Broadway and Broadway plays. Upon arriving in New York, Hawthorne also began auditioning for film and TV roles. She nabbed recurring roles on daytime soap operas, including "All My Children" (ABC, 1970-2011) and "Another World" (NBC, 1964-1999), in addition to roles in films like "3000 Miles to Graceland" (2001) and "Along Came a Spider" (2001). In 2000 Hawthorne joined the cast of the CBC police drama "Da Vinci's Inquest" (CBC, 2000-05), playing Detective Rose Williams throughout the entirety of the show's seven season run. After "Da Vinci's Inquest" went off the air in 2005 Hawthorne continued nabbing castmember roles on short-lived shows like "Lucky Louie" (HBO, 2006-07), "Whistler" (CTV, 2006-08), and "Rake" (Fox, 2014). Then in late 2015 it was announced that Hawthorne was cast on the upcoming Oprah Winfrey Network drama series "Greenleaf." That series premiered on OWN in 2016, with Hawthorne playing the part of Kerissa Greenleaf. The show was an immediate hit for the network.