Imani Smith was a former American child actress and Broadway performer who played the role of Young Nala on Broadway in The Lion King at Disney. Smith was a small and talented, so-called triple-threat performer who could sing, dance, and act, and at a young age, the young performer came out of the New York theater community being known as a disciplined, professional, and talented actor on the stage.
Her public career was not a long one, but her contribution to Broadway, especially as an actor in one of the most legendary productions, left an indelible mark on both the audience and her co-workers. She passed away at the age of 25 in December 2025, and the tragic end of her life and career started.
Imani Smith Biography | |
|---|---|
| Real Name: | Imani Dia Smith |
| Birth Date: | 1999 |
| Aged: | 25 Years |
| Died | December 21, 2025 |
| Hometown: | Edison, New Jersey, USA |
| Parents: | Rawni and Monique Rance-Helper |
| Boyfriend: | Jordan D. Jackson-Small |
Early Life
Imani Smith was born in 1999 in the United States and brought up in a family that is closely related to the world of the theater. She was brought up mostly in New Jersey but in close ties with the Broadway scene in New York City. The performing arts culture surrounded Smith at a very young age, and this strongly influenced her interests and career choice.
Her mother, Monique Rance-Helper, is a well-known and esteemed Broadway hair and wig stylist who has also worked on big stage productions such as The Lion King, In the Heights, Once on This Island, and the television series Pose. Smith came to experience the discipline, rigor, and collaborative aspects of professional theater at an early age through the work of her mother.
Smith was proficient in music, dancing, and performance as a child. She was later described as focused, hardworking, and naturally expressive by family members and colleagues. She received a lot of training in dance and vocal performance, balancing the education, which would put her on the difficult schedule of child performers on Broadway.
Imani Smith Career
Imani Smith found the greatest professional success as a child actor on Broadway. She starred as Young Nala in the Disney film The Lion King, which is among the longest and most honored productions in the history of Broadway.
It is known that the role of Young Nala is one of the most competitive and physically challenging, and it demands a high level of vocal skills, rhythm, and emotional maturity. The acting of Smith put her in the select few of child actors who were charged with ensuring that the artistic value of the play was upheld.
Throughout her performance, she would do several performances a week and stick to the strict guidelines of labor and education of minors on Broadway. After her experience in The Lion King, Smith slowly moved out of full-time professional acting.
Imani Smith never pursued a long film or television career like many other former child performers did as adults. According to media reports, she concentrated on her personal life and family duties during the years after her tenure on Broadway.
Personal Life
Imani Smith had a romantic relationship with a 35-year-old man named Jordan D. Jackson-Small, who was the boyfriend of Imani Dia Smith at the time of her death. Smith was discovered dead on Sunday, December 21, 2025, at her home in Edison, New Jersey, with a fatal wound following what the police called a domestic violence incident.
Imani Smith was found with several stab wounds and died later in Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Jordan D. Jackson-Small was caught shortly after the incident and charged with first-degree murder and other charges, such as weapons offenses and endangering the welfare of a child.
The case was still actively under investigation when it was reported, and legal actions were being pursued. Before this relationship, no other romantic relationships with Smith were openly reported.
Social Media
Imani Smith had extremely minimal online social media activity. She did not have an established or confirmed professional account that was related to her Broadway work. The personal use of social media was private, and she was not branding herself or working as an influencer or promoting her profession.
Her name received extensive online publicity when the circumstances under which she had died were reported following her death in December 2025. Members of the theater world, journalists, and ordinary people shared their tributes and memorial posts, but they were made by third-party posts and not by the official accounts operated by Smith herself.
Imani Smith Net Worth
The net worth of Imani Smith was not publicly stated by the time of her death, and no official financial approximations were published by credible sources. Having been a child performer on Broadway before, her income would have been mainly based on union-controlled theatrical engagements as she starred in The Lion King.
Broadway child actors receive salaries under the agreements of the Actors’ Equity Association, and their wages are usually deposited in special trust funds as mandated by law.