Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans (born June 8, 1958) 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 Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

sketch comedy series ''

In Living Color ''In Living Color'' is an American sketch comedy television series that originally ran on Fox from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Keenen Ivory Wayans created, wrote and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in ...

''. He has produced, directed and/or written several films, starting with '' Hollywood Shuffle'', which he cowrote, in 1987. 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 ''Scary Movie'' is a 2000 American slasher parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon and Shawn Wayans (who both also star), alongside Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Starring Anna ...

'' (2000), which Wayans directed, was the highest-grossing movie directed by an African American until it was surpassed by

Tim Story Timothy Kevin Story (born March 13, 1970) is an African American film director. He is best known for '' Barbershop'' (2002), the '' Fantastic Four'' (2005) and the ''Ride Along'' franchise. He has been nominated for two NAACP Image Awards for ...

's ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...

'' in 2005. From 1997 to 1998, he hosted the talk show '' The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show''. 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. He was born the second of ten children. Genealogical TV show '' Finding Your Roots'' revealed that his paternal line traced back to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. His father was a devout Jehovah's Witness. The family later moved to Manhattan's Fulton housing projects, where he primarily grew up. He attended Seward Park High School during his teenage years, and attended

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was ...

on an engineering scholarship. He entertained his friends at college with made-up stories about life in New York. One semester before graduation, he dropped out of school to focus on comedy. During his first set performing at The Improv in New York, Wayans met Robert Townsend, who helped him learn about the comedy business. Townsend and Wayans drove cross country to Los Angeles together when Wayans moved to Los Angeles in 1980. Wayans worked there as an actor. He had a regular role as a soldier on a television series titled ''For Love and Honor''. He also appeared on ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'' as a famous NFL linebacker. Townsend wrote, directed, and starred in the movie '' Hollywood Shuffle''; Wayans was costar and cowriter. The movie's success allowed him to raise the money to make ''

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka ''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' is a 1988 American blaxploitation parody film written, directed by, and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans in his directorial debut. Featured in the film are several noteworthy African-American actors who were part of t ...

''. Fox Broadcasting Company approached Wayans to offer him his own show. Wayans wanted to produce a variety show similar to ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...

'', with a cast of people of color that took chances with its content. 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. Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the show, titled ''

'', a

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and ...

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 of 2006 for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

''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 Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1956) is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He hosted the late-night talk show, '' The Arsenio Hall Show'', from 1989 until 1994, and again from 2013 to 2014. He has appeared in ''Martial Law'', '' Co ...

* Billy Dee Williams * Don Cornelius *

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson ( né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senato ...

* 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

Writing/producing/directing credits

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wayans, Keenen Ivory 1958 births American male film actors American people of Malagasy descent African-American male comedians American male comedians African-American film directors Comedy film directors Parody film directors American parodists African-American screenwriters Screenwriters from New York (state) American sketch comedians Emmy Award winners Film directors from New York City American male screenwriters African-American television producers Television producers from New York City American television talk show hosts Late night television talk show hosts American television writers Living people Male actors from New York City Keenen Ivory African-American television talk show hosts African-American male actors American male television actors American male television writers Comedians from New York City 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Film producers from New York (state) People from Chelsea, Manhattan Seward Park High School alumni 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American male writers