‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’: Whatever Happened to Hilary Banks Actress Karyn Parsons?

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air made its debut on the screen nearly 30 years ago with the pilot episode coming out in September 1990. The series jumpstarted the Hollywood careers of Will Smith and Alfonso Ribeiro. Over the six seasons, the cast of characters became a part of many people’s households and continues to be a relevant streaming option, even seeing a special cast reunion this past November. Among the series’ stars who somewhat fell out of the limelight was Karyn Parsons.

She was involved in The Fresh of Bel-Air from start to finish playing the part of Hilary Banks, the oldest daughter of the family and is one of Smith’s closest family members in the series. Before her breakout in the NBC sitcom, Parsons had only ever had small roles in various shows like The Bronx Zoo in 1987, Hunter and CBS Summer Playhouse, both in 1988. Her role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air saw her last 146 episodes, which easily is the most distinguished role in her acting career.

She netted a leading role in a Fox series called Lush Life that only last seven episodes before being canceled. Parsons got a little more involved with movies after that, appearing in Major Payne in 1995, Mixing Nia in 1998 and The Ladies Man in 2000 that starred Tim Meadows. In 2001, ABC tabbed her to appear in the cast of The Job which was spearheaded by Denis Leary. Parson’s run here lasts for two seasons as the show was dropped after 19 episodes.

This would prove to be one of her last times on the small screen with her only other credits coming as a voice actor in Static Shock in 2002. Since then, Parsons has taken a back seat in Hollywood as an actress and instead has become a writer for a nonprofit she founded called Sweet Blackberry, which aims to share stories of successful African-American individuals.

Fans of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air were pleased to see her return as part of the November reunion, however. She told TODAY that the reunion was “really emotional” due to the absence of James Avery, who passed away in 2013. The reunion aired on HBO Max and saw all of the main cast return and take part in the session that took place in a recreated Banks’ living room set.