Brian Copeland

Last updated
Brian Copeland in 2009 Brian Copeland- Silicon Valley Reads 2009 (3353541691) (cropped).jpg
Brian Copeland in 2009

Brian Copeland (born 1964) [1] is an American actor, comedian, radio talk show host, playwright and author based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Contents

Copeland has been the opening act for artists such as Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin and Ringo Starr. For more than 18 years, he hosted a radio program for San Francisco radio station KGO. [2] His program formerly aired weekdays from 2pm–4pm. On September 13, 2010, he began serving as host of "7 Live," a new hour-long, weekday program on KGO-TV in San Francisco. He is the father of three children, all of whom have followed him into show business.

Early life

Copeland was born in Akron, Ohio and grew up in Hayward, California and San Leandro, California. [3]

He attended Moreau Catholic High School, located in Hayward, California. He studied political science at Holy Names University.

Not a Genuine Black Man

Play

In 2004, Copeland premiered his first one-man show, Not a Genuine Black Man, at The Marsh. The show is an account of his experiences growing up in the East Bay suburb of San Leandro, California in the 1970s, when it was considered a racist enclave due to its 99.99% white population and the coordinated policies of housing discrimination and segregation which were in place until the 1960s. [1] The play, originally scheduled for a six-week run, went on to run 25 months, becoming the longest-running one-man show in San Francisco history. [4]

GENUINE ran Off Broadway and in over 30 U.S. cities logging over 700 performances during its initial 7-year run.

"The Waiting Period"

In February 2012, Copeland premiered his second solo show entitled "The Waiting Period" at the Marsh in San Francisco. The play is a memoir of Copeland's battle with suicidal depression. The 'waiting period' in the title, refers to California's mandatory ten-day waiting period before Copeland could bring home the gun he had purchased for the purpose of ending his life.

The play received rave reviews from critics (as well as depression and suicide support groups and the mental health community) and currently plays to sold out crowds. The message of the comedy/drama is for those suffering from debilitating depression and suicidal thoughts to "Tell Somebody" and ask for help before it's too late.

The play has been extended five times as of this writing. A book is forthcoming and talks are currently under way for a major motion picture based upon the work.

THE JEWELRY BOX

Copeland's third solo play, THE JEWELRY BOX, opened in November 2013. The holiday play about his quest to earn the $11.97 to buy his mother a jewelry box from the White Front discount store in 1970 East Oakland was hailed by critics as, "an instant holiday classic" and "the Bay Area's Christmas story."

A novella based on the play was published in 2015.

THE SCION

In 2014, Copeland opened his critically acclaimed THE SCION, an investigation into the circumstances that led to fellow San Leandro resident Stuart Alexander murdering 3 government meat inspectors who tried to inspect his Santos Liguisa Factory in June 2000.

Book

In 2006, the publishing house Hyperion released a memoir by Copeland based upon his play. [5] In 2009, the book was selected by "Silicon Valley Reads" as the one to read and discuss as a community. This organization represents this Northern Californian region's libraries, bookstores, and schools, along with some civic leaders. [6]

Topher Davis Thrillers

In 2024, Copeland released his first crime fiction novel, OUTRAGED, the beginning of a thriller series featuring African American TV Investgative Reporter Topher Davis and his sister, San Francisco Homicide Detective Lynn Sloan. The book received raves with New York Times Bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman call in the novel "a revelation." The book's rave reviews have led to a second Topher Davis book called SHADOWS OF JUSTICE which will be released in April 2025.

As of this writing, Copeland is in negotiations to write books 3 and 4 in the series for release in 2026 And 2027 respectively.

Film career

In 2006, Copeland was cast as the son of Morgan Freeman's character in the Rob Reiner film The Bucket List , also starring Jack Nicholson. [4] In 2021, Copeland appeared in the sequel to the hit film VENOM entitled VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE. In 2024, Copeland filmed a role in Rob Reiner's THIS IS SPINAL TAP 2.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Leandro, California</span> City in California, United States

San Leandro is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the southeast. The population was 91,008 as of the 2020 census.

Bernard Vincent Ward is an American former radio personality whose career ran from 1985 to 2007. Formerly a radio talk show host with KGO 810 AM in San Francisco, California, Ward, once billed by KGO as "The Lion of the Left" and "unabashedly liberal," was the host of the daily news talk program, The Bernie Ward Show, and the three-hour program, GodTalk, on Sunday mornings.

Raphael Vincent "Ray" Taliaferro was an American radio host and liberal political commentator. He joined KGO News Talk AM 810 in 1977. In 1986, his talk show moved to the 1 to 5 a.m. early-morning time slot and continued until December 2, 2011.

Malcolm Sharpe was an American television and radio personality with roots in San Francisco, California.

