Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans (born June 8, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is a member of the Wayans family of entertainers. Wayans first came to prominence as the host and the creator of the 1990–1994 Fox sketch comedy series ''

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 ...

''. He has produced, directed and/or written several films, starting with '' Hollywood Shuffle'', which he cowrote, in 1987. A majority of his films have included him and one or more of his brothers and sisters in the cast. One of these films, ''

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), which Wayans directed, was the highest-grossing movie directed by an African American until it was surpassed by

Tim Story Timothy Kevin Story (born March 13, 1970) is an African American film director. He is best known for '' Barbershop'' (2002), the ''Fantastic Four'' (2005) and the ''Ride Along'' franchise. He has been nominated for two NAACP Image Awards for Ou ...

's ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 (cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first s ...

'' in 2005. From 1997 to 1998, he hosted the talk show ''

The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show ''The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show'' is a late night syndicated television talk show hosted by Keenen Ivory Wayans. The show premiered August 4, 1997, and was cancelled in March 1998. The show had an opening monologue and comedy sketches. His in-ho ...

''. Most recently, he was a judge for the eighth season of ''

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 ...

''.

Life and career

Wayans was born in Harlem, New York City, son of Howell Stouten Wayans, a supermarket manager, and his wife Elvira Alethia (Green), a homemaker and social worker. He was born the second of ten children. Genealogical TV show ''

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 ...

'' revealed that his paternal line traced back to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

. His father was a devout

Jehovah's Witness 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 family later moved to Manhattan's Fulton housing projects, where he primarily grew up. He attended Seward Park High School during his teenage years, and attended

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

on an engineering scholarship. He entertained his friends at college with made-up stories about life in New York. One semester before graduation, he dropped out of school to focus on comedy. During his first set performing at

The Improv The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s. History Originally, it was a single venue founded in 1 ...

in New York, Wayans met Robert Townsend, who helped him learn about the comedy business. Townsend and Wayans drove cross country to Los Angeles together when Wayans moved to Los Angeles in 1980. Wayans worked there as an actor. He had a regular role as a soldier on a television series titled ''For Love and Honor''. He also appeared on ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'' as a famous NFL linebacker. Townsend wrote, directed, and starred in the movie '' Hollywood Shuffle''; Wayans was costar and cowriter. The movie's success allowed him to raise the money to make '' I'm Gonna Git You Sucka''. Fox Broadcasting Company approached Wayans to offer him his own show. Wayans wanted to produce a variety show similar to ''

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 ...

'', with a cast of people of color that took chances with its content. Fox gave Wayans a lot of freedom with the show, although Fox executives were a bit concerned about the show's content before its television debut. Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the show, titled ''

'', a

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and ...

television series that originally ran on the Fox Network from 1990 to 1994. Wayans is a vegetarian, and has promoted the diet in a public service announcement of 2006 for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

''In Living Color''

Characters

*Death Row Comic (''Prison Cable Access'') *Frenchie *Ice Man (''Homeboy Shopping Network'') *Tom Brothers (''The Brothers Brothers'') *Wes (''Wes & Les'')

Impressions

Arsenio Hall Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1956) is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He hosted the late-night talk show, ''The Arsenio Hall Show'', from 1989 until 1994, and again from 2013 to 2014. He has appeared in ''Martial Law'', '' Com ...

Billy Dee Williams William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor. He appeared as Lando Calrissian in the '' Star Wars'' franchise, first in the early 1980s for ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), and thir ...

* Don Cornelius *

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senato ...

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is con ...

* Marsha Warfield *Milli (

Rob Pilatus Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob ( ...

) of Milli Vanilli *

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

(Damon Wayans was Hoke Coburn from ''Driving Miss Daisy''/Riding Miss Daisy, Principal Joe Clark from ''Lean on Me'') *

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

* Steve Harvey *

Carl Weathers Carl Weathers (born January 14, 1948) is an American actor and former professional football player. He is known for his roles as boxer Apollo Creed in the first four ''Rocky'' films (1976–85), George Dillon in '' Predator'' (1987), Action Ja ...

(as

Apollo Creed Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the ''Rocky'' films, played by Carl Weathers. He serves as the main antagonist in ''Rocky'' and ''Rocky II'' and also appears in ''Rocky III'' and ''Rocky IV''. He is a tough but agile boxer who ...

)

Filmography

Writing/producing/directing credits

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wayans, Keenen Ivory 1958 births American male film actors American people of Malagasy descent African-American male comedians American male comedians African-American film directors Comedy film directors Parody film directors American parodists African-American screenwriters Screenwriters from New York (state) American sketch comedians Emmy Award winners Film directors from New York City American male screenwriters African-American television producers Television producers from New York City American television talk show hosts Late night television talk show hosts American television writers Living people Male actors from New York City Keenen Ivory African-American television talk show hosts African-American male actors American male television actors American male television writers Comedians from New York City 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Film producers from New York (state) People from Chelsea, Manhattan Seward Park High School alumni 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American male writers