• Former model, entrepreneur, and philanthropist
• Founded non-profit organization Treasure You and Pat & Emmitt Smith Charities
• Was married to Martin Lawrence from 1995-1997
• Currently married to former professional American Football player Emmitt Smith
• Has four children, one with Lawrence and three with Smith
Contents
Who is Patricia Southall?
Patricia Annette ‘Pat’ Southall was born in Chesapeake, Virginia USA, on 17 December 1970 – her zodiac sign is Sagittarius, and she holds American nationality. She’s an entrepreneur, philanthropist and former model, who’s probably known best for being the former wife of Martin Lawrence, a famous American comedian and actor.
Early life and education
Patricia was raised alongside her twin sister Pam in Chesapeake, by their mother Mildred and father Henry; not a lot is known about Patricia’s family as she respects their privacy, but it’s believed that her father was a truck driver, and that her mother was a registered nurse.
Patricia was physically quite active while growing up, and played various sports during her teenage years, while it’s believed that she was a cheerleader when attending a local high school. She appeared in a couple of plays performed at the school, and also enjoyed practicing dancing. Upon matriculating in 1989, she enrolled at James Madison University, and eventually joined the sorority Delta Sigma Theta; Patricia graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1993.
Patricia’s career
Patricia began entering beauty pageants while attending college, and was crowned Miss Virginia USA in 1993, while she placed second in the Miss USA 1994 beauty pageant.
She’s the founder of the non-profit organization Treasure You, which aims to help women with financial problems, and Patricia is today serving as the organization’s spokesperson. She and her second husband Emmitt have also launched the organization Pat & Emmitt Smith Charities, through which they have donated money to many other charities.
In 2012, Patricia became the spokesperson of the organization Women of Faith.
Love life and marriage with Martin Lawrence
Patricia met Martin in June 1992 when he came to Richmond, Virginia to attend a Def Comedy Jam concert, while she worked at the media office of Governor Douglas Wilder. They married in 1995, in a large ceremony attended by many of their friends and family members, and on 15 January 1996, Patricia gave birth to their daughter Jasmin Page Lawrence.
She and Martin divorced in 1997.
On 22 April 2000, Patricia married former star professional American Football player Emmitt James Smith III, and she gave birth to their son Emmitt James Smith IV on 15 May 2002, while their second son Elijah Alexander James Smith followed on 22 September 2010. They also have a daughter Skylar Smith, born on 15 October 2013.
Martin began dating Shamicka Gibbs not long after he divorced Patricia, and she gave birth to their daughters Iyanna Faith on 9 November 2000, and Amara Trinity on 20 August 2002; he and Shamicka married on 10 July 2010, but filed for divorce on 25 April 2012.
As of April 2022, Patricia’s married to her second husband Emmitt Smith, and has three children with him, as well as a daughter with her first husband Martin Lawrence.
Hobbies and interesting facts
Patricia seems to be enjoying the attention which she’s receiving from her close to 150,000 followers on Instagram, and is today highly active on the network; she has uploaded more than 3,000 pictures and videos, most of which have been taken during her everyday life.
She’s a fashionista, and is trying to keep up with all the latest fashion trends by reading magazines such as “Elle” and “Vogue”, and one can say that she’s also a shopaholic, as she goes shopping for clothes multiple times every week.
Patricia is into travelling, and has been all around the world for both work and pleasure, while her dream travel destination is Paris, France.
She likes to watch movies in her spare time, and her favorite actor and actress are Will Smith and Kate Winslet, while a couple of her favorite films include “Bad Boys”, “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Titanic”.
Age, height and net worth
Patricia’s age is 51. She has long brown hair and blue eyes, her height is 5ft 5ins (1.65m) and she weighs around 120lbs (55kgs).
As of April 2022, her net worth stands at over $500,000, while her former husband Martin’s net worth has been estimated at more than $110 million, and Emmitt Smith’s fortune is around $25 million.
Who is her former husband Martin Lawrence?
Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence was born in Frankfurt, Hesse, West Germany on 16 April 1965 – his zodiac sign is Taurus, and he holds American nationality.
He has appeared in close to 50 movies and TV series, while he’s perhaps still known best for having starred as Martin Payne in the romantic comedy series “Martin”, created by John Bowman and Topper Carew, and which also starred Tisha Campbell and Thomas Mikal Ford. It follows the life of radio and TV personality Martin Payne, the series aired from 1992 to 1997, and won six of the 17 awards for which it was nominated.
Martin spent the first seven years of his life in Germany, where he was raised alongside his five siblings by their father John Lawrence who was in the US Army and stationed in Germany, and their mother Chlora (nee Bailey) who worked various jobs, including being a cashier and a sales representative. Martin was eight when his parents divorced, and he went on to live with his mother, rarely seeing his father.
He studied at Eleanor Roosevelt High School before transferring to Friendly High School both in California, from which he matriculated in 1983.
Martin worked various jobs for the following five years, and it was in 1987 that he made his debut TV series appearance, playing Maurice Warfield in 22 episodes of the comedy “What’s Happening Now”; a couple of his following roles were in the 1989 comedy movie “A Little Bit Strange”, the 1989 comedy film “Do the Right Thing” and the 1990 romantic musical comedy movie “House Party”.
Martin became famous for his portrayal of the lead character Marcus Burnett in the 1995 action crime comedy movie “Bad Boys”, directed by Michael Bay, and which also starred Will Smith and Lisa Boyle.
It follows two police detectives who are protecting a murder witness, and the movie was nominated for four awards.
A couple of Martin’s most notable performances in the 2000s were in the action crime comedy movie “Big Momma’s House”, the 2003 action crime comedy film “Bad Boys II” and the 2008 romantic comedy movie “Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins”.
He has appeared in only a couple of movies and TV series since then, with his most recent role having been in the 2020 action crime comedy film “Bad Boys for Life”.
Martin has won five of the 16 awards for which he has been nominated: these wins include a 2000 Teen Choice Award for Film – Wipeout Scene of the Summer, a 2004 NRJ Cine Award for Best Buddy Movie (Meilleur Buddy Movie) and a 2005 BET Icon Comedy Award.