Ronn Owens, is the host of The Ronn Owens Report, a ten-minute weekday radio program airing on KGO in San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KGO (AM)</span> Clear-channel sports betting radio station in San Francisco

KGO is a commercial AM radio station in San Francisco, California. It airs a sports betting format and is owned by Cumulus Media. Its offices and studios are on Battery Street in the SoMa portion of San Francisco's Financial District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KGO-TV</span> ABC TV station in San Francisco

KGO-TV is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's ABC network outlet. It has been owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division since the station's inception. KGO-TV's studios are located at the ABC Broadcast Center immediately west of The Embarcadero north of the city's Financial District, and its transmitter is located atop Sutro Tower. In addition, KGO-TV leases part of its building to CW outlet KRON-TV, but with completely separate operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lon Simmons</span> American sports announcer (1923–2015)

Lonnie Alexander "Lon" Simmons was an American sports announcer, best known for his play-by-play broadcasts of San Francisco Giants baseball and San Francisco 49ers football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Eason</span>

Jim Eason is a conservative talk radio personality who hosted broadcasts from 1966 to 2000 in the San Francisco Bay Area. He always ended his talk shows with the catchphrase "Do what you can, but behave yourself". His early 1970s theme was "Hold On, I'm Coming" by Sam & Dave. He later changed his opening theme to the Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond jazz classic "Take Five".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean Edell</span> American physician and broadcaster

Dean Edell is an American physician and broadcaster who hosted the Dr. Dean Edell radio program, a syndicated radio talk show which aired live from 1979 until December 10, 2010. He was also nationally syndicated in television as a medical news reporter and host of his own television shows including NBC's Dr. Dean.

Charles Karel Bouley, known on-the-air as Karel, is an American talk radio host, singer, TV personality, and author.

Jim Dunbar was an American radio program director, talk show host and news anchor. Dunbar was associated with KGO Radio in San Francisco for 37 years. According to radio historian Ben Fong-Torres, "He changed the Bay Area radio landscape by helping turn KGO from an also-ran into the greatest powerhouse on the dial, with a 30-year run at the top of the ratings."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Wattenburg</span>

Willard Harvey Wattenburg was an American inventor, engineer, author, and talk radio show host from California. Advertisements for his show often referred to him as "The Smartest Man in the World."

Kevin "The Rat" Radich was the weekday afternoon sports reporter on KGO AM 810, in San Francisco. He joined KGO in early 2007, after a year of work as a weekend sports anchor for KCBS 740 AM radio. His wife, Kim Wonderley, works at KCBS as the morning traffic anchor. On June 21, 2015 Ben Fong-Torres' column Radio Waves in the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Radich had been fired by KGO. Radich was honored with an APTRA Mark Twain Award in January 2009. The competition covered California, Nevada, Hawaii, Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska. Judging took place at The Associated Press Bureau in Downtown Los Angeles with a panel of leading broadcast journalists that considered hundreds of entries from the 2008 calendar year.

KSFO is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a talk radio format. The station's studios and offices are on Battery Street in San Francisco, along with five other Bay Area Cumulus stations.

Peter James Wilson was an American broadcaster born in Wisconsin. For more than 20 years prior to his death, he worked in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was not related to the former California governor of the same name.

Claudia Lamb is a former radio journalist and child actress known for portraying Heather Hartman in the syndicated soap opera satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman as well as the show's sequel Forever Fernwood. About six months before being cast in "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," Claudia appeared in a commercial for Nestle's $100,000 bar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Burns</span> American talk radio host (1940–2013)

Gene Burns was an American talk radio host. He hosted Dining Around with Gene Burns, a food wine and travel program, which aired Saturdays on NewsTalk 810 AM in San Francisco. He also hosted The Gene Burns Program, a political and social commentary show, that aired on NewsTalk 810.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KMEL</span> Urban contemporary radio station in San Francisco

KMEL is an urban contemporary radio station that is licensed to San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eve Marie Shahoian</span> American singer-songwriter

Eve Marie Shahoian is an American classical crossover and jazz singer-songwriter. She performs as 'Eve Marie' or 'Eve Shahoian' and is the creator-composer of the album Waiting for You.

References

  1. 1 2 Joan Ryan (2004-11-07). "Bearing life in all-white San Leandro". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  2. ↑ "Brian Copeland". Archived from the original on 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  3. ↑ http://www.briancopeland.com/e-press/pdf/Blk_press_usa.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  4. 1 2 "Bay Area playwright ready for swan song" . Retrieved 2007-07-24.[ dead link ]
  5. ↑ "Not a Genuine Black Man". Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  6. ↑ "Not a Genuine Black Man". Silicon Valley Reads. Archived from the original on 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.