Career
Townsend is best known for her roles as Wendy Reardon on the National Broadcasting Company daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives (1994-1996). Greta McClure, Eddie"s girlfriend on the American Broadcasting Company/Columbia Broadcasting System sitcom Family Matters (1995-1998). In 1987, Townsend was crowned Mission Talented Teen California.
Since 2015, she currently stars as Kira Cooper on the Disney Channel sitcom, Knights of Columbus Undercover.
Townsend was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Anorene, an African American interior designer, and Thomas Townsend, an English judge with Yugoslavian ancestry. Townsend is a 1988 graduate of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.
Townsend began her acting career in 1985, appearing in the episodes of television sitcoms such as Diff"rent Strokes and Charles in Charge. From 1994 to 1996, she played Wendy Reardon on the National Broadcasting Company daytime soap opera, Days of Our Lives.
From 1995 to 1998, Townsend played the recurring role of Greta McClure in the American Broadcasting Company sitcom Family Matters.
In 1997, she had the female leading role in the comedy film The Pest starring John Leguizamo. Townsend was regular cast member on the short-lived sitcoms Rock Maine, Baby (2003-2004) and Sherri (2009). She had the recurring roles on Lincoln Heights, Switched at Birth, and The Client List.
In 2015, Townsend began starring as Kira Cooper, the mother of Zendaya" lead character, on the Disney Channel sitcom, Knights of Columbus Undercover.