She was born in New York City[citation needed] and is the daughter of actor Johnny Brown, who portrayed Nathan Bookman on the 1970s sitcom Good Times.
[1] She has a brother, John Brown Jr.[2] Brown has worked frequently as a stage actress, including roles as Effie in both Broadway and touring productions of the musical Dreamgirls; as Violet in the musical Maggie Flynn; and as the narrator in versions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Brown was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award in 1987 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non-Resident Production for her role in the touring version of Dreamgirls.
[4] Film credits include A Chorus Line (1985), For Keeps (1988), Sister Act 2 (1993), What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999).
She portrayed a young Louise in a 1981 flashback episode of The Jeffersons titled "And the Doorknobs Shined Like Diamonds".