Marlon Lamont Wayans (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for his work with his brother

Shawn Wayans Shawn Mathis Wayans (born January 19, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He made his debut on the comedy television series ''In Living Color'' (1990–1993). He went on to work with his brother Marlon Wayans on The WB si ...

The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

sitcom ''

The Wayans Bros. ''The Wayans Bros.'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on The WB from January 11, 1995, to May 20, 1999. The series starred real life brothers Shawn Wayans, Shawn and Marlon Wayans, comedian John Witherspoon (actor), John Withe ...

'' (1995–1999) and the comedy films '' Don't Be a Menace'' (1996), ''

Scary Movie ''Scary Movie'' is a 2000 American parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon Wayans, Marlon and Shawn Wayans (who both also star), alongside Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Starring Jon ...

'' (2000), ''

Scary Movie 2 ''Scary Movie 2'' is a 2001 American parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. It is the sequel to '' Scary Movie'' and the second installment in the ''Scary Movie'' film series. The film stars Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Shawn Wayans and ...

'' (2001), ''

White Chicks ''White Chicks'' (stylized as ''WHiTE CHiCKS'') is a 2004 American buddy cop crime comedy film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans from a screenplay co-written by Wayans, Xavier Cook, Andy McElfresh, Michael Anthony Snowden, with additional contrib ...

'' (2004), '' Little Man'' (2006), and '' Dance Flick'' (2009)''. Wayans' other film credits include '' Above the Rim'' (1994), '' The 6th Man'' (1997), ''

Norbit In electronics, the NORBIT family of modules is a very early form (since 1960) of Digital electronics, digital logic developed by Philips (and also provided through and Mullard) that uses modules containing discrete components to build logic fu ...

'' (2007), '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'' (2009), '' The Heat'' (2013), '' A Haunted House'' (2013) and its sequel '' A Haunted House 2'' (2014), ''

Naked Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

'' (2017), '' Fifty Shades of Black'' (2016), ''Sextuplets'' (2019), and ''On the Rocks'' (2020). He also had several dramatic roles, including the psychological drama film ''

Requiem for a Dream ''Requiem for a Dream'' is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher McDonald, and Marlon Wayans. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same ...

'' (2000). Wayans partnered with Randy Adams to create '' What the Funny'', an online destination for urban comedy. He created the comedy competition television show '' Funniest Wins,'' which aired on TBS in 2014. In 2014, Wayans and his brothers traveled the U.S. with "The Wayans Brothers Tour". In 2017, he co-wrote and starred in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

sitcom '' Marlon,'' which ran for two seasons.

Early life

Wayans was born in New York City, the son of Elvira Alethia (Green), a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Stouten Wayans, a supermarket manager. He was raised in Fulton Houses, a

housing project Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

in New York City, the youngest of ten siblings. He is the brother of Dwayne, Keenen Ivory, Damon Sr., Kim, Elvira, Nadia, and Shawn. His family were

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

. Wayans went to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City, the school made famous in '' Fame''. After graduating from high school, he attended

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, but dropped out after two years.

Career

Between 1992 and 1993, Wayans appeared with his siblings on the sketch comedy show ''

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 ...

''. From 1995 until 1999, he co-starred in the WB sitcom ''

'' with his brother

. He was originally considered for the role of Robin in the 1992 film ''

Batman Returns ''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters (screenwriter), Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman (1989 film), Batman'' (1989) and th ...

'', but it was felt that the film featured too many characters, so his character was omitted. Wayans was then formally signed to the role in the 1995 sequel ''

Batman Forever ''Batman Forever'' is a 1995 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. It is the third installment of the ''Batman'' film series, acting as a standalone sequel to ''Batman Returns''. Directe ...

'' to play opposite

Billy Dee Williams William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American retired actor, novelist and painter. He has appeared in over 100 films and television roles over six decades. He is best known for portraying Lando Calrissian in the ''Star Wars ...

Two-Face Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bob Kane, and first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #66 (August 1942). He has become one of the superhero Batman's most enduring e ...

, but the mid-production change in directors from

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

Joel Schumacher Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939 – June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designe ...

resulted in both parts being recast and Wayans being paid out (Williams was not yet signed on, but received a penalty fee as his contract for ''Batman'' allowed him the option of reprise), and he still receives royalty payments. He was replaced by Chris O'Donnell. In August 2021, a comic book adaptation of the original concept, '' Batman '89'', began publication, by

DC Entertainment DC Entertainment is an American entertainment company that was founded in September 2009 and is based in Burbank, California. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery which manages DC Comics characters by working with other units ...

, using Wayans's likeness for Robin with his permission, their civilian identity renamed Drake Winston. Wayans produced the first two films of the ''

'' series, in which he and Shawn were credited writers and co-stars. Those films were released in 2000 and 2001. In 2000, Wayans appeared as Tyrone C. Love in ''

'' and as Snails in ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

''. That same year, he and Shawn hosted the 2000

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Video Music Awards. Wayans also produced the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

cartoon series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can eithe ...

'' Thugaboo''. In 2017, NBC gave him his own sitcom, '' Marlon''; it was canceled after two seasons. In September 2017, '' Variety'' announced that Wayans would partner with LA-based entertainment company Shots Studios to launch a YouTube channel. He has appeared in videos alongside creators such as Anwar Jibawi and Hannah Stocking. In 2020, Wayans signed a deal with

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

Personal life

Wayans was in a long-term relationship with Angela Zackery from 1992 to 2013, and although he once called her his "ex-wife", he said in 2021 that he had never married. They have two children, one of whom is

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

. In 2023, Wayans expressed support for his trans son and the

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

community. Wayans also shares a child with his former girlfriend, Brittany Moreland. Wayans was a close friend of rapper

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

. He is also a longtime friend of actor

Omar Epps Omar Hashim Epps (born July 20, 1973) is an American actor, rapper, and producer. Epps's film roles include ''Juice (1992 film), Juice'', ''Higher Learning'', ''The Wood'', ''In Too Deep (1999 film), In Too Deep'', and ''Love & Basketball''. His ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Comedy specials

Documentary

Music videos

References

External links

* *
Marlon Wayans
on

WISH-TV WISH-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Marion-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23) and low-power, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wayans, Marlon 1972 births American people of Malagasy descent Marlon African-American male comedians African-American comedians American male comedians African-American film producers American LGBTQ rights activists Film producers from New York (state) American male film actors African-American television producers Television producers from New York City American male television actors American male voice actors 20th-century African-American male actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors American sketch comedians Male actors from Manhattan Living people Comedians from Manhattan 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians People from Chelsea, Manhattan Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people