Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his film and television work in the comedy and horror genres.
Peele's breakout role came in 2003, when he was hired as a cast member on the
Fox sketch comedy series ''
Mad TV'', where he spent five seasons, leaving the show in 2008. In the following years, he and his frequent ''Mad TV'' collaborator,
Keegan-Michael Key, created and starred in their own
Comedy Central sketch comedy series ''
Key & Peele'' (2012–2015). The series was critically acclaimed, winning two
Primetime Emmy Awards and a
Peabody Award. The two wrote, produced, and starred in the comedy film ''
Keanu'' (2016), appeared together as FBI agents in the
first season of
FX's anthology series ''
Fargo'', and had starring voice roles together in the animated films ''
Storks'' (2016) and ''
Toy Story 4'' (2019).
Peele has also voice acted in the animated film ''
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie'' (2017) and in the
adult animated sitcom ''
Big Mouth'' (2017–present). He co-created the
TBS comedy series ''
The Last O.G.
''The Last O.G.'' is an American comedy television series created by Jordan Peele and John Carcieri that premiered on March 31, 2018 on TBS. The series follows a convict (O.G., or original gangster) released after serving fifteen years who return ...
'' (2018–2022) and the
YouTube Premium comedy series ''
Weird City'' (2019). He also served as the host and producer of the
CBS All Access revival of the anthology series ''
The Twilight Zone'' (2019–2020). His 2017 directorial debut, the horror film ''
Get Out'', was a critical and box office success,
for which he received numerous accolades, including the
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with th ...
, along with nominations for
Best Picture and
Best Director. Critics have frequently named ''Get Out'' as one of the best films of the 21st century. He received another Academy Award nomination for Best Picture for producing
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
's ''
BlacKkKlansman'' (2018). He directed, wrote, and produced the acclaimed horror film ''
Us'' (2019) and the science fiction horror film ''
Nope'' (2022). He is the founder of film and television production company
Monkeypaw Productions
Monkeypaw Productions is an American production company founded by Jordan Peele in 2012. The company is known for producing horror films, such as '' Get Out'', '' Us'', '' Candyman'', '' Nope'' and ''Wendell & Wild.'' In 2019, the company sig ...
.
In 2017, Peele was included on the annual
''Time'' 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Early life
Jordan Haworth Peele 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 ...
on February 21, 1979. His mother, Lucinda Williams, is
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, from Maryland, with deep roots in the
Colonial United States
The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...
. His father, Hayward Peele, Jr. (died 1999), was African American, and originally from North Carolina.
[Stated on '']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 wi ...
'', January 6, 2021 Peele last saw his father when he was seven years old,
and was raised by his single mother on
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 ...
's
Upper West Side.
He attended the Computer School in Manhattan, graduated from
The Calhoun School on Manhattan's Upper West Side in 1997 after securing a scholarship to attend the private school, and went on to
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sarah Lawrence scholarship, particularly ...
. After two years, Peele dropped out to form a comedy duo with Sarah Lawrence classmate and future ''
Key & Peele'' writer
Rebecca Drysdale.
Career
2002–2016: Television success
Peele regularly performed at
Boom Chicago in Amsterdam and
The Second City in Chicago. He and
Nicole Parker were well known for their musical duets at Boom Chicago. He portrayed a popular character called "Danish Supermodel Ute" during his time at Boom Chicago and hosted
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
's Comedy Weekend in 2002.
In 2003, Peele joined the cast of ''
Mad TV'' for its ninth season. Around the time
Keegan-Michael Key joined the cast as a featured performer, it was assumed that Key would be chosen over Peele. The two of them ultimately were cast together after showing great comedic chemistry. Peele performed celebrity impersonations, which included favorites
Caroll Spinney (as the voice of
Big Bird from ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...
''),
Ja Rule,
James Brown,
Flavor Flav,
Justin Guarini,
Montel Williams,
Morgan Freeman,
Timbaland, and
Forest Whitaker
Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
After making his f ...
