Chandra Wilson is a 2006 Emmy Awards nominee for her audience-pleasing performance as Dr. Miranda Bailey on the drama series, "Grey's Anatomy." She was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award for the role, and was recently recognized in Entertainment Weekly's year-end issue as one of the year's "Great Performances, Memorable Moments from 2005." TV Guide called her a "Scene Stealer" in their August 2005 issue. In the Spring of 2004, she was selected by The New York Times as one of "8 to Watch, Onstage and Behind the Scenes." This honor came in conjunction with the highly anticipated Broadway opening of "Caroline, or Change," written by Tony Kushner, composed by Jeanine Tesori and directed by George C. Wolf, in which she portrayed Dotty Moffett, opposite the formidable Tonya Pinkins at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

A Houston, Texas native, Wilson began performing in musicals at the age of five with Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS), where she appeared in more than ten of their major musical productions. At Houston's Ensemble Theatre, she portrayed Li'l Bits in "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show," and, in the summer of 2005, received their Rising Star honor for her accomplishments. She graduated from Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and later went on to acquire her BFA in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. There she spent four years training at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.

Wilson was a series regular on the comedy series "Bob Patterson" in the role of Claudia Hopper. She has made numerous other television appearances, including guest-starring roles on "The Sopranos," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Sex and the City," "Third Watch," "100 Centre Street," "Cosby," "Law & Order" and "The Cosby Show." She has had recurring roles on "One Life to Live" and "Queens Supreme," and a principle role in the "CBS Schoolbreak Special Sexual Considerations." She has also appeared in national television commercials for Blockbuster Video, Burger King, Scope and the United Negro College Fund, and in numerous radio commercials. On the big screen she's had supporting roles in the films "Lone Star," directed by John Sayles, and "Philadelphia," directed by Jonathan Demme.

Her greatest New York stage accomplishment thus far is her portrayal of Bonna Willis in the production of "The Good Times are Killing Me," by Lynda Barry, both at the Second Stage and Minetta Lane Theatres, and which won her a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance. Some of her other stage credits include "Caroline, or Change" at the Public Theatre, "Avenue Q" at The Golden Theatre, "The Miracle Worker" at Charlotte Repertory Theatre, "Paper Moon: The Musical" at The Papermill Playhouse, "The Family of Mann" by Theresa Rebeck at the Second Stage Theatre, "Believing" for the Young Playwright's Festival at Playwrights Horizons, "Little Shop of Horrors" at the Falmouth Playhouse, and the Broadway revival of "On the Town," directed by George C. Wolfe.

HOMETOWN............ Houston, TX
BIRTHDATE............. August 27