Amber Dawn Stevens West (born 1985 or 1986)[1] is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Ashleigh Howard in the ABC Family series Greek (2007–2011),[2] Maxine in the NBC sitcom The Carmichael Show (2015–2017),[3] and Claire Davis in the CBS comedy Happy Together (2018–2019). She has also appeared in films The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), 22 Jump Street (2014) and Jessabelle (2014). She played the lead role of Maya in the 2018 comedy film Love Jacked.

Amber Stevens West
Stevens West at 2010 the "Night of 100 Stars"
Born
Amber Dawn Stevens

1985 or 1986 (age 38–39)
OccupationActress
Years active2005–present
Spouse
(m. 2014)
Children3
FatherShadoe Stevens

Early life

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Stevens West was born Amber Dawn Stevens in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of former model Beverly Cunningham and radio announcer Shadoe Stevens.[4] She has a younger sister named Chyna and an older paternal half-brother named Brad.[5] Stevens is of mixed ethnicity, being born to a white father and African-American mother[6] who is also part Comanche.[7][8]

Stevens West is a graduate of Beverly Hills High School.[9]

Career

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Early in her career, she appeared in television commercials for Old Navy,[10][11] Verizon, Logitech and Neutrogena. She made her television acting debut in an episode of Complete Savages in 2005. In 2007, Stevens West began portraying Ashleigh Howard on the ABC Family comedy-drama television series Greek.[12] In a review released soon after the premiere of the show, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called the show "light-hearted fun" and "authentic" while The New York Times claimed that Greek "captures the spirit of the hedge-fund age like nothing else."[13][14] The series concluded after four seasons on March 7, 2011.[15] She has appeared in films The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), Fired Up! (2009), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), The Kitchen (2012) and Jessabelle (2014).

She has appeared in guest roles on How I Met Your Mother, Friends with Benefits, Baby Daddy, 90210, Ben and Kate and New Girl.[16] In 2011, Stevens West played the role of Mimi Marquez in the musical Rent: Downtown L.A.[17] She made a guest appearance as Joy Struthers on CBS' Criminal Minds, in the episode "Fate". In 2014, she appeared as Jonah Hill's character's love interest called Maya in the comedy film 22 Jump Street.[18]

In 2015, Stevens West co-starred opposite Jerrod Carmichael as Maxine in the NBC comedy sitcom The Carmichael Show.[3] In 2017, following that show's end, Stevens West was cast as a series regular on the FOX supernatural comedy series Ghosted.[19] She portrayed a restaurant and bar designer Claire Davis opposite Damon Wayans Jr. on CBS' comedy television series Happy Together (2018–2019).[20] The series followed a young couple whose lives are suddenly thrown into chaos when a pop star moves into their home.[21]

In May, 2021, Stevens starred as one of the four leads in the first season of the ensemble comedy Run the World on Starz.[22]

In November, 2022, Stevens was a contestant on the new daytime game show, Pictionary, eps. 01114 [23]

Personal life

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Stevens began dating actor Andrew J. West after they met while co-starring in Greek. They married on December 5, 2014, in Los Angeles.[24] They have three daughters: Ava Laverne, Winona Marie and Bernadette Maxine.[25][26][27]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2006 The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Cheerleader
2007 The Beast Aileen TV movie
2009 Fired Up! Sara
Nothing for Something Heloise Short
2011 Weekends at Bellevue Claire Cohen TV movie
2012 The Madame Sofi Short
The Amazing Spider-Man Ariel
The Kitchen Amanda
The Distance Between Jen Short
Joey Dakota Maya Beaumont TV movie
2014 22 Jump Street Maya Dickson
Jessabelle Dead Girl
Keep It Together Mircea TV movie
2015 American Girl Dolls: The Action Movie with Anna Chlumsky Addy Walker TV movie
2016 The Bet Daycare Employee
2018 Love Jacked Maya
Public Disturbance Holly
2019 The Way We Weren't Carly
2020 Christmas Unwrapped Charity Jones TV movie

