William Bellamy (born April 7, 1965) is an American actor and

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

. Bellamy first gained national notoriety on HBO's

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons ...

' ''

Def Comedy Jam ''Def Comedy Jam'' is an HBO television series produced by Russell Simmons. The series had its original run from March 7, 1992 to May 2, 1997. Simmons was inspired to make Def Comedy Jam by The Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem, New York and Jerry Le ...

'', where he is credited for creating or coining the phrase "

booty call ''Booty Call'' is a 1997 American buddy comedy film, written by J. Stanford Parker (credited as Bootsie) and Takashi Bufford, and directed by Jeff Pollack. The film stars Jamie Foxx, Tommy Davidson, Vivica A. Fox, and Tamala Jones. Plot Rushon ...

", described as a late night call to a potential paramour with the intention of meeting strictly for sex.

Early life and family

Bellamy was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

. Bellamy is a cousin of basketball player

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program '' Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greate ...

. He attended Seton Hall Preparatory School in nearby

South Orange, New Jersey South Orange, officially the Township of South Orange Village, is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village's population was 16,198, reflecting a decline of 766 (4.5%) fro ...

(now located in West Orange). He majored in economics at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

Career

For many years, Bellamy was a staple on

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 ...

, a VJ and the host of several MTV programs including '' MTV Jamz'' and '' MTV Beach House''. He went on to star in a number of movies, including ''

Fled ''Fled'' is a 1996 American buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Hooks. It stars Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin as two prisoners chained together who flee during an escape attempt gone bad. Plot An interrogator prepares a man t ...

'', '' Love Jones'', '' The Brothers'', ''

How to Be a Player ''Def Jam's How to Be a Player'' is a 1997 sex comedy film, starring Bill Bellamy, Natalie Desselle and Bernie Mac. The film was directed by Lionel C. Martin, and written by Mark Brown and Demetria Johnson. The '' How to Be a Player Soundtrack ...

'', '' Getting Played'' and ''

Any Given Sunday ''Any Given Sunday'' is a 1999 American sports drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, including Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, J ...

''. He also appeared on two episodes of the TV show '' Kenan and Kel''. Additionally, he voiced Skeeter on the Nickelodeon television show '' Cousin Skeeter''. In 2002, Bellamy had a co-starring role in the Fox Network television show '' Fastlane'' alongside

Peter Facinelli Peter Facinelli (born November 26, 1973) is an American actor and film and television producer. He starred as Donovan "Van" Ray on the Fox series '' Fastlane'' from 2002 to 2003. He played Dr. Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptations of the ''Tw ...

and Tiffani Thiessen. He also appeared frequently as a "roundtable" guest on the late night E! talk show '' Chelsea Lately''. Bellamy hosted seasons 5 and 6 of NBC's ''

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 grou ...

'' reality show (2007 and 2008). In 2014, he had a recurring role as Councilman Powell on the

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

original series '' Hot in Cleveland''. He voiced Marcus Hill, a playable character in the 2005 updated version of the '' NARC''

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

. In 2016, Bellamy played FBI Agent Sanders, the partner of Dolph Lundgren's character, in '' Kindergarten Cop 2''. Bellamy hosted ''

Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes? ''Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes?'' (also known as ''Who's Got Jokes?'') is a one-hour televised stand-up comedy competition hosted by Bill Bellamy which airs on cable television network TV One. The original run was from August 22, 2006 until Oct ...

'' on TV One. He was also an executive producer for it. In 2020, he starred in the Netflix miniseries '' Self Made.''

Filmography

Film

Television

Music Video

Video Games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellamy, Bill 1965 births Living people African-American male actors African-American male comedians American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Newark, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni Seton Hall Preparatory School alumni VJs (media personalities) Comedians from New Jersey 21st-century American comedians 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people