Actress Ashley Dyke is renowned for her captivating performances in prominent films and television shows. Born in Fairfax, Virginia, to a family of lawyers, Ashley is the daughter of Ellen Dyke and the Honorable James W. Dyke, Jr., the first African-American Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia and immediate past Chairman of the Greater Washington Board of Trade.
Raised in a culturally rich environment, Ashley's mother is Jewish of Hungarian and Polish descent, born and raised in New York City, while her father is an African-American Christian, raised in Maryland and Virginia. The couple met at Howard University School of Law, where they received their law degrees. Ashley is the third of four children.
Ashley's academic background is impressive, having attended Fairfax High School, where she was an All American Athlete and highly involved in student government. She then pursued a degree in theater from the prestigious University of Virginia and further honed her craft at the celebrated New York University Tisch School of the Arts. During her college years, Ashley gained valuable television experience as a series regular on the campus-produced show "Stratagem" and performed in several productions, including a lead role in "The Vagina Monologues".
After moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television, Ashley has continued to work extensively in theater, landing lead roles at renowned theaters such as Second City, Acme Theater, and La Mirada Theater For the Performing Arts. Her impressive range has allowed her to tackle diverse roles, from comedy to drama, in both film and television.
Some of Ashley's notable credits include guest starring roles on the CBS series "The Crazy Ones", the series finale of Stephen Merchant's HBO show "Hello Ladies", CBS's season finale of "CSI: NY", NBC's "The Cape", and the CW's "90210". Her film credits include standout performances in "12 Years A Slave", "The Hollars", "Bud'z House", "New Hope Manor", and "I Never Saw Another Butterfly".
Ashley has also had the privilege of portraying strong and complex characters on stage, including a young woman surviving a concentration camp in "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" and a young black woman living in segregated 1940s Ohio in the theater production of Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye".
