Essence Atkins was born in New York City, New York, USA on February 7, 1972. She is a producer and actress, best known for A Haunted House (2013), How High (2001), and Same Difference (2019). Jaime Mendez was her previous husband.

In 1986, Atkins launched her career as a teen guest star on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. Before landing a co-leading role opposite James Earl Jones and Vanessa Bell Callaway in the brief-lived first African-American prime-time soap opera Under One Roof in 1995, she spent the years that followed playing guest roles on sitcoms like Family Matters.  The short-lived NBC teen soap opera Malibu Shores featured her and Keri Russell as co-stars the following year. She played a character on television in 1993’s Saved by the Bell spin-off, The College Years. Atkins made an appearance in the pilot, but her character was eliminated when Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, a regular from the first season, decided to come back.

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Essence Atkins Husband

Atkins married Puerto Rican collegiate football free safety Jaime Mendez in September 2009. On Valentine’s Day 2008, they met through the online dating service Match.com. During the reception, her Half and Half co-star Valarie Pettiford performed.

Essence Atkins children

The couple announced on Twitter on August 9, 2011, that they were expecting their first child together. In December 2011, Essence gave birth to their son. In 2016, the couple divorced.

Essence Atkins parent

Jeffery Atkins is Essence Atkins’ father, and Sandy Nelson is her mother.

Essence Atkins siblings

Tasha Yvette Henderson is Essence Atkins’s sister.