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 Complete Savages Girl #2 Episode: "Teen Things I Hate About You"
The Bold and the Beautiful Forrester Model Episode: "Episode #1.4655"
2006 The Hills Herself Episode: "Boyfriends And Work Don't Mix"
Made in Hollywood: Teen Edition Herself Episode: "Teen Acting Careers with 'Greek'"
2007 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Emily Wilson/Tanya 2 episodes
2007–2011 Greek Ashleigh Howard Main cast
2011 Grey's Anatomy Laurel Pinson Episode: "Start Me Up"
Friends with Benefits Caroline Episode: "The Benefit of Mardi Gras"
How I Met Your Mother Janet McIntyre Episode: "Mystery vs. History"
2012 Baby Daddy Izzy Episode: "The Daddy Whisperer"
90210 Bryce Woodbridge 2 episodes
Ben and Kate Anna Lewis Episode: "Reunion"
2013 CollegeHumor Originals Jasmine Episode: "Disney Princess Spring Breakers Trailer"
2014 New Girl Viv Episode: "Goldmine"
2014–2019 Criminal Minds Joy Struthers Recurring cast: season 10, guest: season 11, 14
2015 Your Family or Mine Sharman Episode: "The Couch"
Chasing Life Frankie 2 episodes
2015–2017 The Carmichael Show Maxine Main cast
2017–2018 Ghosted Annie Main cast
2018–2019 Happy Together Claire Davis Main cast
2019 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Dallas Episode: "Diss"
Live in Front of a Studio Audience Jenny Willis Jefferson Episode: "Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons"
2020 God Friended Me Julia Episode: "BFF"
2021–2023 Run the World Whitney Greene Main cast
2023 Krapopolis Athena (voice) 2 episodes
2023 Frasier Nicole Episode: "The Fix Is In"

References

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  1. ^ "Amber Stevens West Shares Sweet Family Photo from Daughter Ava's Birthday Celebration: 'So Lucky'". Peoplemag. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  2. ^ Nat (June 12, 2017). "Five Things You Didn't Know about Amber Stevens West". TVOvermind. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Rubin, Sam (August 26, 2015). "Amber Stevens West Talks 'The Carmichael Show'". KTLA Morning News. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  4. ^ "Amber Stevens West Biography". Archived from the original on January 16, 2018.
  5. ^ "Former 'American Top 40' Host Shadoe Stevens On Celebrating 30 Years Of Sobriety". Huffington Post. October 17, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  6. ^ "7 Quick Facts to Know About Actress & Model Amber Stevens West". Your Black World. June 26, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2019.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Swirl Girl Icon: Amber Stevens!". Swirl Girl Army. 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  8. ^ Carlbert, Michelle (August 26, 2015). "Interview: Amber Stevens on how her ethnicity has affected her career". SheKnows. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  9. ^ Smith, Krista (September 2014). "Amber Stevens Would Like to Work on a Sitcom". Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  10. ^ "Amber Stevens Quotes". BrainyQuote. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  11. ^ "Amber Stevens Quotes". MotivationQuotes. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  12. ^ Thomas, Rachel (August 1, 2012). "An Interview with Amber Stevens (Ashleigh, Greek)". About Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  13. ^ "Freaks and Greeks". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 29, 2007. Archived from the original on June 8, 2008.
  14. ^ Bellafante, Ginia (July 16, 2007). "'Greek' – Television Review". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 23, 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  15. ^ Masters, Megan (March 8, 2011). "Exclusive Greek Post Mortem: The Show Is Over, But There's Still More to See!". TVLine. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  16. ^ "Amber Stevens West | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  17. ^ Chen, Roselle (April 29, 2011). "Hey Kids, Let's Put on a Secret Show". Los Angeles Downtown News. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  18. ^ Morales, Wilson (June 16, 2014). "Exclusive: Amber Stevens Talks '22 Jump Street'". Black Film. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  19. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (July 12, 2017). "'Ghosted' Fox Comedy Adds 'Carmichael Show's Amber Stevens West In Recasting". Deadline. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  20. ^ Sandra Gonzalez (October 2018). "Amber Stevens West was happy to break pregnancy stigmas on 'Happy Together' set". CNN. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  21. ^ "Amber Stevens West says 'Happy Together' got creative hiding her baby bump". New York Post. September 29, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  22. ^ "Amber Stevens West Grew Up in a 'Beautiful Existence' Where 'Race Wasn't Really Discussed' — but Now Is Ready to Talk". Peoplemag. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  23. ^ "PictionaryonTV on Instagram: "MONDAY! We've got 2 ✌️ brand new episodes of Pictionary featuring Amber Stevens West, Bill Engvall, Rose Abdoo and Finesse Mitchell! 😎 Don't miss it! ✏️ ⁠ ⁠ PictionaryOnTV.com for local listings! 📺️ ⁠ ⁠ #pictionaryontv #pictionary #jerryoconnell #gameshow #mattel #boardgame #gamesnight"". Instagram. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  24. ^ "Amber Stevens Marries Andrew J. West". People. December 6, 2014. Archived from the original on December 9, 2014.
  25. ^ "Amber Stevens West and Andrew J. West Welcome Daughter Ava Laverne". People. October 18, 2018. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018.
  26. ^ Amber Stevens West [@amberonistevenswest] (August 16, 2021). "Introducing Winona Marie West! 🌷 & 📸 by @nuleafdesign 👶🏽 by me and @andrewjwest but mostly me" – via Instagram.
  27. ^ https://people.com/amber-stevens-west-and-andrew-west-welcome-baby-no-3-a-girl-exclusive-8717385
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