Keenen Ivory Wayans
Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans (born June 8, 1958)[1] is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is a member of the Wayans family of entertainers. Wayans first came to prominence as the host and the creator of the 1990–1994 Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color. He has produced, directed and/or written several films, starting with Hollywood Shuffle, which he cowrote, in 1987.
Keenen Ivory Wayans | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg.webp) Wayans in 2019 | |
| Born | Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans June 8, 1958 New York City, U.S. |
| Education | Tuskegee University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Partner | Brittany Daniel (2007–2014) |
| Children | 5 |
| Family | Wayans family |
| Awards | 1990–Emmy Award Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series In Living Color (as executive producer) |
A majority of his films have included him and one or more of his brothers and sisters in the cast.
One of these films, Scary Movie (2000), which Wayans directed, was the highest-grossing movie directed by an African American until it was surpassed by Tim Story's Fantastic Four in 2005. From 1997 to 1998, he hosted the talk show The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show.[2] Most recently, he was a judge for the eighth season of Last Comic Standing.
Life and career
Wayans was born in Harlem, New York City, son of Howell Stouten Wayans, a supermarket manager, and his wife Elvira Alethia (Green), a homemaker and social worker.[3] He was born the second of ten children.[4] Genealogical TV show Finding Your Roots revealed that his paternal line traced back to Madagascar.[4] His father was a devout Jehovah's Witness.[5][6][7] The family later moved to Manhattan's Fulton housing projects,[8] where he primarily grew up. He attended Seward Park High School during his teenage years, and attended Tuskegee University on an engineering scholarship.[8] He entertained his friends at college with made-up stories about life in New York.[9] One semester before graduation, he dropped out of school to focus on comedy.[10]
During his first set performing at The Improv in New York, Wayans met Robert Townsend, who helped him learn about the comedy business.[9] Townsend and Wayans drove cross country to Los Angeles together when Wayans moved to Los Angeles in 1980.[9] Wayans worked there as an actor. He had a regular role as a soldier on a television series titled For Love and Honor.[9] He also appeared on Hill Street Blues as a famous NFL linebacker.
Townsend wrote, directed, and starred in the movie Hollywood Shuffle; Wayans was costar and cowriter.[9] The movie's success allowed him to raise the money to make I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.[9] Fox Broadcasting Company approached Wayans to offer him his own show.[11] Wayans wanted to produce a variety show similar to Saturday Night Live, with a cast of people of color that took chances with its content.[8]
Fox gave Wayans a lot of freedom with the show, although Fox executives were a bit concerned about the show's content before its television debut.[11] Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the show, titled In Living Color, a sketch comedy television series that originally ran on the Fox Network from 1990 to 1994.
Wayans is a vegetarian, and has promoted the diet in a public service announcement in 2006 for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.[12][13]
In Living Color
Characters
- Death Row Comic (Prison Cable Access)
- Frenchie
- Ice Man (Homeboy Shopping Network)
- Tom Brothers (The Brothers Brothers)
- Wes (Wes & Les)
Impressions
- Arsenio Hall
- Billy Dee Williams
- Don Cornelius
- Jesse Jackson
- Little Richard
- Mike Tyson
- Marsha Warfield
- Milli (Rob Pilatus) of Milli Vanilli
- Morgan Freeman (Damon Wayans was Hoke Coburn from Driving Miss Daisy/Riding Miss Daisy, Principal Joe Clark from Lean on Me)
- Rick James
- Steve Harvey
- Carl Weathers (as Apollo Creed)
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Star 80 | Comic |
| 1983 | For Love and Honor | Duke |
| 1986 | Benson | Clete Hawkins |
| 1987 | A Different World | Professor Lawrence |
| 1987 | Hollywood Shuffle | Donald / Jheri Curl |
| 1988 | I'm Gonna Git You Sucka | Jack Spade |
| 1994 | A Low Down Dirty Shame | Shame |
| 1996 | Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood | Mailman |
| 1996 | The Glimmer Man | Lieutenant Jim Campbell |
| 1997 | Most Wanted | Gunnery Sergeant James Anthony Dunn |
| 2000 | Scary Movie | Slave (Amistad II) |
| 2001 | My Wife and Kids | Ken |
| 2009 | Dance Flick | Mr. Stache |
| 2009 | Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy | Himself |
| 2013 | Happily Divorced | Tony |
| 2014 | Last Comic Standing | Judge |
Writing/producing/directing credits
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Hollywood Shuffle | No | Yes | No | |
| 1987 | Eddie Murphy Raw | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 1988 | I'm Gonna Git You Sucka | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1990-1992 | In Living Color | Yes | Yes | executive | creator |
| 1991 | The Five Heartbeats | No | Yes | No | |
| 1994 | A Low Down Dirty Shame | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1996 | Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood | No | No | Yes | |
| 1997 | The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show | No | No | executive | |
| 1997 | Most Wanted | No | Yes | executive | |
| 2000 | Scary Movie | Yes | No | No | |
| 2001 | Scary Movie 2 | Yes | No | No | |
| 2004 | White Chicks | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2006 | Little Man | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2009 | Dance Flick | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 2017 | The Boo Crew | No | Yes | Yes | creator |
| 2020 | The Last O.G. | No | Yes | No | episode: "Lookin' at The Front Door" |
References
- "Keenan Ivory Wayans". PBS. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- Braxton, Greg (August 3, 1997). "Will 'Hip' Equal 'Hit'?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
- Stated on Finding Your Roots, January 19, 2016, PBS
- Johnson, Martin (January 18, 2016). "Finding Your Roots: Shonda Rhimes, Maya Rudolph and Keenen Ivory Wayans Learn Shocking Facts About Their Families". The Root. G/O Media Inc. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- Keenen Ivory Wayans Biography (1958–)
- Stein, Joel (September 11, 2000). "Marlon Wayans". Time. Archived from the original on November 4, 2007.
- The Movie Chicks – Interview – Marlon Wayans
- Laurence, Robert P. (April 13, 1990). "Is prime time ready for rudeness? Fox's new comedy 'In Living Color' will offend some, tickle others". The San Diego Union. p. E1.
- Hughes, Mike (April 13, 1990). "Laughing with 'Living Color'". USA Today.
- McIntyre, Mike (February 16, 1989). "Keenen Wayans gambles and wins on an offbeat 'Sucka'". The San Diego Union. p. E3.
- "New Fox Show Pokes Fun at Black Stereotypes". Greensboro, North Carolina: Greensboro News & Record. Associated Press. April 12, 1990. p. B6.
- "Keenen Ivory Wayans". TV Guide. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
- "Do It for Someone You Love: Keenan Ivory Wayans". Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Archived from the original on April 27, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2018.