Patricia Southall Bio: Meet Emmitt Smith’s Wife Who Once Married Martin Lawrence

Patricia Southall is an American actress, a celebrity wife, and a social activist who founded Treasure You, a non-profit organization established primarily to help women in emotional, spiritual, or financial distress.

The beautiful thespian is also a successful author and producer. Southall’s successful outing in the Miss Virginia pageant contest in 1993, made her the first African-American to wear the coveted crown. Along with her successful modeling career, philanthropic activities, writing, and acting, Patricia is also well known to the media as the recently estranged wife of former NFL player and Dallas Cowboys running back, Emmitt Smith.

Summary of Patricia Southall’s Biography

  • Full Name: Patricia Annette Southall
  • Nickname: Pat
  • Gender: Female
  • Date of Birth: December 17, 1970
  • Patricia Southall’s Age: 53 years old
  • Ethnicity: African-American
  • Nationality: American
  • Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
  • Sexual Orientation: Straight
  • Religion: Christianity
  • Place of Birth: Chesapeake, Virginia
  • Education: Western Branch High School and James Madison University
  • Profession: Model, Actress, Activist, Movie Producer, Entrepreneur
  • Current Residence: Los Angeles, California
  • Relationship Status: Divorced/Separated
  • Ex-Husband: Martin Lawrence (1995-1997)
  • Estranged Husband: Emmitt Smith (2000-2020)
  • Children: 4 – Jasmine Page Lawrence (1996), Emmitt James Smith IV (2000), Skylar Smith (2003), and Elijah Alexander James Smith (2010)
  • Parents: Henry and Mildred Southall
  • Siblings: Pam Southall (Sister)
  • Patricia Southall’s Height in Inches: 5’ 5”
  • Patricia Southall’s Height in Centimeters: 165cm
  • Patricia Southall’s Weight: 50 kg (110 lbs)
  • Eye Color: Brown
  • Hair Color: Black
  • Patricia Southall’s Net Worth: $500,000
  • Famous for: Winning the Miss Virginia USA contest in 1993 and 1st runner-up in the Miss USA contest in 1994
  • Instagram: @patsmithy

Patricia Southall Was Raised In a Farm

Patricia Annette Southall was born on December 17, 1970, in Chesapeake Virginia, to an African-American couple, Henry and Mildred Southall. Her only known sibling is her sister, Pam Southall who is battling cancer. She holds American citizenship on account of her birth status while she is also ethnically an African-American.

Details of her childhood include but are not limited to, time spent on the family farm with her sister, Pam, picking and packing peanuts. The 53-year-old was also born into a Christian home, and her fond childhood memories include going to church on Sundays with her family.

Most of her formative years were spent in Chesapeake, Virginia where she had her high school education at Western Branch High School. After her graduation from Western Branch, the slender, 5’5″ tall beauty proceeded to James Madison University where she bagged a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism.

Patricia expressed a rather keen interest in modeling, eventually deciding to take the plunge into the world of beauty queens. She took part in the 1993 Miss Virginia, USA beauty pageant and won. To further showcase her talent, she represented Virginia a year later in 1994. Here too, she came quite close to winning the grand prize but eventually settled for the first runner-up position. This part of her life was before her first marriage to American actor and comedian, Martin Lawrence.

Southall Is A Successful Career Woman

Patricia Southall has progressed from winning the Miss Virginia contest in 1993 to being a social activist. At 53 years of age, she doesn’t seem to be slowing down her ambitions. She is actively engaged in humanitarian services such as the Treasure You Foundation which she runs with her estranged husband, Smith, founded to liberate women in need.

She is also a published author. Her book “Second Chances” was published in 2016 and chronicles the events of her first marriage to Lawrence. In it, she also teaches women how to blaze their own trail away from the confines of their marriages.

Her career on the big screen includes minor roles in movies like Beverly Hills, 90210, and The Wayne Bros. She has also appeared on TV shows like Dr. Phil, Canal Street, and Emmitt Smith: Celebrity Dream 2015, which was a documentary about the life of her then-husband Emmitt Smith. She has also tried her hand successfully at movie production.

All these lucrative career involvements have helped the beautiful Virginian woman to amass a tidy net worth of $500,000. One thing is certain from looking at the life of Patricia Southall; she is her own woman who has overcome the adversity that comes with two failed marriages and forged her own path while taking her destiny into her own hands.

She Has Been Married Twice

Patricia’s career successes had put her on the radar of some of the nation’s eligible bachelors. She, however, chose to become a wife to then-boyfriend and rising star actor, Martin Lawrence. The marriage, which ended two years after it began, made her a mother to a beautiful daughter, Jasmine Page Lawrence. However, not long after she left her marriage to Lawrence, she started dating her now estranged husband and former NFL superstar, Emmitt Smith.

Patricia Southall Became Emmitt Smith’s Wife After Her First Marriage Failed

The ex-beauty queen and the pro-football Hall of Famer met for the first time in 1998 at a music festival in Aruba. After meeting up and exchanging pleasantries, they discovered they were attracted to each other and the challenge of living in different cities at the time did not deter them from arranging further public outings. They officially became an item in the same year they met.

