Megalyn Echikunwoke parents Anita Laurie and Onigwe Versato Echikunwoke met in the US. Onigwe belonged to the Igbo tribe from Nigeria.
The actress was born on May 28, 1983, in Spokane, Washington, but spent most of her childhood and teenage at the Navajo Nation in Chinle, Arizona. She grew up with her mother and siblings after her dad passed away due to liver cancer.
The actress is active in the showbiz industry since the age of 15 years old, she made her professional debut with The Steve Harvey Show in 1998, and she also appeared on two episodes of the television series Creature the same year.
Since her debut, Megalyn has 60 acting credits under her belt on her IMDb profile, and counting. She portrayed Edie Palmer in the television series Almost Family in 13 episodes between 2019 and 2020. Her other acting credits include Mind Games, Made in Jersey, House of Lies, and The Drop, among others.
Megalyn shared screens with actress Andrea Susan Bush in Mind Games. Just like Megalyn, actress Terri J Vaughn also gained recognition after appearing on The Steve Harvey Show.
Megalyn Comes From A Multi Cultural Family
Megalyn Echikunwoke parents came from different backgrounds as her father is Nigerian and her mother is American.
The actress was born to Mark Onigwe Versato Echikunwoke and Anita Laurie. Megalyn’s father belonged to the Igbo tribe.
Mark Onigwe Versato Echikunwoke
Mark Onigwe Versato Echikunwoke migrated to the US after the Nigerian Civil War.
Mark served as a child soldier in the Nigerian–Biafran War, according to Megalyn’s blog on OxFarmAmerica. He sustained a gunshot wound at the time, and although he was initially treated, he contracted hepatitis B and ultimately liver cancer as the after-effect of the war wounds.
He fled to the United States of America to dodge the aftermath of the war in form of famine and other complications with thousands of others. Once settled in the US. Mark studied law while taking care of his growing family.
Unfortunately, Onigwe Versato passed away in 1987 at the age of 31 years old. Megalyn was barely 4 years old at the time and Mark had just completed his studies and was trying to establish himself in his new profession. His final death cause was liver cancer.
The Step Sisters actress paid tribute to her late father through an Instagram post on Father’s Day in 2016. She shared an old image of her father from his youth with her social media followers.
Anita Laurie
Anita Laurie is from the United States of America.
Her mother has European mixed ancestry of German, Scottish, Irish, and English descent, according to the actress’s IMDb bio.
Laurie raised her three kids at Navajo Indian Reservation in Chinle, Arizona despite them not belonging to the native American tribe.
Anita celebrates her birthday on December 8 every year. Megalyn shared an image with her mother on her Instagram account to wish her the occasion. Her age has not come to the surface yet.
Megalyn and Anita share a tightly-knit relationship, the Drop actress shared an image of her Anita after she got vaccinated against the coronavirus in March 2021. Anita looked happy after getting jabbed.
She is also found on Instagram with her username @anitaechikunwoke but has not shared anything with her 123 followers since April 4, 2018. Her last post was a picture of herself, Megalyn, and Rihanna.
Megalyn Grew Up In Arizona With Her Siblings
Megalyn Echikunwoke siblings include a brother Miki Echikunwoke and a sister Misty Echikunwoke. The actress grew up in Navajo Nation in Chinle, Arizona.
Miki Echikunwoke
Miki Echikunwoke is the only brother of Megalyn Echkunwoke.
Miki is no stranger to the Showbiz industry as he already has three production credits under his belt on his IMDb profile.
He worked as a production assistant in RuPaul’s Drag Race for 9 episodes and on BET Awards 2009. He was also a post-production assistant on On the Road with Austin & Santino.
He is alternatively known as Miki Echikun. According to Radaris, Miki was born in March 1981, making him an elder brother of the Step Sisters movie cast member. The siblings have two years age gap between them.
Unfortunately, Miki’s social media account has not come to the surface yet. The Mind Games actress has also not shared any images of Miki on her social media account yet.
Misty Echikunwoke
Megalyn’s sister Misty Echikunwoke lives the most secluded life among the three siblings.
Misty does not get featured on the actress’s social media or has her own internet presence.
She spent her childhood with her mom Anita and her two siblings in Chinle, Arizona. However, apart from a mention on Megalyn’s IMDb profile, nothing much about her is available on the internet.
Megalyn Echikunwoke Husband
Megalyn Echikunwoke does not believe in marriage or settling down with a prince charming, according to People.
Megalyn was in a relationship with Chris Rock but that ended in March 2020.
When asked about her intention of getting married, Megalyn replied by saying she is not a huge believer in marriage and the entire notion of what could a girl want more than settling down with a handsome and loving man is flawed.
She also added there is more to life than locking down a rich man, getting married, having kids, and living happily ever after.
However, she has made headlines for dating life for all the wrong reasons. She started dating comedian Chris Rock right after he left his wife of 20 years in 2014. They made their romance official after Chris’s divorce from ex-wife Malaak Compton was finalized in 2016.
According to People, Megalyn was also rumored to be engaged to the comedian but she quickly shut the rumor mill in that department citing that the dazzling ring on her finger was not what it appeared to be.
While Echikunwoke might have helped Chris settle after his rocky divorce from his former wife, the pair called quits in March 2020 after four years of being together, reports PageSix. Neither of them made any comments about the split.
