Dwayne Wayne is a fictional character who appears in the American sitcom ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom (and a spin-off of '' The Cosby Show'') television series that aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) a ...

'', portrayed by actor

Kadeem Hardison Kadeem Hardison (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dwayne Wayne on ''A Different World'', a spin-off of the long-running NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show''. He starred in the Disney Channel series ''K.C. Under ...

. He is known for his trademark flip up eyeglasses/shades and making unsuccessful advances on numerous women throughout his freshman year. Maggie Lauten, portrayed by actress

Marisa Tomei Marisa Tomei ( , ; born December 4, 1964) is an American actress. She came to prominence as a cast member on '' The Cosby Show'' spin-off '' A Different World'' in 1987. After having minor roles in a few films, she came to international attentio ...

who left the show after one season, was to have an interracial relationship with Dwayne. Dwayne Wayne has an on off relationship with Whitley Gilbert-Wayne. They eventually get married and visit Los Angeles, which coincided with the 1992 riots following the verdict in the

Rodney King Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965June 17, 2012) was an African American man who was a victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was beaten by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers during his arrest after a pursuit for driving whi ...

trial.

Character history

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Wayne was known for his characteristic flip-up glasses and for his sense of

flirting Flirting or coquetry is a social and sexual behavior involving spoken or written communication, as well as body language. It is either to suggest interest in a deeper relationship with the other person or, if done playfully, for amusement. I ...

with girls on the college campus. He was a student,

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in ...

, and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

all through the series of ''A Different World''. He majored in mathematics and

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

. In the first season, he was in love with sophomore Denise Huxtable, who was portrayed by Lisa Bonet. By the second season, he wanted to enter a serious relationship with Suzanne, the daughter of "Dr. War", better known as Col. Taylor (

Glynn Turman Glynn Russell Turman (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. Turman is known for his roles as Lew Miles on the prime-time soap opera '' Peyton Place'' (1968–1969), high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson ...

). Suzanne ended the relationship because she was not ready for a serious commitment. Then Dwayne started to fall for Whitley, but stopped pursuing her after the third season when she seemed uninterested. By the fourth season, Dwayne had found an interest in Kinu Owens, portrayed by Alisa Gyse Dickens. The relationship ended when Kinu realized that Dwayne was still in love with

Whitley Gilbert Whitley Marion Gilbert-Wayne is a fictional character who appears in the American sitcom ''A Different World'', portrayed by actress Jasmine Guy. Warming up to whiz student Dwayne Wayne, the two have an on/off relationship with their later marriag ...

. He eventually proposed to Whitley. In the beginning of the fifth season, Dwayne became a

calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithm ...

teacher, but the students put a mutiny out on him because of his strict rules. Whitley was beginning to put too much pressure on Dwayne. Dwayne decided to have a

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

date with Lisa Westin (

Debbi Morgan Deborah Ann Morgan (born September 20, 1956) is an American film and television actress. She played the role of Angie Baxter–Hubbard on the ABC soap opera ''All My Children'' for which she was the first African-American to win the Daytime Em ...

). His honesty made him confess the truth to Whitley. Whitley was heartbroken and broke the engagement. By the end of this season, Whitley had fallen in love with Byron Douglass, portrayed by

Joe Morton Joseph Thomas Morton Jr. (born October 18, 1947) is an American stage, television and film actor. He has worked with film director John Sayles in ''The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), '' City of Hope'' (1991) and '' Lone Star'' (1996). Oth ...

. Dwayne became jealous of their whirlwind romance, and spent the night with Whitley. When Byron proposed to Whitley, who still was in love with Dwayne secretly; Dwayne was heartbroken. At the wedding, Dwayne and Whitley could not hold the pressure anymore and pushed Byron out of the picture and got married. In the sixth season, Dwayne and Whitley told of their horrifying honeymoon, experiencing the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in So ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. At the end of the series, Dwayne got a new job in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, and decided to move with a now-pregnant Whitley.

Reception

The character was praised as a positive portrayal of an African-American male college student and as an engineer and mathematician.

References

Television characters introduced in 1987 Fictional African-American people Fictional mathematicians Fictional characters from New York City Fictional college students A Different World characters American male characters in television {{Tv-char-stub