Marc Edward Wilmore (May 4, 1963 – January 30, 2021) was an American television writer, producer, actor, and comedian. He wrote and performed for shows such as ''

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 ...

'', ''

The PJs ''The PJs'' is an American adult stop motion-animated black sitcom created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins for Fox. It portrays life in an urban public housing project. The series starred Eddie Murphy, and it was produced by ...

'', ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', and ''

F Is for Family ''F Is for Family'' is an adult animated sitcom created by Bill Burr and Michael Price for Netflix. It was produced by Vince Vaughn's Wild West Television, King of France Productions, Loner Productions, Gaumont Television USA and Gaumont Anima ...

''. Wilmore was a 10-time

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

nominee. He was the younger brother of comedian

Larry Wilmore Elister Larry Wilmore III (born October 30, 1961) is an American comedian, writer, producer, and actor. He served as the "Senior Black Correspondent" on ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2014, and hosted ''The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore'' in 2 ...

Life and career

Marc Edward Wilmore was born on May 4, 1963, to parents Betty and Larry in

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It ...

. He had five siblings, one of whom, older brother

Larry Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer * Larry Boo ...

, is a television comic. He was a graduate of

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a Public university, public Institute of Technology (United States)#Polytechnic universities, polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the l ...

. In the early 1990s, Wilmore got a job as a writer on the sketch comedy series ''

''. He was promoted to cast member during the show's final season. Wilmore's impersonations included

Isabel Sanford Isabel Sanford (born Eloise Gwendolyn Sanford; August 29, 1917 – July 9, 2004) was an American stage, film, and television actress and comedian best known for her role as Louise "Weezy" Mills Jefferson on the CBS sitcoms ''All in the Fam ...

Nell Carter Nell Carter (born Nell Ruth Hardy; September 13, 1948 – January 23, 2003) was an American actress and singer. Carter began her career in 1970, singing in the theater, and later began work on television. She was best known for her role as Nell ...

Carroll O'Connor John Carroll O'Connor (August2, 1924– June21, 2001) was an American actor whose television career spanned over four decades. He found widespread fame as Archie Bunker (for which he won four Emmy Awards), the main character in the CBS televis ...

Robert Guillaume Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American actor and singer. He played Fishbone on television series " Good Times", Benson DuBois in the ABC television series ''Soap'' and its spin-o ...

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...

and

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, Jones is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few perfor ...

, and various sketches which re-imagined various television series such as ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...

'' and ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 ...

'' if they starred African-Americans. He received a nomination for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series debuted in 1966, and has been annually awarded most years since the mid-1960s. It has had a large number of name changes, mostly involving the addition or subtraction of the wo ...

for his work on the show. After ''In Living Color'', Wilmore wrote for '' The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno'' and ''

'', a

stop-motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animation, animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appe ...

adult sitcom co-created by his older brother Larry, where he also provided the voice of crooked police officer Walter Burkett. While working on ''The PJs'', Wilmore participated in a prank organized by staff members of ''The Simpsons'', where he pretended he was the mayor of

East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis, also known as ESTL, is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. It is directly across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis, Missouri, and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro East ...

and angrily accosted writer

Matt Selman Matt Selman (born ) is an American writer and producer. Early life Selman is a native of Watertown, Massachusetts. He graduated from Beaver Country Day School in 1989 and the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. Career After considering a car ...

over a joke that denigrated the city in the episode "

They Saved Lisa's Brain "They Saved Lisa's Brain" is the twenty-second and penultimate episode of the The Simpsons season 10, tenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox in the United States ...

". As compensation for his involvement with the joke, Wilmore was given a role in the season 11 episode " It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge", in which he played a psychologist.Scully, Mike (2008). Commentary for "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge", in ''The Simpsons: The Eleventh Season'' VD 20th Century Fox.Scully, Mike. (2007). Commentary for "They Saved Lisa's Brain", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season'' VD 20th Century Fox. Wilmore joined ''The Simpsons''s writing staff in the show's thirteenth season, and received his first credit for the segment "Send in the Clones" in "

Treehouse of Horror XIII "Treehouse of Horror 13" is the first episode of the The Simpsons season 14, fourteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the thirteenth Treehouse of Horror episode. It first aired on the Fox Broadcasting Com ...

". He won a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series. In the following list, the first titles listed in gold are the winners; those not in gold are nominees, which ...

as a producer for the episode "

Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" is the ninth episode of the nineteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 16, 2007. The episode average ...

" at the

60th Primetime Emmy Awards The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 21, 2008, at the newly opened Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California to honor the best in U.S. prime time television. The ceremony was hosted by Tom Bergeron (who was also hostin ...

in 2008. In the 2010s, Wilmore worked as a writer and executive producer on ''

'', an animated sitcom co-created by Michael Price, who had worked with him on ''The PJs'' and ''The Simpsons''. Wilmore also provided several voices in the series.

Death

On January 30, 2021, Wilmore died at a hospital in

Pomona, California Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...

. He was 57. According to his brother Larry, he died "while battling

COVID Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and other conditions that have had him in pain for many years" amid the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...

. In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Larry Wilmore related that his younger brother had long suffered health issues relating to a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...

he had undergone in the 1990s. The penultimate episode of ''F Is for Family'', "A Very Merry F***ing Christmas", is dedicated to him, as well as ''The Simpsons'' episode "

Wad Goals "Wad Goals" is the thirteenth episode of the thirty-second season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and the 697th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on February 28, 2021. The episode was directed by M ...

Credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmore, Marc 1963 births 2021 deaths African-American screenwriters American television writers American male television writers American impressionists (entertainers) African-American male comedians African-American comedians American male comedians People from Fontana, California Primetime Emmy Award winners 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male voice actors American male television actors 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American screenwriters Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California 21st-century American male writers 21st-century African-American writers Comedians from California