- Damon Wayans
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Damon Wayans 
Damon at the Improv, 2007Birth name Damon Kyle Wayans Born September 4, 1960
New York City, New York,
U.S.Medium Stand-up, television, film, books Nationality American Years active 1982–present Genres Observational comedy, Improvisational comedy, Satire/Political satire Subject(s) Family, children, parenting, marriage, American politics, everyday life Spouse Lisa Thorner (1984-2000) (divorced) 4 children Notable works and roles Saturday Night Live
In Living Color
Maj. Benson Payne in Major Payne
Michael Kyle in My Wife and Kids
Damon Thomas in DamonDamon Kyle Wayans (
/ˈdeɪmən ˈweɪ.ənz/;[1] born September 4, 1960) is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor, one of the Wayans brothers.Contents
Early life
Wayans was born in New York City, New York, the son of Elvira, a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Wayans, a supermarket manager.[2][3][4] He has five sisters, Elvira, Vonnie, Nadia, Kim, Diedre, and four brothers, actors Marlon Wayans, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, and Dwayne Wayans. He had a clubbed foot as a child. This attribute would also be given to his character in My Wife & Kids and his character on the cartoon series Waynehead. Wayans attended Murry Bergtraum High School.[5]
Career
Damon started doing stand-up comedy in 1982. His earliest film appearance was a brief cameo as an effeminate hotel employee in the 1984 Eddie Murphy film Beverly Hills Cop. He was briefly on Saturday Night Live as a featured performer, before getting fired for playing his character as a flamboyant gay cop instead of a straight cop. His character was meant to only have one line but he started ad-libbing. He went against the script during the live performance. In the SNL book Live From New York, it was stated that Wayans did this largely due to growing frustrations that his sketches were not being considered for the show and increasing stress. He also appeared in the syndicated TV series Solid Gold during the 1980s as a stand-up comedian. After that, he went on to co-create and appear in the TV-show In Living Color from 1990 to 1992, part of a team that was nominated for Emmy Awards all three years.
After In Living Color, he starred in films such as The Last Boy Scout, Major Payne and The Great White Hype and wrote and starred in the film Blankman. He also appeared in Janet Jackson's video "The Best Things in Life Are Free" and was considered for the role of The Riddler in Batman Forever (the role went to Jim Carrey, his co-star from In Living Color and Earth Girls Are Easy).
In 1996, he produced Waynehead, a cartoon for the WB, loosely based on his own childhood growing up in a large family, starring a poor boy with a club foot. The show only lasted a season due to poor ratings. From 1997 to 1998, he was the executive producer of 413 Hope St., a short-lived drama on the FOX network starring Richard Roundtree and Jesse L. Martin.
In 1998, he starred in a short-lived comedy titled Damon, in which he played a Chicago detective. It aired on FOX. In 1999, his New York Times bestselling book Bootleg with co-author David Asbery was published; it is a humorous compilation of his observations about family.[6]
In 2005, Damon Wayans was in a celebrity ad campaign for Hanes.
In 2006, he began starring in The Underground, a sketch comedy series on Showtime. His son, Damon, Jr. also stars on the show.
He hosted the 2006 BET Awards which was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on June 27, 2006.
In May 2008, Wayans was highlighted by the media for the production of a controversial video titled, "Abortion Man". This viral video portrays a young man in need of getting his pregnant girlfriend an abortion and thus calls upon Abortion Man for aid. Abortion Man (portrayed as a super hero) then finds the pregnant girl and proceeds to knee, punch and stomp the girls stomach until the fetus flies out. Some sources hold that this video is satire and is an attempt to show the violence and cruelty of abortion while other sources think the video is simply a product of Wayans' sense of humor.[citation needed]
For his outstanding role in the ABC comedy series My Wife and Kids, Wayans earned four International Press Academy "Golden Satellite Award" nominations and four Emmy awards nominations for his acting and directing in the 1990s' series In Living Color. He also added author of a serious fictional novel to his credits this past year with "Red Hats" which is the story of a suicidal 65-year-old woman who finds friendship and happiness when she joins The Red Hat Society.
Personal life
Wayans was married to Lisa Thorner, however they divorced in 2000. He is the father of Damon Wayans, Jr., Michael Wayans, Cara Mia Wayans, and Kyla Wayans. He is also the uncle of Damien Dante Wayans, Chaunté Wayans and Craig Wayans.
Wayans is a close personal friend of both NBA legend Michael Jordan and fellow In Living Color star Jim Carrey.
He won the People's Choice Awards for Favorite Male.
In Living Color
Characters
Impressions
- Babyface (on Saturday Night Live)
- Don King (on In Living Color)
- Little Richard (on Saturday Night Live and In Living Color)
- Louis Farrakhan (on both Saturday Night Live and In Living Color)
- Redd Foxx (on In Living Color)
- Richard Pryor (on In Living Color)
- Fab Morvan (on In Living Color)
- Jamie Foxx (on In Living Color)
Filmography
Year Title Role 1984 Beverly Hills Cop Banana Man 1985–1986 Saturday Night Live (TV Series) Various. Only featured, never offered contract for permanent cast member 1986 Triplecross (TV) Ornery Character #1 1987 Hollywood Shuffle Body Guard #2/Willie 1987 Roxanne Jerry 1987 A Different World (TV Series) Marvin Haven 1988 Colors T-Bone 1988 Earth Girls Are Easy Zeebo 1988 Punchline Percy 1988 I'm Gonna Git You Sucka Leonard 1990 Look Who's Talking Too Eddie (voice) 1990–1994 In Living Color (TV Series) Various 1991 The Last Boy Scout James Alexander 'Jimmy/Jim' Dix 1992 Mo' Money Johnny Stewart 1993 Last Action Hero Himself 1994 Blankman Darryl Walker 1995 Major Payne Maj. Benson Payne (main character) 1996 Celtic Pride Lewis Scott 1996 The Great White Hype James 'The Grim Reaper' Roper 1996 Bulletproof Rock Keats/Jack Carter 1998 Damon (TV Series) Damon Thomas 1999 Harlem Aria Wes 1999 Goosed Dr. Steven Hemel 2000 Bamboozled Pierre Delacroix 2001–2005 My Wife and Kids (TV Series) Michael Kyle 2003 Marci X Dr. S 2004 Behind the Smile Charlie Richman 2006 Farce of the Penguins (V) Hey, that's my ass! Penguin (voice) 2006 The Underground (TV Series) Various 2008 Never Better (TV Series) Keith 2010 Untitled Damon Wayans Project (TV Series) TBA 2011 Happy Endings (TV series) Francis Williams References
External links
Categories:- 1960 births
- Living people
- Actors from New York City
- African American comedians
- African American film actors
- African American television actors
- American comedians
- American screenwriters
- American stand-up comedians
- American television writers
- Wayans family
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