Shawn Mathis Wayans (born January 19, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Along with his brother

Marlon Wayans Marlon Lamont Wayans (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Wayans began his career portraying a pedestrian in ''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' (1988). He went on to regularly collaborate with his brother Shawn Wa ...

, he wrote and starred in

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

's sitcom ''

The Wayans Bros. ''The Wayans Bros.'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on The WB from January 11, 1995, to May 20, 1999. The series starred real life brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans. The series also starred John Witherspoon and Anna Maria Hors ...

''(1995–1999) and in the comedy films ''

Don't Be a Menace ''Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood'' (or simply ''Don't Be a Menace'') is a 1996 American black comedy film directed by Paris Barclay in his feature film directorial debut, and produced by Keenen Ivory Wayan ...

'' (1996), ''

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), ''

Scary Movie 2 ''Scary Movie 2'' is a 2001 American supernatural parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. It is the sequel to ''Scary Movie'' and the second film in the ''Scary Movie'' film series. The film stars Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Shawn Wayans and M ...

'' (2001), ''

White Chicks ''White Chicks'' is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans from a screenplay co-written by Wayans, Xavier Cook, Andy McElfresh, Michael Anthony Snowden, with additional contributions by and starring Marlon Wayans and Shawn ...

'' (2004), '' Little Man'' (2006), and ''

Dance Flick ''Dance Flick'' is a 2009 American musical comedy film directed by Damien Dante Wayans in his directorial debut and written by and starring many members of the Wayans family. The film was set for release in the United States on February 6, 2009, ...

'' (2009). He made his debut on ''

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 ...

'' (1990–1993).

Early life

Wayans, the ninth of ten siblings, was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, the son of Elvira Alethia (Green), a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Stouten Wayans, a

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

manager. His family were once

Jehovah's Witnesses 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 ...

.The Movie Chicks - Interview - Marlon Wayans
/ref> Wayans grew up in the

Fulton Houses The Robert Fulton Houses is a housing project located in the Chelsea neighborhood in the New York City Borough of Manhattan and is owned and operated by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). The site is located between West 16th and 19 ...

in the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

neighborhood of

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and is a 1989 graduate of the Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities.

Career

On Fox's ''

'', he began as DJ SW-1 and later became a featured performer, working with brothers Dwayne, Keenen (the show's creator), Damon, Marlon and sister Kim. Along with Marlon, Shawn Wayans created and starred in the sitcom ''

The Wayans Bros ''The Wayans Bros.'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on The WB from January 11, 1995, to May 20, 1999. The series starred real life brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans. The series also starred John Witherspoon and Anna Maria Hors ...

''. (

, 1995–99) and co wrote, co executive produced and starred in the feature ''

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood ''Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood'' (or simply ''Don't Be a Menace'') is a 1996 American black comedy film directed by Paris Barclay in his feature film directorial debut, and produced by Keenen Ivory Way ...

'' (1996), in which Keenen also acted. Wayans guest starred on episodes of ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the 2016 reboot. In both po ...

'' and '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'' and provided the voice of Toof for the animated children's series ''Waynehead'' (based on brother Damon's real life childhood experiences). After a supporting stint in the gang drama '' New Blood'' (1999) Wayans' film fortunes increased dramatically when he co-starred with his brother Marlon in a hit film directed by their older brother Keenen: ''

'' (1999–2000), a comic satire (which he also co wrote) on the then-recent trend of horror films like ''

Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...

''. Wayans played the apparently closeted Ray Wilkins, a role he reprised for the similarly popular 2001 sequel ''

''. To date, Wayans has not had any involvement with subsequent sequels. He kept the familial team intact when he and Marlon starred in the Keenen-directed comedy ''

'' (2004), playing a pair of FBI agents forced to masquerade as spoiled white blonde heiresses. Shawn also received a share of story and screenplay credit on the film. Wayans teamed up with Marlon and Keenen once again for the 2006 comedy '' Little Man'', which Wayans acted in, co-wrote, and co-produced.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wayans, Shawn 1971 births American people of Malagasy descent 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors African-American male comedians American male comedians African-American male actors African-American television producers Television producers from New York City American male film actors Living people Male actors from New York City Shawn American male television actors Comedians from New York City 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Film producers from New York (state) People from Chelsea, Manhattan 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people