Jurnee Smollett is an American actress. She was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of Janet and Joel Smollett. The fourth of six performing siblings, she received critical acclaim for her title role in the finely crafted independent Eve's Bayou (1997). The performance earned her a Young Star Award nomination.

She co-starred with her siblings in the television comedy On Our Own (1994-1995) and appeared in numerous television shows such as Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Full House in which she played Michelle Tanner's young friend Denise. From 1998 to 2000, she appeared as a regular cast member of the Bill Cosbyseries titled Cosby. She also played as a regular in Wanda at Large as Wanda Sykes' niece Holly in 2003, in the episode 'Fools for Love' as the character "Tracey" on House, in The Great Debaters, and most recently as Beth, a terminally ill girl who undergoes a clinical trial to successful results in the episode Freedom on the popular ABC drama Grey's Anatomy.

Smollett starred with Bow Wowin the 2005 film Roll Bounce. She played the role of Danyelle Rollins in the 2006 film Gridiron Gang, and also played leading roles in the racial drama Selma, Lord, Selma, as well as Beautiful Joe (alongside Sharon Stoneand Billy Connolly) and Ruby's Bucket of Blood. In 2007, she played the role of Samantha Booke in The Great Debaters (which was directed by Denzel Washington and produced by Oprah Winfrey).

Smollett has also been active in HIV/AIDS involved causes since she was twelve. She has spoken at the Ryan White Youth Conference, and elsewhere, on this issue. Her first encounter with the disease came at age seven when a crew member of "On Our Own" died of AIDS. She is also on the Board of Directors of the group Artists for a New South Africa, dedicated to dealing with HIV/AIDS in Africa.