EARLY CAREER OF PAULA JAI PARKER
On August 19, 1969, Parker was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Later, in 1987, she enrolled at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree.
When Parker joined the cast of “Hollywood Divas” on TV One in 2014, she made her homelessness known.
Parker later relocated to New York City and began pursuing a career as a comedian, appearing in clubs all over the city.
She established such a solid reputation that she was finally featured on the short-lived “Townsend Television” and the comedy program “The Apollo Comedy Hour” on FOX.
She earned the part of Joi, the envious girlfriend of Ice Cube’s character in F. Gary Gray’s “Friday” in 1995, which allowed her to break into comedy series.
The Wayans Brothers, The Weird Al Show, Snoops, and NYPD Blue were some of the other 1990s television shows she later made appearances on. She also made appearances in the films Idlewild, High Crimes, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, and Hustle & Flow.