. Peele was absent from the first four episodes of his second season on ''Mad TV''. He made a cameo in
"Weird Al" Yankovic's video "
White & Nerdy
"White & Nerdy" is the second single from "Weird Al" Yankovic's album ''Straight Outta Lynwood'', which was released on September 26, 2006. It parodies the song "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone. The song both satirizes and celebrates ...
" with ''Mad TV'' co-star Keegan-Michael Key. After five seasons on ''Mad TV'', Peele left the cast at the end of the 13th season.
Peele was nominated for a 2008
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for his song "Sad Fitty Cent", a music video parody about
50 Cent lamenting over his rivalry with
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
. The lyrics were, according to the music video, written by Peele, and he was involved in arranging its music. In 2009, he appeared in ''
Little Fockers''. He appeared in a viral video titled "Hillary vs Obama" (which was shown as a ''Mad TV'' sketch) where he and a
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
supporter (played by short-term cast member
Lisa Donovan) argue over whether Hillary Clinton or
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
would make a better president, only to get upstaged by a
Rudy Giuliani supporter (played by Donovan's brother, Ben). Peele auditioned to be a cast member for ''
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 ...
'' when ''SNL'' producers were looking for someone to play Barack Obama (around the time when ''SNL'' and ''Mad TV'' — and other scripted shows — were put on hiatus due to the
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike).
In 2010, Peele co-starred in the
Fox comedy pilot ''The Station'', and appeared with a recurring role in the
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
series ''
Childrens Hospital''. He had a supporting role in the
David Wain-directed comedy ''
Wanderlust'', which was released in 2012. Peele and his former ''Mad TV'' castmate and friend
Keegan-Michael Key starred in their own
Comedy Central sketch series ''
Key & Peele'', from 2012 to 2015. The series was a success with viewers, and spawned several skits and videos that went
viral online.
In 2014, Peele played an FBI agent in the first season of the
FX anthology series ''
Fargo'', inspired by the
1996 film of the same name.
In 2016, Peele starred in and produced, with Key, the first feature film in which the two both had leading roles, ''
Keanu'' (they had previously both appeared in ''
Wanderlust''). The film received generally favorable reviews from critics.
2017–present: Success as a filmmaker
In February 2017, Peele's first film, ''
Get Out'', was released to critical acclaim, eventually scoring a 98% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
. The film received universal acclaim for Peele's screenplay and direction, as well as the performance of its lead,
Daniel Kaluuya
Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is a British actor. Prominent both on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and nomin ...
, and was chosen by the
National Board of Review, the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Lead ...
, and ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine as one of the top 10 films of the year. ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' called the film "a subversive horror masterpiece". ''Get Out'' proved to be popular with movie audiences, and it eventually became one of the most profitable horror films, and films of 2017, and grossed over $255 million on a budget of $4.5 million.
For his work on the film, Peele received significant attention, as well as numerous accolades, including the
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award at the
2017 Gotham Independent Film Awards.
The film also received four nominations at the
90th Academy Awards:
Best Picture,
Best Director and
Best Original Screenplay nominations for Peele, as well as a
Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to the ...
nomination for Kaluuya. Peele won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, becoming the first African-American screenwriter to win in this category. He became the third person, after
Warren Beatty
Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...
and
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. His television and film work includes ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', ''The Simpsons'', '' Broadcast News'', ''As G ...
, to be nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for a debut film, and the first black person to receive them for any one film. ''Get Out'' also earned him the
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay, as well as nominations for a
Directors Guild of America Award and a
BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay.
The success prompted his Monkeypaw Productions company to a first look deal with Universal Pictures.
In early 2018 Peele announced his intention to retire from acting, stating in an interview with
CBS "Acting is just nowhere near as fun for me as directing".
In 2018, Peele co-created the TBS comedy series ''
The Last O.G.
''The Last O.G.'' is an American comedy television series created by Jordan Peele and John Carcieri that premiered on March 31, 2018 on TBS. The series follows a convict (O.G., or original gangster) released after serving fifteen years who return ...
