Anne-Marie Johnson (born July 18, 1960 in Los Angeles, CA) is an African-American Actress, Model, and Impressionist. She is best known to TV audiences for her portrayal of Althea Tibbs on the NBC/CBS Crime Drama In the Heat of The Night (1988-1993) and well as portraying various characters on the FOX comedy sketch series In Living Color. She once appeared as a panelist on the early 1990s revival of Match Game.
Born in Los Angeles, California, a graduate from UCLA with a degree in Acting and Theater. In 1979, Anne-Marie appeared as a contestant on Card Sharks (she was credited as Anne Johnson) but lost. She later appeared as a contestant on the game show Child's Play (hosted by Bill Cullen) and also on one of the earliest episodes of Body Language (hosted by Tom Kennedy), she was credited on both shows under her full name, Anne Marie Johnson, describing herself as a "struggling actress." on both shows.
Johnson soon began to move up in the acting world as she began landing guest starring roles on various TV shows and movies. She landed her first acting role in the second season of the NBC sitcom Double Trouble as a character named Aileen Lewis. She went on to appear in the 1985 syndicated series What's Happening Now!! (as Raj's wife Nadine Hudson Thomas). But it wasn't until 1988 when she landed the role that would make her a household name in the character of Althea Tibbs on the cop crime drama In the Heat of The Night (debuting on March 6, 1988 on NBC then moving to CBS in 1992) starring Carroll O' Connor and Howard Rollins (who played Johnson's husband Virgil Tibbs on the series).
Anne-Marie was a series regular on In the Heat of The Night for the first six seasons and during that time, TV viewers witnessed Johnson give memorable performances in the season three episode titled "Rape" where her character was raped by a former lover and fellow teacher and in the season six two-part episode "Discovery" where her character witnesses a suicide of one of her students and falls into a deep depression and suffering a mental breakdown.
Johnson parted ways with the show after the sixth season as she signed on to appear as a series regular on the comedy sketch series In Living Color (during it's last season, 1993-1994) on the Fox network. She has portrayed various celebrities on the program including Oprah Winfrey, Shari Belafonte, Robin Givens, and Whitney Houston.
Anne-Marie has also appeared in a number of movies including Hollywood Shuffle with Robert Townsend in 1987, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka in 1988, The Five Heartbeats (again with Robert Townsend) and Strictly Business, both in 1991.
She afterwards portrayed Alycia Barnett in one season of the Fox series Melrose Place (1995–1996) and had a recurring role on the CBS television series JAG as Representative Bobbi Latham. As well as guest starring roles on shows which include Mad About You, The Parkers, That's So Raven, Hannah Montana, and Bones. She also had a recurring role on the sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne as Liz Shelton.
In 2005, Johnson was elected First National Vice President of the Screen Actors Guild and in 2010, she was succeeded by Ned Vaughn.
Anne-Marie is married to Martin Grey, since 1996, they have no children.