Is Kimberly Elise Dead? False AIDS/HIV Death Rumors Sparked Confusion Online Among the Actress' Fans

Actress Kimberly Elise is a popular search item today. Wondering why, I began to investigate the super-talented thespian - along with why Kimberly Elise's name was so hot lately. Imagine my shock when "Kimberly Elise dead" and "Kimberly Elise death" came up as two of the top suggestions on Google Suggests Labs - indicating that plenty of people had already typed in that search term.

I dug around for official death certificates, reports and any valid indication that Kimberly Elise had in fact died. Thankfully, I found none.

Next I called the William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills, California, for more information. Turns out Kimberly Elise is not represented by WMA, but the lovely lady who answered told me all about IMDBPro.com, a fabulous site (with free trials!) that lists representation information about movie stars.

I found out that Kimberly Elise is represented by a manager at Untitled Entertainment in Beverly Hills, California. Unable to reach her agent for immediate comment, I dug further, contacting her talent agency, Paradigm, also in Beverly Hills, California.

Getting no immediate response to my inquiries about what I believed were false death rumors floating around the net about Kimberly Elise, I turned to the same flotilla where I first learn of the frantic "Is Kimberly Elise dead?" inquires - the world wide web of lies and truth.

Turns out all of these Kimberly Elise death rumors began as a result of "The Pact" episode of the TV show Girlfriends, wherein she played an HIV-positive character named Reesie Jackson. (The recent reairing of this episode is sure to spark Kimberly Elise death rumors afresh.)

At the end of the show, Girlfriends displayed a picture of a young woman with the name "Reesie Jackson" and the dates 1971 - 2003 and "Rest in Peace" beneath it.

Some viewers claim it was a picture of Kimberly Elise herself, and therein the death rumors began and grew. Other viewers claim that Reesie Jackson was a real woman with two children who died in real life from AIDS, and further confusion ensued when people continued to mix up Reesie Jackson's plight with Kimberly Elise.

As much as I love Girlfriends, I missed this controversial and confusing episode, and never saw the original photo that began all these death rumors in the first place. Either way, the lines between reality and fiction blurred to a point that people went out and told their real-life girlfriends that Kimberly Elise in fact died.

But thankfully, research indicates that Kimberly Elise is alive and well:

1 - Kimberly Elise's MySpace page shows a last login date of 9/4/2007.

2 - Variety reports that she has "joined 'The Great Debaters,' Denzel Washington's period tale for the Weinstein Co."

3 - Kimberly Elise's most recent TV work included her role in the "Close to Home" CBS legal drama.

As a Kimberly Elise fan, I am monumentally grateful that these HIV/full-blown AIDS death rumors are just that - rumors.

Ever since I first saw the actresses' huge eyes as Tisean 'T.T.' Williams in her role in the movie "Set It Off," I knew Kimberly Elise was an intense, excellent actress whom I'd hoped would be around in films and on TV for years to come.

I guess the fervent hunt for the real truth behind the "Kimberly Elise death" and "Kimberly Elise dead" searches shows us not only how much viewers love watching the actress, but just how engrained TV and movie characters can become in our lives.

So much so, that something switches in the mind that trips folks up once every blue moon - or unfortunately, more often. It brings to mind the real life people who used to call the Coast Guard and report that there were people stranded on an island that they needed to rescue.

Who were these people in need of desperate rescue? Gilligan, the Skipper, too, the millionaire and his wiiiiiiiife...

Kimberly Elise's management office eventually contacted me late Thursday evening to confirm that the actress is not dead, and indeed "very much alive." Thank goodness.