Cassi Davis

An integral member of Tyler Perry's regular ensemble, actress Cassi Davis was best known for playing Aunt Bam in the hugely popular Madea franchise and matriarch Ella on family sitcom "House of Payne" (TBS, 2006-2012).

Born in Holly Springs, MS in 1964, Davis studied Music at Atlanta's Spelman College and first began performing in church and her local theatre scene before making her screen debut as Paula in Spike Lee's seminal "School Daze" (1988). Following one-off appearances on "Living Single" (Fox, 1993-98), "Married with Children" (Fox, 1987-1997) and "Kenan & Kel" (Nickelodeon, 1996-2000), Davis landed the voice role of the bureaucratic receptionist known as HUD woman in claymation "The PJs" (Fox, 1999-2002) and enjoyed supporting parts in Christian drama "He Say She Say But What Does GOD Say?" (2004) and romantic comedy "Love on Layaway" (2005). Her enduring and prolific working relationship with Tyler Perry began in 2005 when she was cast in the stage production of "Madea Goes to Jail".

A year later she joined him on screen as Aunt Sarah in "Madea's Family Reunion" (2006) and was given the role of voice-of-reason matriarch Ella Payne in his inter-generational sitcom, "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (TBS, 2006-2012). During her six-year stint on the show, Davis also played the same character on "Meet the Browns" (TBS, 2009-2011) and appeared as Rita in Perry's romantic comedy "Daddy's Little Girls" (2007).

But it was as Madea's sidekick Aunt Bam that Davis truly became a star player in the Tyler Perry team. She first played the no-nonsense know-it-all on the big screen in "Madea's Big Happy Family" (2011) and went on to reprise the role in "Boo! A Madea Halloween" (2016) and its 2017 sequel, the animated movie "Madea's Tough Love" and the filmed plays "A Madea Christmas" (2011), "Madea's Neighbors from Hell" (2014) and "Madea on the Run" (2017), as well as her very own star vehicle, "Aunt Bam's Place" (2012).

After appearing in diner comedy "Act of Faith" (2014) and Burt Reynolds-starring family film "Hamlet & Hutch" (2017), Davis reprised the role of Ella Payne for sitcom spin-off "The Paynes" (OWN, 2018-).