Have you ever heard of Grace Lillis Gealey; popularly known as Grace Gealey by her fans? She is a famous American actress, best known for her leading role in Fox’s musical-drama series Empire as Anika Calhoun.
Grace actually had modest beginnings as a descendant of deaf parents in the Cayman Islands, but despite her modest background she managed to break the shackles of mediocrity and appeared as a well-known actress.
At the time of writing this report, it is assumed to have accumulated a net worth of $2 million. Here are the things you should know about her parents, her love life, and more.
Parents and Early Life of Grace Gealey
The celebrated actress was born Grace Lillis Gealey on July 26, 1984, in Butler, Pennsylvania, USA; she had parents who were both deaf. According to what we found out, her father was born deaf and her mother lost her hearing at the tender age of two due to pneumonia, which she suffered from for a while.
Although the actress was born in Butler, Pennsylvania, she grew up on the Cayman Islands at the side of her sister Faith Gealey-Brown with her deaf parents.
Due to the condition of her parents, Grace mastered sign language before she could even speak. The aspiring actress witnessed how people treated her parents without any respect because of her hearing impairment. It dawned on her that people with all forms of disability are marginalized and treated unfairly and she vowed to try to bring about a change in the treatment of deaf people in society.
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The first model is of American nationality and Kayman ethnicity, with her mother being the African Caribbean and her father American of European descent.
Her education led her to the University of South Florida in Tampa, where she studied theater arts and received her first degree. During her studies at the University of South Florida, she was able to communicate with empathy, which helped her in her acting classes, and this ability was attributed to her because she was raised by deaf parents.
After graduating from college, she was accepted into the graduate program at the University of California Irvine for further studies. At this institution, she earned an M.F.A. as an actress.
During her formative years on the Cayman Islands, the aspiring actress did not see herself in the acting profession, as careers in the banking, hospitality, and tourism sectors were more in demand on the island. Afterward, she went to the theatre to be able to end up as a drama teacher in the future because education is one of the things that is highly valued in the Cayman Islands. Grace was happy with her choice until she met a freelance director who encouraged her to consider acting as a life career.
After a while, Grace moved to New York City where she performed in some off-Broadway works. The promising actress played in the production of Tartuffe and The Misanthrope, which was performed in Chicago in 2013. The following year the actress was cast as Anika Calhoun in the Fox musical primetime drama (Empire). In the series, which debuted on 7 January 2015, she was cast side by side with Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard.
Is She Married, Who’s Her Husband?
The story of the actress’ love life is short and simple: On July 28, 2015, she officially got engaged to the only love of her life and her Empire colleague Trai Byers.
The prominent couple dated for several months before deciding to make their engagement official. Trai and Grace finally completed the wedding ceremony on April 14, 2016. It has been two years now and the couple seems to be living in marital bliss, their union has developed smoothly and without any significant problems.
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Height and Body Measurement
Grace Gealey may not be in the league of women who are very tall, but she still looks good with her height of 1.65 m (1.5 feet). Grace has a healthy body weight of 59 kg to match her height and her body statistics can be summarized as 34-26-35 inches. She wears a bra size 34B and both her hair and eyes are dyed blacks.
