Tracy Morgan

Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor best known for his television work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1996–2003) and for his role as Tracy Jordan in the sitcom ''30 Rock'' (2006–2013), each of which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. He starred as Tray Barker in the TBS comedy ''The Last O.G.''

Early life

Morgan was born on November 10, 1968 in Brooklyn and raised in Brooklyn's Marlboro Houses and Tompkins Houses in its Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood. He is the second of five children of a homemaker, Alicia (née Warden), and Jimmy Morgan, a musician who left the family when Morgan was six years old.

His father named him Tracy in honor of a platoon mate and friend who shipped off to Vietnam with him and was killed in action days later.

The target of bullies as a child, Morgan attended DeWitt Clinton High School. In 1985, at age 17 in his senior year, he learned that his father had contracted HIV from hypodermic needle use. His father died in January 1987, aged 38.

Morgan married his girlfriend Sabina that year and dropped out of high school just four credits short of his diploma to care for his ailing father. Living on welfare, Morgan sold crack cocaine with limited success, but began earning money performing comedy on the streets after his best friend was murdered. He said in 2009: "He would say to me, 'Yo, Tracy, man, you should be doing comedy.' A week later, he was murdered. And that for me, that was like my Vietnam. I had my survival guilt when I started to achieve success. Why I made it out and some guys didn't."

Morgan embarked on a stand-up comedy career, successfully enough that he "finally moved to a nice community in he Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale, from a run-down apartment next to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx."

Career

Morgan made his screen debut playing Hustle Man on the television show ''Martin''. The character sold various items from the "hood", always greeting people with his trademark "What's happ'n, chief?," and had a pet dog he dressed as a rapper. In the 2003 Chris Rock film ''Head of State'', Morgan appeared as a man watching television, often questioning why they are not watching ''Martin''.

Morgan was also a regular cast member on '' Uptown Comedy Club'', a sketch-comedy show filmed in Harlem that aired for two seasons, from 1992 to 1994.

He appeared twice on HBO's ''Def Comedy Jam''.

Morgan joined the cast of the comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1996 (Lorne Michaels chose him over Stephen Colbert in the final round) and performed as a regular until 2003. He returned to host on March 14, 2009, and reprised his roles as Brian Fellow and Astronaut Jones. He then made a guest appearance on the 2011 Christmas show, hosted by Jimmy Fallon, and hosted again on October 17, 2015.

Morgan had his own sitcom, '' The Tracy Morgan Show'', in 2003, which was canceled after one season.

From 2006 to 2013, Morgan was a cast member of the television series ''30 Rock'', playing the character Tracy Jordan, a caricature of himself. His work on ''30 Rock'' was well-received, and he was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 2009 Emmy Awards. He returned to the role in July 2020 for a reunion episode during the COVID-19 pandemic that was an upfront special for NBCUniversal.

In 2018, Morgan began starring in the TBS series ''The Last O.G.''It ran for four seasons until 2021.

Morgan appeared in a stand-up special, ''One Mic'', on Comedy Central. He also hosted the first Spike Guys' Choice Awards, which aired on June 13, 2007. In 2003, he was on an episode of ''Punk'd'' in which his car was towed from the valet parking. He can be heard as Spoonie Luv on the Comedy Central program ''Crank Yankers'' and as Woof in the animated series ''Where My Dogs At?''. He also was the voice of Luis in the animated film ''Rio''.

Morgan acted in commercials for '' NFL 2K'', '' NBA 2K'', and ''NHL 2K'', co-starring with Warren Sapp, Ben Wallace and Jeremy Roenick. He appeared in Adam Sandler's film '' The Longest Yard'' as a transgender inmate.

Morgan has hosted the VH1 Hip Hop Honors for two consecutive years, and hosted the 2013 Billboard Music Awards.

Morgan appeared in two episodes of the Animal Planet series ''Tanked'', first having a ''Jaws''-themed shark tank built in the basement of his house, then having a replacement tank built for his giant Pacific octopus.

In July 2019, he hosted the ESPYs in Los Angeles.

In February 2022, the New York Friars Club announced that it would bestow the Entertainment Icon Award on Morgan at the club’s spring gala. Morgan is only the ninth recipient of the prestigious comedy award, and the first Black recipient.

Influences

Morgan has listed Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy, and Richard Pryor as among his primary comedic influences.

Personal life

Family

In 1987, while in high school, Morgan married his girlfriend Sabina. The pair have three sons together. Morgan filed for divorce in August 2009, after having been separated for approximately eight years. Morgan credits one of his sons with having saved him from his alcoholism. Of his extended family, Morgan said in 2009, "I'm estranged from my own mother and most of my family, and I'm not sure that's going to change much."

In September 2011, on the red carpet at the Emmy Awards, Morgan announced he and model Megan Wollover had become engaged six months earlier in San Francisco. Their first child, daughter Maven, was born in New York City on July 2, 2013. Morgan and Wollover married on August 23, 2015. Morgan filed for divorce July 2020.

Health problems

In 1996, Morgan was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and for years has struggled with alcohol use disorder. Morgan has conceded that many of his own troubles were incorporated within ''30 Rock'' episodes. In early December 2010, Morgan received a kidney transplant necessitated by his diabetes and alcohol use disorder. Morgan admitted that he initially did not take his diabetes seriously but later realized the care for it would end up being a matter of life and death.

Autobiography

On October 20, 2009, Morgan's autobiography, '' I Am the New Black'', was released. The book includes stories about living in Tompkins Projects in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, to becoming a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live''. Morgan appeared on National Public Radio's ''Fresh Air'' hosted by Terry Gross, at times becoming very emotional about his former life in a New York ghetto.

2014 traffic collision and lawsuit

On June 7, 2014, Morgan was a passenger in a Mercedes Sprinter minibus involved in a six-vehicle crash in New Jersey. Just after 1:00 am the vehicle was traveling northbound on the New Jersey Turnpike near Cranbury, when it was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer operated by Walmart, causing a chain reaction crash. Morgan and three other comedians, including Harris Stanton, along with Morgan's assistant and two limousine company employees, were returning from an engagement at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino in Dover, Delaware, as part of Morgan's "Turn it Funny" stand-up comedy tour. The crash killed Morgan's friend and collaborator, 62-year-old comedian James McNair (Jimmy Mack).

Morgan was taken by helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey

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