Terri Juanita Vaughn-Riley (née Vaughn; born October 16, 1969) is an American actress, director and producer. She is best known for her role as high school secretary Lovita Alizay Jenkins-Robinson in The WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show (1997–2002), for which she received three NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She later co-starred in the UPN/The CW sitcom All of Us (2003–2005), and TBS sitcom Meet the Browns (2009–2011). In 2025, Vaught created, produced and starred in the Netflix political comedy series, Miss Governor.
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Career
Acting
In her early career, Vaughn appeared in the films Friday and Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood. She co-starred opposite Joan Severance in the comedy-action film Black Scorpion (1995) and its sequel, Black Scorpion II: Aftershock (1997). Later in 1997, Vaughn was cast as high school secretary Lovita Alizay Jenkins-Robinson for the second season of The WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show. She received three NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance on show. The series ended in 2002, and Vaughn later that year joined the cast of Showtime drama series Soul Food as Eva Holly. She received another NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series nomination.
From 2003 to 2005, Vaughn was regular cast member on the UPN/The CW sitcom All of Us. In 2007, she had supporting role in the Tyler Perry's comedy-drama film Daddy's Little Girls opposite Gabrielle Union, and later had a regular role on another of Perry's productions, Meet the Browns (2009-2011). In 2016, Vaughn was cast in the recurring role as housekeeper in Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf opposite Keith David and Lynn Whitfield. In 2020 Vaughn had a recurring role as Robin in Shona Ferguson's South African series, Kings Of Jo'Burg shown on Netflix, and the HBO comedy series, Insecure. She starred in the second season of Oprah Winfrey Network romantic drama Cherish the Day and had a recurring roles on Johnson and First Wives Club both in 2022. In 2025, Vaught created, produced and starred in the Netflix political comedy series, Miss Governor.
Directing and producing
She owns a production company alongside her business partner, Cas Sigers, called Nina Holiday Entertainment, that produced films such as Sugar Mommas, A Cross to Bear and Girlfriends' Getaway. In 2016, Vaughn made her directing debut with the comedy film #DigitalLivesMatter. She later directed made-for-television and for streaming movies Merry Wish-Mas (2018), Christmas Belles (2019), Twas the Chaos before Christmas (2019), Dear Santa, I Need a Date (2019), Angrily Ever After (2019), Hip Hop Holiday (2019), A Christmas Surprise (2020), Soul Santa (2021), A Merry Switchmas (2021), Unthinkably Good Things (2022), and So Fly Christmas (2023). She directed episodes of television series Mann and Wife, Kingdom Business, Tales, Bunk'd, Miss Governor and Reasonable Doubt.
Personal life
Vaughn grew up in San Francisco, California. She was married to Derrick Carolina and had a son, Daylen Ali (2001). She is currently married to former football player Karon Riley, and the couple have a son and a daughter.