Debra Renee Wilson Skelton (born April 26, 1962) is an American comedian and actress. Wilson is most notable for being one of the original cast members on sketch comedy series MADtv. She has also done voice work for the animated series The Oblongs.
Debra Wilson was born and raised in New York City in the neighborhood of Ozone Park, Queens. Wilson attended the New York City High School of the Performing Arts. After graduation, she continued her studies at Syracuse University, working in television and radio broadcasting. Her acting debut was on the television pilot The Apollo Comedy Hour. Following this success she became a series regular on The Uptown Comedy Club and co-hosted Can We Shop? with Joan Rivers. She is currently hosting various programming on the TV Guide Channel.
Wilson was one of the original nine cast members of MADtv when the series aired in 1995. Unlike some of her fellow original repertory performers on MADtv, Wilson came to the show with limited sketch comedy experience and hardly any television background. However, she did have a well established background in stand-up comedy, which aided her ability to captivate audiences with her humor. Wilson was credited for creating some of the most popular recurring characters on the show. Among her characters were Cloret, Latina bimbo Melina (Lida and Melina), Reality Check's Tovah McQueen, Stick Chick Autumn, Kappa Kappa Kappa sorority sister Hayden Brooks, Alexis Dubane (Prehistoric Glamazon Huntresses), blaxploitation actress Cocoa Latite (Son of Dolemite), Lowered Expectations Host and Ms. Not Nice (Jenny Jones). Perhaps her best known character was the fast talking "Black American Princess" Bunifa Latifah Halifah Sharifa Jackson. The character makes extensive use of the ebonic language when speaking, and quickly accuses other characters' most basic assertions as motivated by racism. An early form of this character appeared in season one, but she was more articulate and a doctor.
However, Wilson would find her forté with impressions of today's megalomanical divas/celebrities. She frequently appeared as Oprah Winfrey, often paired up with Michael McDonald as supposed lover Dr. Phil McGraw, or Aries Spears as long-time companion Steadman Graham. Most of these sketches would end in Oprah evolving into an evil supernatural being with powers after being provoked by an audience member. The Oprah character would be reprised in Scary Movie 4, which spoofed the Tom Cruise couch-jumping incident in 2005.
Her most well known impersonation was of R&B diva Whitney Houston. Wilson would parody Houston's reported frequent fights with her husband Bobby Brown, and her reported drug use (in the Christmas 2002 episode, Wilson portrayed Houston with frequent facial tics, suggesting that she was going through withdrawal from cocaine).
Other impressions Wilson surprised audiences with included Beyoncé Knowles, Brandy, Chris Tucker, Condoleezza Rice, Downtown Julie Brown, Lil' Kim, Macy Gray, Mariah Carey, Rosie Perez, and Whoopi Goldberg.
When Nicole Sullivan left MADtv in 2001, Wilson became the last original cast member on the show. For the next two years, she served as the matriarch of the MADtv family by providing a strong sense of continuity between the old era of the show and the new cast members. After eight seasons as a cast member, Wilson retired in 2003 as a repertory player on the show. She and Nicole Sullivan were the only two cast members to be given a special recognition by the other cast members at their last show as a current cast member. At the time of her departure, Wilson held the record for the longest serving MADtv cast member. However, since her departure, Aries Spears tied her record of eight seasons and Michael McDonald recently broke the record, now in his ninth season on MADtv. Wilson, along with fellow former cast members Nicole Sullivan, and Will Sasso would reappear in the 2004-2005 season, both reprising some of their famous characters.
Since her debut on MADtv, Wilson has done voice acting on episodes on numerous television shows, landing some recurring roles on such shows as Clone High, Family Guy, and The Mr. Potato Head Show. Wilson has made numerous independent films, including Jane White Is Sick and Twisted, Skin Deep, and Soulmates. She does commercials with fellow MADtv alumnus Nicole Sullivan for Pepsi's Sierra Mist. She was also in a Without a Trace episode as a nurse. She was the co-host of TV Guide Channel's TV Watercooler with John Fugelsang, until she was replaced by Teresa Strasser in October of 2006. She also participated in VH1's Celebrity Paranormal Project, where she was the first contestant to have a spirit attempt to possess her.
