Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and host. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC sitcom Community, as Dani in the 2015 version of The Odd Couple on CBS and as Dina Rose on the ABC sitcom The Mayor. Brown has had guest roles in television shows such as Drake & Josh, That '70s Show, The Office, Boston Legal, Chuck, The Soul Man, Mom and Big Shot. In 2021, she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her role in A Black Lady Sketch Show. In addition to television, she has had supporting roles in films such as (500) Days of Summer, Tropic Thunder, Repo Men, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, and Avengers: Endgame. She voiced Harper in the video game Minecraft: Story Mode in addition to Cookie on Pound Puppies, Luna on Elena of Avalor and Principal Amanda Waller on DC Super Hero Girls. She has hosted Syfy cosplay series Cosplay Melee and has been a frequent couch guest on Talking Dead. She has served as a guest co-host on talk shows including The View, The Talk, and The Real. Early life Yvette Nicole Brown was born on August 12, 1971, in East Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated from Warrensville Heights High School in 1989. Brown studied communication studies at the University of Akron and graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in communication in 1994. While at Akron she was selected for initiation into Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honors Society. She was initiated into the University of Akron's Delta Pi chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority on May 2, 1993. After graduating, Brown took acting classes in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Career Brown appeared as "Yvette" in the music video "1-4-All-4-1" by the East Coast Family, a Michael Bivins project, for Biv10 Records. Brown said of the experience, "It was a great run, but I guess music was just never meant to be for me." Brown first appeared on commercials before entering television shows and films a few years later. She has since played roles on television shows such as The War at Home, Girlfriends, Malcolm in the Middle, That's So Raven, Half & Half, and the American version of The Office. She had a recurring role as movie theater manager Helen Dubois in the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh. Frances Callier replaced Brown as Helen for one episode. Brown reprised