How Many Kids Does Tichina Arnold Have?

The Short Answer

Tichina Arnold has one child — daughter Alijah Kai Haggins, born March 16, 2004, with music producer Carvin Haggins.

Tichina Arnold: Early Life and Background

Tichina Rolanda Arnold (; born June 28, 1969) is an American actress.

She began her career as a child actor, appearing in supporting roles in Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and How I Got into College (1989) before being cast as Pamela "Pam" James on the Fox sitcom Martin, whom she portrayed from 1992 until the show ended in 1997. Arnold also portrayed the family matriarch Rochelle on the UPN/CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris from 2005 to 2009, and reprised the role in the animated revival Everybody Still Hates Chris (2024-).

She portrayed Judi Mann in the TV Land original sitcom Happily Divorced from 2011 to 2013, and from 2014 to 2017, she acted the lead role of Cassie Calloway on Survivor's Remorse. From 2018 to 2026, Arnold portrayed Tina Butler on the CBS sitcom series The Neighborhood. From 2018 to 2019, she acted the role of Paulette in the South African series Lockdown.

Early life

Career and Rise to Fame

Arnold was born in Queens, New York City, to a working-class family. Her mother, Diane, was a sanitation worker and her father Gene Arnold was a police officer. She was raised in the Church of God in Christ. She attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

Film and television

In 1986, Arnold appeared as Crystal, one of the three chorus girls who perform R&B numbers in Frank Oz's film musical Little Shop of Horrors (1986) along with future Martin co-star Tisha Campbell. Arnold was only sixteen at the time of filming, and her career continued steadily after that, with a role or two almost every year, including the films How I Got into College and the Paul Mazursky/Woody Allen collaboration Scenes from a Mall (1991). In February 1987 Arnold scored her first big break on television, with a permanent role on the soap opera Ryan's Hope. Her critically lauded role, as young heroine Zena Brown, landed her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 1988. She continued in the role until the series ended in January 1989. Later that year, Arnold was cast as Sharla Valentine, a high-school friend of Emily Ann Sago (played by Liz Vassey) on the ABC-TV daytime drama All My Children. She continued in the role until 1991.

Arnold's best-known television role was Pamela James on Martin Lawrence's sitcom Martin (1992–1997). She also played the recurring role of Nicole Barnes on the sitcom One on One. In 2000, she was reunited with Martin Lawrence in Big Momma's House. In 2007, she again reunited with Lawrence (this time as his character's wife) in the big screen road comedy/buddy film Wild Hogs. In 2003, she appeared in Civil Brand. Arnold played the role of the matriarch, Rochelle, on the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris which premiered in September 2005 and ended in May 2009. In a departure from her known comedic roles, she played the title role in The Lena Baker Story (2008), which was about the first and only woman to be executed by the electric chair in Georgia.

Arnold also played the voice of the friend in The Boondocks episode "Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf Bitch", which aired in 2007. In 2009, Arnold appeared onstage in The Wiz revival at the New York City Center in the part of Evillene, The Wicked Witch of the West. In 2010 she guest starred in the one-hour episode premiere of the Disney XD Original Series Pair of Kings as Aunt Nancy, and also reprise her role for one more episode.

Age and Birthday Details

Birth details for Tichina Arnold are a matter of public record.

Birthday milestones for public figures like Tichina Arnold routinely trend on social media, which is why "how old is" questions generate such consistent search demand.

Personal Life and Family

Arnold played the best friend of Fran Drescher in the TV Land sitcom Happily Divorced, which is based on Fran Drescher's real-life marriage and divorce to series co-creator Peter Marc Jacobson.

She made her biggest break ever in The Neighborhood, the success of which that in March 2026 that she signed a first look deal with CBS Studios.

Personal life

In 1998, Arnold started her own company of designer headgear called "China Moon Rags". The headbands were Swarovski crystal-embroidered bandanas. Celebrities such as her good friends Michel'le, Tisha Campbell, Janet Jackson, Vivica A. Fox, Regina King, Christina Aguilera and LisaRaye McCoy were seen wearing Arnold's designs. When her daughter was born, she stopped production.

Recent Years

She was married to heavyweight boxer Lamon Brewster; they divorced in 1995. During the late 90s, she dated Brian Austin Green, but they ended their relationship due to the hardship of being in an interracial relationship. They remain on good terms.

Arnold has a daughter, Alijah Kai Haggins (b. March 16, 2004), with music producer Carvin Haggins. In an interview with Joan Rivers, Arnold revealed that she had thought she was unable to conceive after bouts with endometriosis.

On August 18, 2012, Arnold married St. Johns Men's Basketball assistant coach and former Golden State Warriors assistant coach DaRico Hines in Honolulu, Hawaii. In January 2016, Arnold's representative confirmed she and Hines were divorcing. The media reported that Hines had been unfaithful to Arnold, having made a sex tape with another woman during their marriage, which was later released to the public without his consent. They were divorced in July 2022.

In 2013, Arnold and her sister created the We Win Foundation, a foundation for people with lupus; her sister, Zenay, has the disease.

Awards and nominations

Tichina Arnold's Career at a Glance

Tichina Arnold has been a working actress for four decades, with two iconic sitcom roles bookending her career. Born Tichina Rolanda Arnold on June 28, 1969, in Queens, New York City, to sanitation worker Diane and police officer Gene Arnold, she attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. At sixteen she appeared as Crystal, one of the chorus girls in Frank Oz's film musical Little Shop of Horrors (1986), alongside future Martin co-star Tisha Campbell.

Her first big television break came in February 1987 with the soap opera Ryan's Hope; her role as Zena Brown earned a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1988, and she stayed until the series ended in January 1989. Then came Pam: as Pamela 'Pam' James on Fox's Martin (1992–1997), Arnold created one of the defining sitcom characters of the 1990s. A decade later she did it again as Rochelle, the formidable matriarch on Everybody Hates Chris (2005–2009), a role she reprised in the animated revival Everybody Still Hates Chris (2024–).

Between and beyond those landmarks: Judi Mann on Happily Divorced (2011–2013), Cassie Calloway on Survivor's Remorse (2014–2017), Tina Butler on CBS's The Neighborhood (2018–2026), and Paulette on South Africa's Lockdown (2018–2019). In 2013 she and her sister Zenay founded the We Win Foundation to support people with lupus, the disease Zenay lives with.

Why Fans Ask About Tichina Arnold's Family

Arnold's candor about her personal struggles — including endometriosis that once made her believe she could not conceive — is why family questions follow her with unusual warmth. Fans who watched her play television's most memorable mothers want to know about her real-life daughter.

The confirmed record: one daughter, Alijah Kai Haggins, born March 16, 2004, with music producer Carvin Haggins. Everything else in this article sticks to the same standard — confirmed facts only.

Arnold has also used her platform for lupus awareness through the We Win Foundation, which she created with her sister Zenay in 2013.

Frequently Asked Questions

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