Vivian Nichole Nixon[1], is an American dancer and actress. She is known for her recurring role as Hannah Brody on Grey's Anatomy, was a dancer on Smash and was a guest star on Glee as Andrea Cohen.
Personal Life[]
Nixon was born in Miami, Florida to Debbie Allen and Norman Nixon.[2] She has a young brother, Norm Jr. Nixon was named after her grandmother Vivian Ayers - Allen and her aunt is actress Phylicia Rashad.
Nixon took gymnastics until she was 13, but when a fellow gymnast fell and was seriously injured, her mother took her out of the sport. She went on to study at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D. C. and at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles, CA.
Nixon's daughter, Shiloh Elizabeth Williams, was born on February 7, 2019.[3]
Career[]
While still in her final year of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in Dance, she was cast as Kalinda by Hot Feet's conceiver/director/choreographer Maurice Hines. Hot Feet follows the classic storyline of The Red Shoes with a '70s funk facelift, and Kalimba is the ambitious girl at the center of it who can't stop dancing (literally).
She was named of the top "25 to Watch"by Dance Magazine in 2007. Broadway: Hot Feet (Kalimba). Regional: Alan Johnson’s West Side Story (Anita), Bayou Legend (Sara), Pearl (Pearl), Soul Possessed, Dreams, Brothers of the Knight and The Chocolate Nutcracker. Tours: Joey McKneely’s European tour of West Side Story (Anita), Alvin Ailey II and Opera Ebony’s Harriet. Film: 500 Days of Summer, Great Observer and Bolden (all in post-production). Television: Glee, Eli Stone, Everybody Hates Chris, Songs of Soul and Inspiration, That’s So Raven, Cool Women and Polly. Ms Nixon has also been a feature performer on four of the Annual Academy Awards.
Filmography[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | Glee | Andrea Cohen | uncredited ("Pilot", "Acafellas" and "Journey to Regionals") |
Everybody Hates Chris | Pretty Woman | ("Everybody Hates Fake IDs") | |
(500) Days of Summer | Dancer | ||
2010 | Louis | Anaya-Bolden's Muse | |
2012 | Smash | Dancer | (10 episodes) |
2013 | Boardwalk Empire | Onyx Club Dancer | ("Farewell Daddy Blues") |
2014 | Finally Famous | Jasmine | |
It Could Be Worse | Receptionist | ("Fate") | |
Power | Fiona | ("Who You With?" and "Loyalty") | |
2015 | Grey's Anatomy | Hannah Brody | 2015 - present, recurring (18 episodes) |
2019 | Bolden! | Anaya | |
2020 | Station 19 | Hannah Brody | ("I Know This Bar" and "House Where Nobody Lives") |
Trivia[]
- She was born three months premature.