Crystal R. Fox

Crystal R. Fox is an American actress and singer whose career has spanned over three decades, beginning in the late 1970s with stage performances in Atlanta after moving from her hometown of Tryon, North Carolina in 1979. Born on January 1, 1964, she is the niece of legendary singer Nina Simone and cousin of Lisa Simone Kelly, connections that underscore her artistic lineage. Fox made her film debut as Katie Bell in the acclaimed 1989 drama Driving Miss Daisy, and shortly thereafter secured a prominent television role as Luann Corbin on the NBC/CBS series In the Heat of the Night, appearing in more than one hundred episodes until the series concluded in 1995. Throughout the 1990s she added supporting film credits such as Drop Squad (1994) and Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored (1995), and co‑starred with Cicely Tyson in the miniseries Mama Flora's Family (1998). Her television guest appearances include Law & Order, The Sopranos and Third Watch, while her stage work has earned her a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Home (2002) and IRNE and Elliot Norton Awards for Best Actress in Fences (2009). From 2013 to 2021 she portrayed Hanna Young, a devoted maid and confidante, in Tyler Perry’s Oprah Winfrey Network soap The Haves and the Have Nots, a role that garnered critical praise and solidified her presence on prime‑time television. In recent years Fox expanded her résumé with a recurring part in Big Little Lies (2019), a leading performance in the Netflix thriller A Fall from Grace (2020), and a starring role in the Lifetime adaptations of V. C. Andrews' novels (2021). She continues to appear in high‑profile series such as The Big Door Prize (2022) and the upcoming Netflix thriller His & Hers (2024), demonstrating a versatile talent that bridges stage, film, and television.