Who is Lisa Nicole Carson?
Lisa was born in Brooklyn, New York City USA, on 12 July 1969 – her zodiac sign is Cancer, and she holds American nationality. She’s an actress with more than 20 credits to her name, perhaps still known best for her portrayal of Renee Raddick in the popular fantasy comedy series “Ally McBeal”, created by David E. Kelley, and which starred Calista Flockhart, Greg Germann and Jane Krakowski. It follows the life of attorney Ally, the series aired from 1997 to 2002, won 50 awards including seven Primetime Emmys, while it was nominated for 115 other awards.
Lisa hasn’t been active in the film industry since 2017, which is why some of her fans believe that she’s retired, however, she’s yet to confirm this.
Early life and education
Lisa was raised in Gainesville, Florida alongside her sister Lynn and brothers Wyatt and Lester Jr., by their father Lester who taught journalism at the University of Florida, and their mother who worked at a kindergarten.
She enrolled at F. W. Buchnholz High School in 1983, the same year her parents divorced; Lisa and her siblings stayed in Gainesville, while their mother returned to New York City alone. In 1986, aged 17, Lisa competed in the talent show “America’s Junior Miss”, placing second.
Upon matriculating in 1987, she chose not to pursue a college degree, but instead moved to New York City and began working her way up in the film industry.
Roles in TV series
Lisa made her debut TV series appearance in the 1991 episode “Aria” of the mystery crime drama “Law & Order”, and the following a couple of years saw her appear in an episode or two of various series, such as the romantic family comedy “The Cosby Show”, the comedy “The Apollo Comedy Hour” and the short family drama “Lifestories: Families in Crisis”.
She gained recognition in 1999, when cast to play Renee Raddick, one of the lead characters in the fantasy comedy drama “Ally”, which also starred Calista Flockhart and Courtney Thorne-Smith. The series shows the unaired episodes of “Ally McBeal”.
Between 1996 and 2001, Lisa played Carla Reece in the hit romantic drama “ER”, created by Michael Crichton, and which starred Anthony Edwards, George Clooney and Julianna Margulies. It follows the lives of people working at Chicago’s County General Hospital, the series aired from 1994 to 2009 and won 179 awards, including 23 Primetime Emmys, while it was nominated for 370 other awards.
Lisa’s since appeared in two other TV series: she played Renee Raddick in the 2012 episode “Onward and Upward” of the crime comedy drama “Harry’s Law”, and Mae Bell in two episodes of the critically acclaimed 2017 biographical musical mini-series “The New Edition Story”.
Roles in movies
Lisa made her debut film appearance in the 1993 comedy “Let’s Get Bizzee”, and the following year saw her play Marti in the romantic crime drama “Jason’s Lyric”.
She gained recognition in 1995, when cast to play Coretta James in the popular mystery crime drama “Devil in a Blue Dress”, written and directed by Carl Franklin, and which starred Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore and Jennifer Beals. It follows an African-American man who’s become involved in a political murder scandal, and the movie won three of the 16 awards for which it was nominated.
A couple of Lisa’s following roles were in the 1995 musical drama “Divas”, the romantic drama “Love Jones” and thecomedy “White Lies” both in 1997.
Her most recent movie role was her portrayal of Sylvia in the 1999 crime comedy drama “Life”, directed by Ted Demme, and which starred Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence and Obba Babatunde; the film follows two men who were wrongfully convicted in 1932, and became friends in jail. It won one of the seven awards for which it was nominated, including an Oscar nomination for Best Make-up.
Other credits
Lisa sang various songs in nine episodes of the series “Ally McBeal”, between 1997 and 2002.
She was featured in the 2016 documentary series “Being”.
Lisa’s made a guest appearance in various talk-shows, such as “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, “Good Morning America” and “Entertainment Tonight”.
Awards and nominations
Lisa’s won one of the nine awards for which she’s been nominated: a 1999 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, for “Ally McBeal” (shared with colleagues).
Love life and relationships
Lisa hasn’t spoken of any men (or women) whom she’s perhaps been with, as she prefers to keep the details of her love life away from the media’s attention. This is why there are today various rumors circulating the internet, concerning both her sexual orientation and past and present relationships.
It’s known that she was once in a relationship with a non-celebrity American man, and that they split after close to two years because of her mental health issues.
Some of Lisa’s fans believe that she’s lesbian, claiming that this is why she avoids talking about her love life, however, Lisa’s denied these rumors, stating that she prefers the company of men.
As of August 2022, Lisa seems to be single, hasn’t married and doesn’t have children.
Hobbies and other interests
Lisa was physically quite active in her 20s and 30s, as had multiple training sessions at the gym every week, mostly because it was important for her acting career to stay in shape; she still works out nowadays, but a lot less than she used to.
She’s passionate about travelling, and has been to various US states for both work and pleasure, while Lisa’s also vacationed in a couple of European countries and Australian cities, with her dream travel destination being Paris, France.
Lisa’s a huge lover of animals, with cats and giraffes being her favorites.
She has her own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are Keanu Reeves, Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts, while a couple of her favorite films include the trilogy “Matrix”, “Pulp Fiction” and “The Runaway Bride”.
Mental health issues
Lisa suffered a mental breakdown in 2000, was arrested and committed to a psychiatric hospital.
She gave an interview to the magazine “Essence” in July 2015, and spoke about how hard it was to live with bipolar disorder, and how it affected her career and love life.
Age, height and net worth
Lisa’s age is 53. She has long curly brown hair and brown eyes, her height is 5ft 6ins (1.7m) and she weighs around 130lbs (60kgs).
As of August 2022, her net worth’s been estimated at over $400,000.
