Damon Wayans
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| Damon Wayans | |
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| Born | Damon Kyle Wayans September 4, 1960 New York, New York,  United States |
| Years active | 1984-present |
Damon Kyle Wayans (pronounced wɛjnz; born September 4, 1960) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, and actor who began his career as a stand-up comic in 1982. He is one of the Wayans brothers.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Wayans was born in New York City, New York, the son of Elvira, a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Wayans, a supermarket manager.[1] His family was involved in the Jehovah's Witnesses religion.[2][3] He has four sisters, Vonnie, Nadia, Kim, Deidre, and four brothers, actors Marlon Wayans, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, and Dwayne Wayans. He had a clubbed foot as a child. This attribute would also be given to his character in My Wife & Kids and his character on the cartoon series Waynehead. Wayans attended Murry Bergtraum High School.[4]
[edit] Career
His earliest film appearance was a brief cameo as an effeminate hotel employee in the 1984 Eddie Murphy film Beverly Hills Cop. He was briefly on Saturday Night Live as a featured performer, before getting fired for playing his character as a flamboyant gay cop instead of a straight cop. In the SNL book Live From New York, it was stated that Wayans did this largely due to growing frustrations that his sketches were not being considered for the show and increasing stress. He also appeared in the syndicated TV series Solid Gold during the 1980s as a stand-up comedian. After that, he went on to do the TV-show In Living Color from 1990 to 1992, part of a team that was nominated for Emmy Awards all three years.
After In Living Color, he starred in films such as The Last Boy Scout, Major Payne and The Great White Hype and wrote and starred in the film Blankman. In 1996, he produced Waynehead, a cartoon for the WB, loosely based on his own childhood growing up in a large family, starring a poor boy with a club foot. The show only lasted a season due to poor ratings. From 1997 to 1998, he was the executive producer of 413 Hope St., a short-lived drama on the FOX network starring Richard Roundtree and Jesse L. Martin.
In 1998, he starred in a short-lived comedy titled Damon, in which he played a Chicago detective. It aired on FOX. In 1999, his New York Times bestselling book Bootleg with co-author David Asbery was published; it is a humorous compilation of his observations about family, children, marriage, and politics. From 2001 until 2005, Wayans starred in the ABC sitcom My Wife and Kids. Through My Wife and Kids, Damon Wayans became a household name throughout the US. His character, Michael Kyle, is a father of three and the show is famous for his sarcastic form of comedy.[5]
In 2005, Damon Wayans was in a celebrity ad campaign for Hanes.
In 2006, he began starring in The Underground, a sketch comedy series on Showtime. His son, Damon, Jr. also stars on the show.
Wayans appears in Janet Jackson's video "The Best Things in Life Are Free" and was considered for the role of The Riddler in Batman Forever (the role went to Jim Carrey, his co-star from In Living Color and Earth Girls are Easy). He hosted the 2006 BET Awards which was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on June 27, 2006.
In May of 2008 Wayans was highlighted by the media for the production of a controversial video titled, "Abortion Man". This viral video portrays a young man in need of killing the unborn child of his pregnant girlfriend and thus calls upon Abortion Man for aid. Abortion Man (portrayed as a super hero) then finds the pregnant girl and proceeds to knee, punch and stomp the girls stomach until the fetus flies out. Some sources hold that this video is satire and is an attempt to show the violence and cruelty of abortion while other sources think the video is simply a product of Wayans' distorted sense of humor. Mr. Wayans recently voiced Beat in the english version of "The World Ends With You".
[edit] Personal life
Wayans was married to Lisa Thorner, however they divorced in 2000. He is the father of Damon Wayans, Jr., Michael Wayans, Cara Mia Wayans, and Kyla Wayans. He is also the uncle of Damien Dante Wayans and Craig Wayans.
Wayans is a close friend of NBA legend Michael Jordan.
[edit] Saturday Night Live
[edit] Recurring characters
- Keith, one of the Stand-Up Comedians (because of his termination and cast changes after Season 11, he was replaced with host Tom Hanks' stand-up character, Paul)
- Ned Jones, one half of criminal pitchmen partners The Jones Brothers (his brother, Fed, was played by Anthony Michael Hall)
[edit] Celebrity impersonations
- Louis Farrakhan (whom he also impersonated on In Living Color)
- Babyface
- Little Richard
[edit] In Living Color
[edit] Characters
- Anton Jackson, a gross, drunken homeless man who hosts his own home-repair show and pops up in places where he shouldn't be (It should be noted that his Anton Jackson character sounds like his character, Ned Jones, from the SNL recurring sketch, The Jones Brothers[citation needed]).
- Blaine Edwards, one of the flamboyantly gay film critics in the Men On... series (this character and Anton Jackson were the only In Living Color recurring characters Wayans played when he hosted Saturday Night Live on an episode from the 1994-1995 season)
- Handi Man, a mentally and physically disabled superhero
- Head Detective, a police detective who was rebuilt to look like Mr. Potato Head after an accident
- Homey D. Clown, an ex-con who performs as a kids' party clown
- Les (Les and Wes)
- Oswald Bates
- The Wiz
- Tom Brothers (The Brothers Brothers)
- Reverend Ed Cash (partnered with Dr. Reverend Carl Pethos, played by Jim Carrey. Both were con artist preachers)
- Benson Payne in the 1995 movie Major Payne
[edit] Impressions
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Beverly Hills Cop | Banana Man |
| 1985-1986 | Saturday Night Live (TV Series) | Various. Only featured never offered contract for permanent cast member |
| 1986 | Triplecross (TV) | Ornery Character #1 |
| 1987 | Hollywood Shuffle | Body Guard #2/Willie |
| 1987 | Roxanne | Jerry |
| 1987 | A Different World (TV Series) | Marvin Haven |
| 1988 | Colors | T-Bone |
| 1988 | Earth Girls Are Easy | Zeebo |
| 1988 | Punchline | Percy |
| 1988 | I'm Gonna Git You Sucka | Leonard |
| 1990 | Look Who's Talking Too | Eddie (voice) |
| 1990-1992 | In Living Color (TV Series) | Various |
| 1991 | The Last Boy Scout | James Alexander 'Jimmy/Jim' Dix |
| 1992 | Mo' Money | Johnny Stewart |
| 1993 | Last Action Hero | Himself |
| 1994 | Blankman | Darryl Walker |
| 1995 | Major Payne | Maj. Benson Payne (main character) |
| 1996 | Celtic Pride | Lewis Scott |
| 1996 | The Great White Hype | James 'The Grim Reaper' Roper |
| 1996 | Bulletproof | Rock Keats/Jack Carter |
| 1998 | Damon (TV Series) | Damon Thomas |
| 1999 | Harlem Aria | Wes |
| 1999 | Goosed | Dr. Steven Hemel |
| 2000 | Bamboozled | Pierre Delacroix |
| 2001-2005 | My Wife and Kids (TV Series) | Michael Kyle |
| 2003 | Marci X | Dr. S |
| 2004 | Behind the Smile | Charlie Richman |
| 2006 | Farce of the Penguins (V) | Hey, that's my ass! Penguin (voice) |
| 2006 | The Underground (TV Series) | Various |
