Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans (born June 8, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is a member of the
Wayans family
The Wayans family () is an American show-business family. Family members include Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Damon Wayans Sr., Kim Wayans, Damon Wayans Jr., Damien Dante Wayans, and Chaunté Wayans. Works created by Wayans ...
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'').
Twelve sp ...
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 a ...
''. He has produced, directed and/or written several films, starting with ''
Hollywood Shuffle
''Hollywood Shuffle'' is a 1987 American satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadbl ...
'', 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 Far ...
'' (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 O ...
'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
''The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show'' is a late night syndicated television talk show hosted by Keenen Ivory Wayans. The show premiered August 4, 1997, and was cancelled in March 1998. The show had an opening monologue and comedy sketches. His in-hous ...
''. Most recently, he was a judge for the eighth season of ''
Last Comic Standing
''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...
''.
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
''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' is a documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is compiled with ...
'' 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
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ev ...
. The family later moved to Manhattan's
Fulton
Fulton may refer to:
People
* Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship
* Fulton (surname)
Given name
* Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer
* Fult ...
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 d ...
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
The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s.
History
Originally, it was a ...
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
''Hollywood Shuffle'' is a 1987 American satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadbl ...
''; 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 the ...
''.[ 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 serves a ...
'', 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 '']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 a ...
'', 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 is ...
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
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a non-profit research and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., which promotes a plant-based diet, preventive medicine, and alternatives to animal research, and encourages ...
.
''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'', ''Comi ...
*Billy Dee Williams
William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor. He appeared as Lando Calrissian in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, first in the early 1980s for ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), and thirt ...
*Don Cornelius
Donald Cortez Cornelius (September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012) was an American television show host and producer widely known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance and music show ''Soul Train'', which he hosted from 1971 until 1993 ...
*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. senator ...
*Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...
*Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...
*Marsha Warfield
Marsha Francine Warfield (born March 5, 1954) is an American actress and comedian. She grew up on Chicago's South Side, graduating from Calumet High School. She is best known for her 1986–92 role of Roz Russell on the Top 10 rated NBC sitcom ...
*Milli (Rob Pilatus
Rob or ROB may refer to:
Places
* Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia
* Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia
People
* Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn
* Rob ...
) of Milli Vanilli
*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 ...
(Damon Wayans was Hoke Coburn from ''Driving Miss Daisy''/Riding Miss Daisy, Principal Joe Clark from ''Lean on Me'')
*Rick James
James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...
*Steve Harvey
Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. Also aired August 16, 2015. (born January 17, 1957) is an American television host, producer, actor, and comedian. He hosts ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'', ''Family Feud'', '' Celebrity Family Feud,'' the Miss U ...
*Carl Weathers
Carl Weathers (born January 14, 1948) is an American actor and former professional football player. He is known for his roles as boxer Apollo Creed in the first four ''Rocky'' films (1976–85), George Dillon in ''Predator'' (1987), Action Jac ...
(as Apollo Creed
Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the ''Rocky'' films, played by Carl Weathers.
He serves as the main antagonist in ''Rocky'' and '' Rocky II'' and also appears in ''Rocky III'' and ''Rocky IV''. He is a tough but agile boxer w ...
)
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