Jakim Maulana (November 6, 1993 – July 14, 2022), known professionally as Jak Knight, was an American actor, comedian and writer. He was best known for his roles as DeVon in the animated

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 ...

sitcom '' Big Mouth'' and Jak in the

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

comedy series '' Bust Down''.

Early life

Knight was born as Jakim Maulana in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, on November 6, 1993.

Career

In 2014, he made his first acting role as an iPhone camera man in the film ''LieGuys''. From 2017 until his death in 2022, he provided the voice of DeVon in the

adult animated sitcom '' Big Mouth''. In 2020, he provided vocal passages as interludes on

Limbo In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin ''limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Europ ...

, an album made by hip-hop artist and friend of Knight, Aminé. In March 2022, four months before his death, he starred in the

comedy series '' Bust Down'', alongside Langston Kerman,

Chris Redd Christopher Jerell Redd (born March 25, 1985) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, rapper, and singer. Redd was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2017 to 2022. For his work on the show, he wo ...

and Sam Jay.

Personal life

He resided in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

Death

On July 14, 2022, Knight was found dead on an embankment in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, at age 28. His cause of death was determined to be suicide by gunshot. Many celebrities, including

Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-w ...

, Tim Dillon, Max Silvestri,

James Adomian James Adomian (born January 31, 1980) is an Armenian-American stand-up comedian, actor, and impressionist. He is best known for his work on '' Comedy Bang! Bang!'', '' Chapo Trap House'', ''Last Comic Standing'', ''The Late Late Show with Craig ...

Chance the Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape ''10 Day'' in 2012. He ...

Hannibal Buress Hannibal Amir Buress ( , born February 4, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on Adult Swim's '' The Eric Andre Show'' ...

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and Vanessa Ramos, have reacted to Knight's death with tribute quotes on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Jak 1993 births 2022 deaths 2022 suicides American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors 21st-century American comedians African-American male actors Male actors from Seattle 21st-century American male actors 21st-century African-American people African-American comedians Comedians from Washington (state) American male comedians African-American screenwriters American male television writers American television writers 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers Screenwriters from Washington (state) Writers from Seattle Suicides by firearm in California