Maria Howell

Wanda Maria Howell is an American actress and singer. Career Howell was born in Gastonia, North Carolina and graduated Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She worked as jazz singer and made her film debut in The Color Purple (1985). She lived in Okinawa, Japan, from 1995-2001. She made guest appearances on Drop Dead Diva, Army Wives, The Game, Necessary Roughness, and The Vampire Diaries, and well co-starred in films include Daddy's Little Girls (2007), Mississippi Damned (2009), The Blind Side (2009), and What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012).