B*A*P*S and Cinderella Star Natalie Desselle Reid Is Dead at 53 (colon cancer)

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B*A*P*S and Cinderella Star Natalie Desselle Reid Is Dead at 53
By Rebecca Alter@ralter
Natalie Desselle. Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

On the morning of December 7, actress Natalie Desselle Reid died of colon cancer at the age of 53, surrounded by her family.

According to TMZ, Desselle Reid was diagnosed with colon cancer earlier this year. Actress Holly Robinson Peete tweeted the news, writing, “a bright shining star passed away this morning. I got to know her when my mom was managing her. She will be so missed … sending out prayers to her children and husband.”

After Peete’s announcement, an official statement on Desselle Reid’s Instagram confirmed the news: “It is with extremely heavy hearts that we share the loss of our beautiful Natalie this morning. She was a bright light in this world. A queen. An extraordinary mother and wife.”



Desselle Reid was best known for her iconic role as Mickey, one of the titular Black American Princesses in the 1997 film B*A*P*S opposite Halle Barry. That same year, Desselle Reid played wicked stepsister Minerva in the beloved film version of Rodgers & Hammertsein’s Cinderella alongside Whitney Houston and Brandy. In the 2000s, Desselle Reid continued her comedic career on the series Eve and worked with Tyler Perry on Madea’s Big Happy Family in 2011. Desselle Reid is survived by her husband and their three children.

 

[N*E*R*D]

Rest easy sis

 

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Where Is Brandy’s Cinderella?

A humble plea.

www.thecut.com

Where Is Brandy’s Cinderella?
By Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz
Photo: Disney, Getty Images

It has come to my attention that our streaming overlords have a glaring oversight in their supposedly premium suite of film offerings. I’m talking about the fact that none of them have Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, the 1997 TV movie starring Brandy Norwood as the titular character.

The absence of Brandy’s Cinderella from streaming has been disturbing me for some time now. Growing up in the early 2000s, I would cancel playdates to catch it on ABC. My sister and I would sit two feet away from the television, close enough to feel the static, and scream along to the movie’s breakout track, “Impossible,” while eating Play-Doh.

Simply put, its current inaccessibility feels like a small personal tragedy. But it’s also a public travesty, one that hit me again the other night when, during her Verzuz battle with Monica, Brandy couldn’t sing “Impossible” because she apparently did not have rights over it. Other fans of the 1997 film feel similarly, and public pleas for Brandy’s Cinderella are becoming increasingly desperate:





For those of you who are unfamiliar: Brandy’s Cinderella is one of several live-action remakes of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1957 musical and is famously known as the only Cinderella with a mostly nonwhite cast. In addition to its title character, Whitney Houston (who also executive produced the film) plays the fairy godmother, Filipino-American actor Paolo Montalban is Prince Charming, and Whoopi Goldberg plays his mom, the queen mother. There’s even a Black evil stepsister, played by Natalie Desselle. And I know this sounds too good to be true, but in reviewing a bootleg version of this film, I noticed that even many of the extras appear to be BIPOC too.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the story of Cinderella, but you haven’t really experienced it until you’ve seen this version. Brandy, the stunning songstress herself, is the perfect princess; Whitney Houston is sublime and swathed in gold, and there’s not a person alive who hasn’t fantasized about finding someone to look at them the way Paolo Montalban looks at Brandy while serenading her. Seriously, look at his face:



Which brings me to the music. The soundtrack for Brandy’s Cinderella is so effervescent, so magical, that it would have stood alone even without Brandy and Whitney Houston’s legendary vocals. And with them it’s incandescent. Of course the “Impossible” duet is the most iconic, but “In My Own Little Corner” is a timeout anthem for children of my generation, and don’t listen to “Ten Minutes Ago” unless you’re ready to call your ex.



I can’t really overstate the impression this film had on me, specifically as a mixed-race child growing up in America. While colorblind casting is complicated, watching something on television that said families can look different, that royalty isn’t lily-white and yellow-haired, affected me in a really powerful way. And many Black women and men have written about the influence Brandy’s role had on them as young people; as Sesali Bowen put it in Refinery29 a few years ago: “I hadn’t been able to dream up a Cinderella with braids or a fairy godmother with natural hair before 1997’s Cinderella, and I know it meant the same thing for many other Black girls. It was one of the rare moments where we got to see ourselves in the fairytale.”

Brandy’s Cinderella is a cultural touchstone. It’s canon. It’s iconic. It’s irreplaceable. But why isn’t it accessible? Currently, there are several Change.org petitions seeking to rectify this mistake, so streaming services, I ask you now: Would you see an entire generation of young people miss out on this groundbreaking piece of cinema? Don’t we need it now, more than ever?

 

[durham]

RIP

 

[slewdem100]

RIP...she had a nice run in the late 90s early 00s.. remember her from How to be a Player

 

[Helico-pterFunk]

Rest in peace, and condolences to her family.

'B.A.P.S.' & 'Madea' Star Natalie Desselle-Reid Dead at 53 from Colon Cancer

The veteran actor had a long list of acting credits dating back to the '90s.

www.tmz.com

Remembering Natalie Desselle-Reid

Remembering Natalie Desselle-Reid

www.tmz.com

 

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[Helico-pterFunk]

Filmography




Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Set It Off	Tanika
1997	B*A*P*S	Mickey
1997	Def Jam's How to Be a Player	Jenny Jackson
2003	Sweet Hideaway	Tiffany
2004	Gas	Elizabeth
2009	Divas	Tamika
2010	Queen Victoria's Wedding	Queen Victoria Brooks	Short film
2011	Madea's Big Happy Family	Tammy
2011	Let Lorenzo	Tommy's Mom	Short film
2014	Zoe Gone	Delores Lafontaine

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Family Matters	Baby Girl	Episode: "My Big Brother"
1997	Built to Last	Tammy Watkins	Main role
1997	Cinderella	Minerva	TV film
1998	Getting Personal	Vanessa	Episode: "The Wedding Zinger"
1998-2000	For Your Love	Eunetta	Recurring role
2002	Yes, Dear	Cathy	Episode: "Kim's New Nanny"
2003	ER		Episode: "A Boy Falling Out of the Sky"
2003-06	Eve	Janie Egins	Main role
2010	Freaknik: The Musical	Doela Man's Mom (voice)	TV film
2013	A Mother's Rage	Principal Davenport	TV film

 

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[dugington]

RIP

 

[playahaitian]

https://twitter.com/i/events/1336034723575910400

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[ansatsusha_gouki]

Rest In Peace

 

[JTIMMY]

R.I.P

 

[34real]

RIP....she was pretty

 

[tallblacknyc]

Never watched baps but definitely remember her from how to be a player.. r.i.p

 

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[Keyz]

Damn, I remember her from the show Eve. RIP. Gone too soon.

 

[CptMARVEL]

RIP.

 

[YoungSinister]

RIP

 

[silentking]

RIP

 

[mcguyver]

Ahhh man, she was funny in her roles. Great actress..... RIP.

 

[Kaotic]

Rest In Peace....

 

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[veritech]

rip.

what was the cause of death?

 

[KoolJay]

Rest easy Sis.... Awww man...

 

[KoolJay]

rip.

what was the cause of death?

Colon Cancer, its in the title.....