Two years and several dates later, the couple agreed to get married and their wedding date was set for April 22, 2000, almost three years after the end of Southall’s first marriage to Martin Lawrence. The union lasted for two decades and the couple shared many of their blissful moments with the media and public, including celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary with a lovely picture that featured the couple on Patricia’s Instagram post to celebrate the occasion.

In the post, she expressed her unique love for her husband, which was why it came as a rather huge surprise to a lot of people when Patricia used the same social media platform to announce on the 31st of July, 2020, that she and Emmitt had made a mutual decision to separate. They, however, stated that they would remain friends and always prioritize their children’s needs and interests.

Inside Patricia Southall’s Marriage to Martin Lawrence

Before her very eventful second marriage to Emmitt Smith, Patricia had been involved in a rather brief marriage with comedian, actor, producer, and director, Martin Lawrence. The pair’s first meeting was in 1992 in Richmond, Virginia, when Martins was part of a comedy concert held there that year. At the time, Patricia was a staff member in the Governor’s Mansion.

They hit it off almost immediately after their first encounter and reveled in the new relationship. In 1995, after nearly three years of dating, Patricia walked down the aisle in a private wedding ceremony with Martin. In classic Hollywood style, the marriage only lasted 2 years and produced their only child together – Jasmine.

September 1997 saw the finalization of the divorce proceedings, with both of them retaining joint custody of their only daughter. They would eventually get involved with new partners. Martin started dating (and later married) Shamicka Gibbs while Patricia moved on with Emmitt Smith.

The Former Miss Virginia Has 4 Children From Both Marriages

Patricia Southall is a mother of four. During her first marriage to Martin Lawrence, she welcomed her first child, a daughter named Jasmine Lawrence on January 15, 1996. Jasmine has followed in the footsteps of her father, Martin, by becoming an actress. She even co-starred with him in the 2020 movie, Bad Boys For Life.

Southall’s second child and her first with Emmitt Smith is her son, Emmitt Smith James IV who was born on May 15, 2000, barely a month after his parents’ wedding. The 23-year-old is, like his father, actively pursuing a football career. He plays for the Stanford University Football team.

The ex-beauty queen gave birth to her third child, second with Smith, on the 15th of October 2003. Skylar Smith is 20 years old and also in college.

The youngest of her children is named Elijah Alexander James Smith. He was born, almost 7 years after the birth of his immediate older sister, Skylar, on September 22, 2010.

Quick Facts

1. Who is Patricia Southall? Patricia “Pat” Annette Smith (née Southall) is a former beauty queen, philanthropist, public speaker, and actress. She is the founder and spokesperson of the charity organization ‘Treasure You’ and was married to comedian Martin Lawrence and football legend Emmitt Smith.

2. What is Patricia Southall’s philanthropic work? Along with her second husband, Emmitt Smith, Patricia founded Pat & Emmitt Smith Charities, which donates to various causes and non-profit organizations. Their philanthropic work was recognized at the Trumpet Awards in 2012.

3. Has Patricia Southall been involved in public speaking? Yes, she was added to the list of speakers for the Women of Faith’s Celebrate What Matters Tour in 2012.

4. What is Patricia Southall’s background in pageantry? Patricia is a former beauty queen from Chesapeake, Virginia. She won the Miss Virginia USA crown in 1993 and represented Virginia in the Miss USA 1994 pageant, where she was the first runner-up.

5. Who were Patricia Southall’s husbands? Patricia was first married to actor-comedian Martin Lawrence in 1995. They divorced in 1997. She later married football star Emmitt Smith in 2000, and they divorced in 2020.

6. How many children does Patricia Southall have? Patricia has four children. With Martin Lawrence, she has one daughter, Jasmin Page Lawrence. With Emmitt Smith, she has two sons, Emmitt James Smith IV and Elijah Alexander James Smith, and one daughter, Skylar Smith. She is also the stepmother to Rheagen Smith, Emmitt Smith’s daughter from a previous relationship.

7. What led to Patricia Southall’s divorce from Emmitt Smith? Patricia stated in a YouTube video that she felt like she was not the priority in her marriage with Emmitt, which contributed to their divorce.

8. What is Patricia Southall’s net worth? As of 2022, Patricia Southall’s estimated net worth is $500,000.

9. What is Patricia Southall’s career in acting? Patricia has earned acting credits in multiple films and TV shows. She has appeared in “Halfway Point”, “Beverly Hills”, and “The Wayne Bros”. She has also appeared as herself in TV shows like “Canal Street”, “Dr Phil”, “The Talk”, and “Good Morning America”.

10. What is ‘Treasure You’? ‘Treasure You’ is a charity organization founded by Patricia Southall. The organization’s primary focus is helping those in need.

11. What is Patricia Southall’s connection to Delta Sigma Theta sorority? Patricia is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, a prominent historically Black sorority founded at Howard University.

12. How did Patricia Southall meet her first husband, Martin Lawrence? Patricia met Martin Lawrence in the summer of 1992 while she was working in Gov. Douglas Wilder’s media office. Lawrence was appearing in Richmond at a Def Comedy Jam concert.

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Romeo Ndlovu
Romeo Ndlovu
Romeo's secret talent is taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary content. At work, he is thinking about how best to provide the most unique, original content that provides utmost satisfaction to the user. Away from work, he is a football addict who loves to catch up on his favorite pastimes

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