Dawnn Lewis was born August 13, 1961. She is remembered mostly from her role as Jalessa Vinson on A Different World. Dawnn composed the theme song with Bill Cosby and Stu Gardner that was used for the series. She left the show in 1992 to join the cast of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper as Robin Dumars. From 1995-1996, she continued a career in acting, doing mostly voice-overs, which included characters on Spider-Man, Bruno the Kid, and C-Bear and Jamal. In 1998, she helped write the movie Black Jaq. She continues to make guest appearances on various shows.



Composed the theme song for the sitcom "A Different World" (1987) with Bill Cosby and Stu Gardner and sang it for the show's first season.