Education
Khandi Alexander was educated at Queensborough Community College.
Khandi Alexander was educated at Queensborough Community College.
She appeared on Broadway starring in Chicago, Bob Fosse's "Dancin", and "Dreamgirls". She was a choreographer for Whitney Houston's world tour from 1988–1992 and also appeared as a dancer in Natalie Cole's video for "Pink Cadillac" in 1988.
Since the early 1990s, Alexander has concentrated on film and TV, playing the character Catherine Duke on "NewsRadio" - a role she left after the start of season 4. She made a guest appearance in the episode after Phil Hartman's death. She also played the recurring character Jackie Robbins on "ER". She is known for her starring role as Fran, a mother addicted to drugs in "The Corner". She portrayed the character Alexx Woods, a medical examiner in the forensics-related drama "CSI: Miami" for 6 seasons as a series regular.
She has made guest appearances on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit", "NYPD Blue", "Third Watch", "Cosby", "Better off Ted" and "La Femme Nikita".
Khandi starred in the movie "CB4" with Chris Rock and Charlie Murphy. Other film credits include "Dark Blue", "Sugar Hill", "Menace II Society", "House Party 3", "There's Something About Mary", "Rain", "Poetic Justice", and the Tina Turner biopic "What's Love Got To Do With It", where she portrayed an Ikette.
She left the CBS hit show "CSI: Miami" shortly before the end of the 2007-2008 season. Her final appearance aired Monday, May 5, 2008 ("Rock and a Hard Place"). On February 2, 2009, she returned to the role of Alexx Woods for a guest appearance in the episode "Smoke Gets In Your CSI's". She later returned again as Alexx Woods for more guest appearances in the episodes "Out of Time" on September 21, 2009 and "Bad Seed" on October 19, 2009.
Khandi currently stars in the award-winning HBO television series by David Simon, "Treme", where she plays a bar owner in an affected neighborhood of post-Katrina New Orleans.