Elise Neal Net Worth

What Is Elise Neal's Net Worth?

Elise Neal is an American actress and producer who has a net worth of $3 million. Elise Neal is most widely recognized for her roles as Janey Sinclair on the ABC soap opera "Loving" (1994), Yvonne Williams-Hughley on the ABC/UPN sitcom "The Hughleys" (1998–2002), Tia Jewel on the UPN/CW series "All of Us" (2003–2005), Sydney Britton on BET+'s "The Black Hamptons" (2022–2024), and Yevette in the film "Hustle & Flow" (2005). Neal has more than 100 acting credits to her name, including the films "Malcolm X" (1993), "Rosewood" (1997), "Def Jam's How to Be a Player" (1997), "Money Talks" (1997), "Scream 2" (1997), "Logan" (2017), and "Tragedy Girls" (2017), the TV movies "Brian's Song" (2001) and "Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B" (2014), and the television series "SeaQuest 2032" (1995–1996), "K-Ville" (2007), and "Belle's" (2013). Elise has also produced the films "The White Sistas" (2017), "I Left My Girlfriend for Regina Jones" (2019), and "Survival" (2023).

Early Life

Elise Neal was born Elise Demetria Neal on March 14, 1966, in Memphis, Tennessee. She is the daughter of a construction worker and a nurse. Elise attended Lakeview Elementary, and during her youth, she was a cheerleader and a ballet dancer. During a high toss cheerleading stunt, Neal broke her left wrist, and it never completely straightened back out after the bones healed. After graduating from Overton High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Elise enrolled at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 1984. She left college two years later and moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. She began performing in stage musicals and traveled around the world with touring companies. Neal later started booking commercials and moved to Los Angeles. Before moving to Philadelphia for college, Elise had been a member of the Tennessee Ballet Company.

Career

An accomplished dancer, Neal appeared in several music videos in the early '90s, such as Kwamé's "Ownleeeue" (1990), Father MC's "Lisa Baby" (1991), and Dannii Minogue's "This Is It" (1992). Her first film was 1992's Malcolm X," and she followed it with the 1993 miniseries "Tales of the City" and the 1995 musical film "Let It Be Me." She guest-starred on "Another World" (1991), "Law & Order" (1992), "Getting By" (1993), "California Dreams" (1993), "Family Matters" (1993), "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" (1993; 1995), "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1994), "Red Shoe Diaries" (1994), "Chicago Hope" (1995), "Living Single" (1996), "The Steve Harvey Show" (1996), "The Wayans Bros" (1998), and "Fantasy Island" (1998). Elise played Janey Sinclair on the soap opera "Loving" in 1994 and Lieutenant J.J. Fredericks on the science-fiction series "seaQuest DSV" from 1995 to 1996. In 1997, she appeared in four films: "Rosewood," "Def Jam's How to Be a Player," "Money Talks," and "Scream 2." The following year, Neal began starring as Yvonne Williams-Hughley on the sitcom "The Hughleys," which aired 89 episodes over four seasons and earned her two NAACP Image Award nominations.

Elise began the 2000s with the science-fiction film "Mission to Mars," followed by  the films "The Rising Place" and "Sacred Is the Flesh" and the TV movie "Brian's Song" in 2001. Next, she appeared in the films "Paid in Full" (2002), "Who's Deal?" (2008), and "Preaching to the Pastor" (2009), and she co-starred with Terrence Howard, Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, and Taraji P. Henson in 2005's "Hustle & Flow," which earned Neal her third NAACP Image Award nomination. She guest-starred on "Method & Red" (2004), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (2005), and "Private Practice" (2009), and she played Tia Jewel on the sitcom "All of Us" from 2003 to 2005 and Ayana Boulet on the crime drama "K-Ville" in 2007. Elise then appeared in the films "Love Ranch" (2010), "Gun" (2010), "N-Secure" (2010), "The Perfect Man" (2011), "The Undershepherd" (2012), "1982" (2013), "Logan" (2017), "Tragedy Girls" (2017), "The Grudge" (2020), "Breaking" (2022), and "Survival" (2023) and the TV movies "Love Me or Leave Me" (2010), "The Fright Night Files" (2014), "Ladies Book Club" (2016), and "First Impression" (2018).

Neal portrayed Gladys Knight in the 2014 TV movie "Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B," and she had recurring roles as Susan Voyt on the superhero drama "The Cape" (2011) and Roxanne Parks on the Disney Channel's "A.N.T. Farm" (2011–2012). She guest-starred on "Scandal" (2012), "Real Husbands of Hollywood" (2013), "The Soul Man" (2012), "Into the Dark" (2020), and "A Black Lady Sketch Show" (2021), and she played Jill Cooper on the sitcom "Belle's" in 2012. From 2014 to 2015, Elise starred on the reality series "Hollywood Divas" alongside Paula Jai Parker, Golden Brooks, Countess Vaughn, Lisa Wu, and Malika Haqq. She played Sydney Britton on the drama "The Black Hamptons" from 2022 to 2024 and Teresa in the miniseries "Angel" in 2023.

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Personal Life

An "Essence" interview that was published when Elise was starring on The Hughleys" mentioned that she was engaged to film director F. Gary Gray and set to marry him the following year. Gray has directed films such as "Friday," "Set It Off," "The Italian Job," and "Straight Outta Compton." In the interview, Neal said of the relationship, "We are both really down to earth and our relationship is built on how we feel about each other, nobody really intrudes on our space. We don't care if the media appreciates us as a couple — we're really not tripping off of the Hollywood 'hot couple' thing! I love the times I hang out with Gary and just go to the movies. Just doing normal stuff." The couple later split, but Elise said in a 2019 interview with D.L. Hughley, "I got nothing but love for F. Gary Gray. Nothing but love. He's taught me a lot about the business too."

Award Nominations

Neal has earned three NAACP Image Award nominations: Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for "The Hughleys" (2000 and 2001) and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for "Hustle & Flow" (2006). Elise and her "Hustle & Flow" co-stars received a Black Reel Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Real Estate

In November 2001, Neal paid $650,500 for a 4,219-square-foot home in Los Angeles. The home included three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

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