Brian Copeland (born 1964) is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

radio talk show Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

host,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

based in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. Copeland has been the opening act for artists such as

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

and

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

. For the past 18 years he has hosted a radio program for

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

radio station KGO. His program formerly aired weekdays from 2-4p. On September 13, 2010, he began serving as host of "7 Live," a new hour-long, weekday program on

KGO-TV KGO-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's ABC network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, KGO-TV maint ...

in San Francisco. He is the father of three children, all of whom have followed him into show business.

Early life

Copeland was born in Akron, Ohio and grew up in

Hayward, California Hayward () is a city located in Alameda County, California in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda Coun ...

and

San Leandro, California San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sou ...

.http://www.briancopeland.com/e-press/pdf/Blk_press_usa.pdf He attended Moreau Catholic High School, located in Hayward, California. He studied Political Science at Holy Names University.

''Not a Genuine Black Man''

Play

In 2004, Copeland premiered his first one-man show, ''Not a Genuine Black Man'', at

The Marsh The Marsh Theater is an American theater company that specializes in developing new performance, founded in 1989. It has two venue locations, at 1062 Valencia Street in the Mission District of San Francisco, California; and 2120 Allston Way in Ber ...

. The show is an account of his experiences growing up in the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...

suburb of

in the 1970s, when it was considered a racist enclave due to its 86.4% white population and the coordinated policies of housing discrimination and segregation which were in place until the 1960s. The play, originally scheduled for a six-week run, went on to run 25 months, becoming the longest-running one-man show in San Francisco history. GENUINE ran Off Broadway and in over 30 U.S. cities logging over 700 performances during its initial 7-year run.

"The Waiting Period"

In February 2012, Copeland premiered his second solo show entitled "The Waiting Period" at the Marsh in San Francisco. The play is a memoir of Copeland's battle with suicidal depression. The 'waiting period' in the title, refers to California's mandatory ten-day waiting period before Copeland could bring home the gun he had purchased for the purpose of ending his life. The play received rave reviews from critics (as well as depression and suicide support groups and the mental health community) and currently plays to sold out crowds. The message of the comedy/drama is for those suffering from debilitating depression and suicidal thoughts to "Tell Somebody" and ask for help before it's too late. The play has been extended five times as of this writing. A book is forthcoming and talks are currently under way for a major motion picture based upon the work. THE JEWELRY BOX Copeland's third solo play, THE JEWELRY BOX, opened in November 2013. The holiday play about his quest to earn the $11.97 to buy his mother a jewelry box from the White Front discount store in 1970 East Oakland was hailed by critics as, "an instant holiday classic" and "the Bay Area's Christmas story." A novella based on the play was published in 2015. THE SCION In 2014, Copeland opened his critically acclaimed THE SCION, an investigation into the circumstances that led to fellow San Leandro resident Stuart Alexander murdering 3 government meat inspectors who tried to inspect his Santos Liguisa Factory in June 2000.

Book

In 2006, the publishing house Hyperion released a memoir by Copeland based upon his play. In 2009, the book was selected by
Silicon Valley Reads
as the one to read and discuss as a community. This organization represents this Northern Californian region's libraries, bookstores, and schools, along with some civic leaders.

Film career

In 2006, Copeland was cast as the son of

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

's character in the

Rob Reiner Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performanc ...

film ''

The Bucket List ''The Bucket List'' is a 2007 American buddy adventure comedy-drama film directed and produced by Rob Reiner, written by Justin Zackham, and starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. The main plot follows two terminally ill men on their road tr ...

'', also starring

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

. In 2021, Copeland appeared in the sequel to the hit film VENOM entitled VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE.

References

External links

Brian Copeland's biography at KGO RadioBrian Copeland official website
*

San Francisco Chronicle review The Waiting Period {{DEFAULTSORT:Copeland, Brian 1964 births Living people American male film actors American talk radio hosts People from Hayward, California People from San Leandro, California Radio personalities from San Francisco Male actors from the San Francisco Bay Area Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area African-American male actors 21st-century American comedians Comedians from California 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people