Jurnee Smollett

'Jurnee Smollett' (qv) was born on October 1, 1986, in New York City, New York, USA, as Jurnee Diana Smollett. She is an actress, known for her role as Jess Merriweather on the Emmy Award-winning TV series _Friday Night Lights (2006)_ (qv). She is also known for her roles in _The Great Debaters (2007)_ (qv), _Eve's Bayou (1997)_ (qv), and _True Blood (2008)_ (qv), as well as 'Jason Katims' (qv)'s NBC show _Parenthood (2010)_ (qv). She is the daughter of Janet and Joel Smollett. Her father was Ashkenazi Jewish and her mother is African-American.::unknown