'', starring
Tracy Morgan and
Tiffany Haddish. Also in 2018, Peele co-produced the
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
film, ''
BlacKkKlansman'' which was released to critical acclaim and was a box office success. The film received six nominations at the
91st Academy Awards
The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AM ...
including the
Best Picture nomination for Peele. On June 28, 2018, it was announced that
YouTube Premium would be releasing ''
Weird City'', co-created by Peele and
Charlie Sanders
Charles Alvin Sanders (August 25, 1946 July 2, 2015) was an American professional football player who was a tight end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1977. Sanders was chosen for the NFL's 1970s Al ...
. The show was released on February 13, 2019, to critical acclaim. On April 5, 2018, it was announced that
Amazon Video had given a four-episode order for ''
Lorena'', a docuseries about
Lorena Bobbitt
Lorena may refer to:
*Lorena (name), a given name
*Lorena (footballer), Brazilian footballer
* Lorena (singer), Spanish pop singer
In arts and entertainment
* ''Lorena'' (album), a 2007 album by Spanish singer Lorena
* "Lorena" (song), an 1856 s ...
. The series was set to be directed by Joshua Rofé who would also executive produce alongside Peele,
Win Rosenfeld, Steven J. Berger, Jenna Santoianni, and Tom Lesinski. Production companies involved with the series include Monkeypaw Productions,
Sonar Entertainment, and Number 19. It ultimately premiered on February 15, 2019.
Peele's second film as director was ''
Us'', a horror-thriller film which he also wrote and produced, starring
Lupita Nyong'o,
Winston Duke,
Elisabeth Moss, and
Tim Heidecker. After having its world premiere on March 8, the film was released in the United States on March 22, 2019, by
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
,
Monkeypaw Productions
Monkeypaw Productions is an American production company founded by Jordan Peele in 2012. The company is known for producing horror films, such as '' Get Out'', '' Us'', '' Candyman'', '' Nope'' and ''Wendell & Wild.'' In 2019, the company sig ...
, and QC Entertainment. Peele developed and is narrator for the
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
web television series ''
The Twilight Zone'', the third revival of the
original 1959–64 anthology series that aired on
CBS, for CBS All Access. The show premiered on April 1, 2019, with Peele,
Simon Kinberg
Simon David Kinberg (born August 2, 1973) is a British-born American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film franchise, and has also written such films as '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' and '' Sherlock Holmes''. H ...
and Marco Ramirez as
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...
s. In February 2020, Peele produced a 10-episode series about hunting down
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
called ''
Hunters''. Peele produced the
HBO series ''
Lovecraft Country
Lovecraft Country is a term coined for the New England setting used by H. P. Lovecraft in many of his weird fiction stories, which combines real and fictitious locations. This setting has since been elaborated on by other writers working in the ...
'' written by ''
Underground'' co-creator
Misha Green
Misha Green (born September 22, 1984, in Sacramento, California) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. She is best known as the showrunner of the supernatural series ''Lovecraft Country'' on HBO and creator and executive producer of ...
.
Peele co-produced and co-wrote the
2021 sequel to ''
Candyman'', through his Monkeypaw Productions, of which ''Candyman'' star
Tony Todd
Tony Todd (born December 4, 1954) is an American actor who made his debut as Sgt. Warren in the film ''Platoon'' (1986), and portrayed Kurn in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1990–1991) and ''Star Trek: Deep Space Ni ...
stated in a 2018 interview with ''Nightmare on Film Street'', "I'd rather have him do it, someone with intelligence, who's going to be thoughtful and dig into the whole racial makeup of who ''Candyman'' is and why he existed in the first place."
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a t ...
and
MGM partnered with
Win Rosenfeld to co-produce the film with Peele, and
Nia DaCosta directed. The new ''
Candyman'' serves as a "spiritual sequel", taking place back in the
gentrified Cabrini Green, where housing projects once stood in Chicago. After multiple delays, the movie was theatrically released on August 27, 2021, to positive reviews.
Peele's next film, ''
Nope'', was released on July 22, 2022.
On November 3, 2015, it was reported that
Henry Selick was developing ''
Wendell & Wild
''Wendell & Wild'' is a 2022 American stop motion animated horror comedy film directed by Henry Selick from a screenplay written by Selick and Jordan Peele (who are also producers), based on Selick's and Clay McLeod Chapman's unpublished book ...
'', a new stop-motion feature with Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key based on an original story by Selick. In March 2018, the film was picked up by
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
.
