Tommy Davidson

Tommy Davidson (born Anthony Reed, November 10, 1963) is an American actor and comedian. He was an original cast member on the sketch comedy TV show ''In Living Color'', and portrayed Mitchell on '' Between Brothers'' (1997–1999), Dexter on '' Malcolm & Eddie'' (1999–2000), the voice of Oscar Proud on ''The Proud Family'' (2001–2005) and its 2022 revival series, Rushon in '' Booty Call'' (1997), Womack in ''Bamboozled'' (2000), and Cream Corn in ''Black Dynamite'' (2009) and its subsequent television series. In 2022, Davidson appeared on '' Storybound'' reading from his book, ''Living in Color: What's Funny about Me''.

Early life

Born Anthony Reed in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, Davidson was abandoned in the trash at 18 months old, before being rescued by a white woman who became his adoptive mother. His parents changed his name to Thomas Davidson when they adopted him. He has two older siblings, Michael and Beryle. He and his family had moved from Colorado to Wyoming to Oregon by the time he was five years old.

His parents divorced when he was five years old, and his mother and the children moved to Washington, D.C. They later moved to Wheaton, Maryland, then the neighborhood of Rosemary Hills in Silver Spring, and then Takoma Park. He attended Rosemary Hills Elementary School, Sligo Middle School, and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, in Bethesda, Maryland. After graduating in 1981, he studied communications and interned at the radio station of the University of the District of Columbia for one semester. He had jobs in the kitchen of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, cleaning at Roy Rogers, bussing tables at an IHOP in Wheaton, and working in the stockroom of Hechinger in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Career

Davidson started his career as a stand-up comedian in 1984, when a childhood friend convinced him to perform stand-up at The Penthouse strip club in Park View, Washington, D.C. He continued performing in various comedy clubs throughout the Washington Metropolitan region, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. He opened concerts for Patti LaBelle, Starpoint, and Kenny G. He performed on a fundraising telethon for WHMM in 1987.

Davidson won an amateur stand-up competition at the Apollo Theater in 1987. Soon afterwards, he moved to North Hollywood, California, where he met Martin Lawrence, who lived in his building. He performed at the Comedy Store, where Robert Townsend heard of him and asked him to be the warm-up comic for an HBO special. After performing at Luther Vandross and Anita Baker shows, he appeared on ''The Arsenio Hall Show''.

Personal life

Davidson and his wife Amanda Moore married in 2015. They have two children.

Filmography

Film

Television

Comedy specials

Music videos

Book

* Davidson, Tommy; Teicholz, Tom (2020). ''Living in Color''. Kensington Publishing. .

References

External links

The Tommy DavidsonTommy Davidson Music
*
Tommy Davidson
on WISH-TV

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Tommy
1963 births
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American people
21st-century American comedians
African-American comedians
African-American male actors
African-American male comedians
American adoptees
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American sketch comedians
American stand-up comedians
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni
Comedians from Mississippi
Comedians from Silver Spring, Maryland
Living people
Male actors from Mississippi
Male actors from Silver Spring, Maryland
People from Greenville, Mississippi
People from Rolling Fork, Mississippi
People from Takoma Park, Maryland
People from Wheaton, Maryland
University of the District of Columbia alumni