Dean Edwards (born July 30, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and singer. His work as a voice actor includes

Scottie Pippen Scotty Maurice Pippen Sr. (born September 25, 1965), usually spelled Scottie Pippen, is an American former professional basketball player. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with th ...

and

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

in ''

Celebrity Deathmatch ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' is an adult stop-motion claymated series created by Eric Fogel and produced by John Worth Lynn Jr. for MTV. A parody of sports entertainment programs, ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' depicted various celebrities engaging ...

'', a robot in ''

Robotomy ''Robotomy'' is an American animated television series created by Michael Buckley and Joe Deasy for Cartoon Network. The series ran from October 25, 2010 to January 24, 2011. The series revolves around Thrasher ( Patton Oswalt) and Blastus ( J ...

'', and

Donkey The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...

in '' Scared Shrekless'' after

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...

was unable to reprise the role (Edwards had impersonated Murphy on stage), along with a couple of other projects. He also appeared in ''Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Halftime Special'' as

Savion Glover Savion Glover (born November 19, 1973) is an American tap dancer, actor and choreographer. Early life The youngest of three sons, Glover was born to a white father, who left the family before he was born, and a black mother. Glover's great-grand ...

and

Don Cheadle Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (, ; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his roles in film and television, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Don Cheadle, multiple accolades including two Golden Globe Award ...

, in ''Tony N' Tina's Wedding'' as Father Mark, and ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

''. Edwards has a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel, "deanedwardscomedy". He was also the host of the critically acclaimed TV show "Vidiots" on TVone.

Career

Edwards developed a reputation for working clean and taught classes in

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

comedy technique. Edwards is also a

voice artist Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-scr ...

, having done voice work for ''

'' and ''

''. He also did voice work for the

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

version of

Max Brooks Maximilian Michael Brooks (born May 22, 1972) is an American actor and author. He is the son of comedian Mel Brooks and actress Anne Bancroft. Much of Brooks's writing focuses on Zombie (fictional), zombie stories. He was a senior fellow at the ...

' ''

World War Z ''World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War'' is a 2006 zombie apocalyptic horror novel written by American author Max Brooks. The novel is broken into eight chapters: “Warnings”, “Blame”, “The Great Panic”, “Turning the Tid ...

: An Oral History of the Zombie War''. In the 2010 Halloween special '' Scared Shrekless'', he provided the voice of

after

couldn’t return; as Donkey, Edwards impersonated Murphy's vocal characterisation. Soon, Edwards got replaced himself when Eddie Murphy returned to play Donkey in the 2010 Christmas special '' Donkey's Christmas Shrektacular''. Edwards was hired as a staff writer for Daily Comedy, a website where professional and amateur stand-up comedians would post new jokes frequently. Edwards has also appeared in commercials for

Snickers Snickers (stylized in all caps) is a chocolate bar consisting of nougat topped with Caramel#Candy, caramel and peanuts, all encased in milk chocolate. The bars are made by the American company Mars Inc. The annual global sales of Snickers is ...

and

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

''Saturday Night Live''

Edwards joined the cast of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' in 2001. He developed several

impressions An impression is the overall effect of something. Impression or impressions may also refer to: Biology * Colic impression, a feature of the gall bladder * Duodenal impression, medial to the renal impression * Gastric impression, a feature of th ...

, including

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular cast member on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of the daytim ...

Chris Tucker Christopher Tucker (born August 31, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Tucker made his debut in 1992 as a stand-up performer on the HBO comedy series '' Def Comedy Jam'', where he frequently appeared on the show during the 1990 ...

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...

Nipsey Russell Julius "Nipsey" Russell (September 15, 1918 – October 2, 2005)Nipsey J. Russell, born September 15, 1918, died October 2, 2005. Social Security Administration. ''Social Security Death Index'' (Death Master File).U.S. Census, January 1, 1920, st ...

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...

, Redman,

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

, and

Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles (born 21 January 1950), known professionally as Billy Ocean, is a Trinidadian-born British singer and songwriter. Between 1976 and 1988, he had a series of hit songs in the UK and internationally. After releasing sev ...

.SNL Archives , Cast
Despite his penchant for impressions, Edwards didn't get much screen time in his brief tenure on the show. He left after the show's 28th season (2003), citing creative differences. In ''Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Halftime Special'', he did his impressions of

and

Filmography

Film

Television

As himself

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Dean 1970 births Living people American stand-up comedians American male writers American male voice actors American male film actors American male television actors United States Army soldiers American Internet celebrities American television personalities American impressionists (entertainers) African-American male actors American sketch comedians 21st-century American singers 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male singers 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American male singers Comedians from the Bronx Male actors from the Bronx