Future projects
There have been several films floated based on Peele's sketch comedy series ''
Key & Peele''. In March 2015, it was announced that Key would reprise the role of Mr. Garvey in a feature-length film ''Substitute Teacher'' with Peele portraying a rival teacher. In March 2017 in a Reddit AMA, Peele expressed interest in developing a film around his ''Key & Peele'' character Wendell Sanders based on the music video "The Power of Wings". The film, titled ''Wendell Meets Middle-Earth'', would follow Wendell's existence in the fantasy world that he likes to see his life in. In October 2020, Rosenfeld and Peele signed on to produce the remake of
Wes Craven's 1991 comedy horror film ''
The People Under the Stairs''. It is reported that his Monkeypaw Productions company has struck a deal with Universal Television.
Influences
In February 2017, Peele curated the
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...
film series "The Art of the Social Thriller", comprising 12 films that inspired the making of ''Get Out'', including the horror films ''
Rosemary's Baby'', ''
Night of the Living Dead
''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven pe ...
'', ''
The Shining'', ''
Candyman'', ''
The People Under the Stairs'', ''
Scream'', ''
The Silence of the Lambs'', ''
Funny Games'', ''
Misery'', the thrillers ''
Rear Window'' and ''
The 'Burbs
''The 'Burbs'' is a 1989 American black comedy film directed by Joe Dante, and starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducommun, Corey Feldman, Wendy Schaal, Henry Gibson, and Gale Gordon. The film was written by Dana Olsen, who ...
'', and the
comedy drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
''
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner''.
As a filmmaker, Peele has cited his influences as being
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
,
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...
,
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
, and
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu M. Night Shyamalan ( ; born August 6, 1970) is an Indian-American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for making original films with contemporary supernatural plots and twist endings. He was born in Mahé, India, and raise ...
.
As a comedian, Peele counts among his influences ''
In Living Color'',
Richard Pryor and
Dave Chappelle. He also has listed
Steve Martin and
Martin Lawrence as arguably his two biggest influences.
Personal life
Through his mother, Lucinda Williams, Peele is descended from the
colonial Woodhull family, whose members include Brigadier General
Nathaniel Woodhull
General Nathaniel Woodhull (December 30, 1722 – September 20, 1776) was a leader of the New York Provincial Congress and a brigadier general of the New York Militia during the American Revolution.
Biography
Woodhull was born on December 30, 17 ...
and
Culper Ring Spy Abraham Woodhull
Abraham Woodhull (October 7, 1750January 23, 1826) was a leading member of the Culper Spy Ring in New York City and Setauket, New York, during the American Revolutionary War. He used the alias "Samuel Culper" (later "Samuel Culper Sr."), which was ...
(the latter of whom is his first cousin, 8 times removed).
Peele began dating
Chelsea Peretti
Chelsea Vanessa Peretti (born February 20, 1978) is an American comedian, actress, television writer, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for portraying Gina Linetti in the comedy series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' and writing for '' Parks and ...
in 2013.
They became engaged in November 2015, and Peretti announced in April 2016 that she and Peele had eloped. They have a son named Beaumont (born July 1, 2017).
Filmography
As filmmaker
Awards and nominations
Peele has been nominated for four
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for ''
Get Out'' (2017), winning the latter,
and another Best Picture nomination for ''
BlacKkKlansman'' (2018). He has also been nominated for two
British Academy Film Awards, two
Golden Globe Awards, and won one
Primetime Emmy Award.
References
External links
*
*
*Peele's production practic
Monkeypaw Productions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peele, Jordan
1979 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American male writers
African-American male comedians
African-American film directors
African-American film producers
African-American male actors
African-American screenwriters
American film production company founders
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American sketch comedians
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
Comedians from New York City
Directors Guild of America Award winners
Film directors from New York City
Film producers from New York (state)
Horror film directors
Independent Spirit Award for Best Director winners
Male actors from New York City
Nebula Award winners
Peabody Award winners
People from the Upper West Side
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Sarah Lawrence College alumni
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Television producers from New York City
Woodhull family
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Postmodernist filmmakers