The actress reportedly died after a battle with colon cancer.
Natalie Desselle Reid, the comedy actress who starred opposite Halle Berry in the 1997 movie B.A.P.S. and had a recurring role on the UPN sitcom Eve, has died. She was 53.
Desselle Reid died Monday morning, her manager, Dolores Robinson, and actress Holly Robinson Peete reported on Twitter.
“Natalie was a bright light. She was an amazing actress and comedienne but also an awesome mother & wife,” wrote Robinson.
Robinson Peete added that she was “absolutely decimated” by the news of Desselle Reid’s passing. “I got to know her when my mom was managing her,” she wrote. “She will be so missed … sending out prayers to her children and husband.”
Desselle Reid died after a private battle with colon cancer, TMZ reported.
What appears to be Desselle Reid’s Instagram account also confirmed the news of her death, sharing that the actress was “a bright light in this world. A queen. An extraordinary mother and wife. Her diverse career touched so many and she will be loved forever. Naturally, we are grieving and processing this profound loss and we thank you in advance for respecting our privacy at this extremely difficult time.”
In B.A.P.S., directed by Robert Townsend, Desselle Reid and Berry portrayed waitresses in a soul food diner in Georgia who wind up caring for a Beverly Hills millionaire (Martin Landau) and living large as “Black American Princesses.” Desselle Reid memorably played the character of Mickey.
She was Eve’s pal Janie Egins on 66 episodes over all three seasons (2003-06) of Eve.
Desselle Reid also appeared on the big screen in Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, F. Gary Gray’s Set It Off and Def Jam’s How to Be a Player. She starred on Built to Last, an NBC sitcom that aired in 1997, and as the evil stepsister Minerva in Brandy’s ABC movie of Cinderella that year.
Born July 12, 1967, in Alexandria, Louisiana, Desselle Reid attended Grambling State University.
Survivors include her husband, Leonard, and her children, Sereno, Summer and Sasha.