Born in Toronto, as the second youngest of six children of a singer. Inspired by her mother and her oldest brother, a Broadway actor, she began learning piano as a child and studied later music technique and theory, ballet and jazz at the Canadian Royal Conservatory. Her career as an actress was triggered by a few jobs as model and TV ad appearances. After these she moved to L.A. and guest starred in numerous TV series. In 1994 she co-starred next to Jean-Claude Van Damme in Timecop (1994) and later with Johnny Depp in Nick of Time (1995) and several TV movies.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Tom Zoerner| Wayne Isaak | (1999 - present) |
Gloria appears in a new Tina Turner music video "When The Heartache Is Over".
Sister of Denis Simpson.
Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world [1996]
Sang the Canadian national anthem at the 1998 baseball All-Star game.
Played the wife of actor/director/producer Jimmy Bridges in a "Luvs Diapers" commercial in 1989.
Sang the Canadian national anthem at the 2003 basketball All-Star game. Continues to sing both the Canadian and U.S. anthems at sporting events, including NY Giants, NY Knicks, NY Rangers, Toronto Raptors.
Her Jamaican mother was a gospel singer.
She and singer/actor brother Denis Simpson both hosted the Canadian pre-schooler program "Polka Dot Door" (1971) at one time. They sang and danced with stuffed animals for the most part.
Crowned "Miss Black Ontario" in 1986, the title was lessened when people questioned her racial badground and claimed she didn't truly represent the "black" experience. She states that she is Jamaican-Canadian, and not African-American.
Is a big fan of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys.
(June - August 2000) Singing backup for Tina Turner's international tour
(February 2000) Currently touring as a backup singer for Tina Turner
(April 2006) In New York, playing U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the Public Theater's production of "Stuff Happens," David Hare's play about the Bush Administration.
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