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Don Reed | |
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| Born | November 23, 1959, Oakland, California, United States, |
| Occupation(s) | comedian, television actor and writer |
| Years active | 1980–present |
Donald Gene Reed (born November 23, 1959) [1] is an American actor, writer, producer, director and comedian. [2]
Reed grew up in Oakland, California, and attended Fremont High School. Additionally he attended Chabot Junior College in Hayward, California, before being recruited to UCLA for intercollegiate speech and debate competition, where he became a national champion in competitive events: Speech to Entertain, Poetry and Dramatic readings. [3]
In the fall of 1988, Don Reed was performing stand-up comedy at NACA and impressed comedian Sinbad so much he helped Reed get signed for two episodes of a television spin-off of The Cosby Show , titled A Different World , on which he played "Chip St. Charles", whom Denise Huxtable had a crush on. This was Reed's television debut; he left the show in 1989. [4] [5] [6]
After A Different World, Reed was cast as "Fingers" in a film called Dance to Win, which was released on December 1, 1989, in the United States. Reed also appeared on the HBO television program Dream On in 1990, then he appeared on Robert Townsend's ventures: an HBO television special Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime (1991) and The Meteor Man (1993) as a drug worker.
Reed was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards: one for Dream On, The Cosby Show and Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime in 1989.
Reed was an advertising & promotion executive at NBC, for two years, and then he did voice-work for cartoons such as Disney's Gargoyles , Spider-Man and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest .
Reed's movie credits include: Unleashed Fear of a Black Hat and Once Upon a Forest . Reed also joined the cast of NBC's The Rerun Show . His showcase of impressions included Mike Tyson, Sherman Hemsley, Todd Bridges, Chris Rock, among others.
In 2008, he debuted a solo autobiographical show titled East 14th: True Tales of a Reluctant Player and has presented a total of 5 solo shows altogether. In fall 2009, he became the warm-up comic for The Jay Leno Show . [1] He is the first African American warm-up comedian for a major late night show – The Tonight Show with Jay Leno – and performed stand-up to warm up the studio audience for over 1,000 episodes.
In 2016 he won an award from Snap Judgment for NPR/WNYC Performance of the Year. [7] Later that year Theater Bay Area gave his show East 14th the 2016 TBA award for Outstanding Solo Show. [8] In the same year, Reed co-starred in Amazon Prime streaming comedy series, Bartlett , co-starring Broadway phenom Lin Manuel Miranda, creator of Hamilton. In 2019 Don Reed was approached by writer/director/filmmaker Robert Townsend to co-produce his one man, theatrical hit "Living the Shuffle."
James Douglas Muir Leno is an American television host, writer and comedian. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's The Tonight Show from 1992 until 2009 when Conan O'Brien took over as host. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET, also on NBC. O'Brien turned down NBC's offer to have Leno host a half hour monologue show before The Tonight Show to boost ratings amid reported viewership diminishing, which sparked the 2010 Tonight Show conflict that resulted in Leno returning to hosting the show on March 1, 2010. He hosted his last episode of his second tenure on February 6, 2014. That year, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. From 2014 to 2022, he hosted Jay Leno's Garage, and from 2021 to 2023, hosted the revival of You Bet Your Life.
Donald Jay Rickles was an American actor and stand-up comedian. He became known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), Enter Laughing (1967), Kelly's Heroes (1970), and Casino (1995). From 1976 to 1978, Rickles had a two-season starring role in the NBC television sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey, having previously starred in two eponymous half-hour programs, an ABC variety show titled The Don Rickles Show (1968) and a CBS sitcom identically titled The Don Rickles Show (1972).
William Henry Cosby Jr. is an American former comedian, actor, spokesman, and media personality. He performed over a period of decades in film, television, and stand-up comedy, with his longest-running live-action role being that of Cliff Huxtable in the sitcom The Cosby Show (1984-1992). He also released several stand-up comedy albums and was a popular spokesperson in advertising for decades. Cosby was well known in the United States for his eccentric image and gained a reputation as "America's Dad". Since 2014, dozens of allegations of sexual assault have been made against him, which has effectively ended his career and tarnished his legacy. There had been previous allegations against Cosby, but they were dismissed and accusers were ignored or disbelieved.
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010, and ended on February 6, 2014.
Scott Thompson, known professionally as Carrot Top, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is widely known for his use of prop comedy.
Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is a member of the Wayans family of entertainers. Wayans first came to prominence as the host and creator of the 1990–1994 Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color. He has produced, directed or written several films, starting with Hollywood Shuffle, which he cowrote, in 1987. Most of his films have included him and one or more of his siblings in the cast.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Theodore Huxtable on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 38th Primetime Emmy Awards. He is also known for his roles as Malcolm McGee on the UPN sitcom Malcolm & Eddie, and Dr. Alex Reed in the sitcom Reed Between the Lines.
You Bet Your Life is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and sidekick George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio on October 27, 1947, moved to CBS Radio debuting October 5, 1949, and went to NBC-TV and NBC Radio on October 4, 1950. Because of its simple format, it was possible to broadcast the show on both radio and television but not simultaneously. Many of the laughs on the television show were evoked by Groucho's facial reactions and other visual gimmicks. So the two versions were slightly different. The last episode in a radio format aired on June 10, 1960. The series continued on television for another year, recording the last season, beginning on September 22, 1960, with a new title, The Groucho Show.
The Bill Cosby Show is an American sitcom television series that aired for two seasons on NBC's Sunday night schedule from 1969 until 1971 under the sponsorship of Procter & Gamble. There were 52 episodes made in the series. It marked Bill Cosby's first solo foray in television after his co-starring role with Robert Culp in I Spy.
John Witherspoon was an American actor and comedian who performed in various television shows and films. He played Willie Jones in the Friday series, and starred in films such as Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Boomerang (1992), The Five Heartbeats (1991), and Vampire in Brooklyn (1995). In addition, Witherspoon made appearances on television shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1994), The Wayans Bros. (1995–1999), The Tracy Morgan Show (2003), Barnaby Jones (1973), The Boondocks (2005–2014), and Black Jesus (2014–2019). He wrote a film, From the Old School, in which he played an elderly working man who tries to prevent a neighborhood convenience store from being developed into a strip club.
The Television Academy Hall of Fame honors individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to U.S. television. The hall of fame was founded by former Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) president John H. Mitchell (1921–1988). Inductions are not held every year.
Ned Arnel "Carlos" Mencía is a Honduran-American comedian, writer, and actor. His style of comedy is often political and involves issues of race relations, Latin American culture, criminal justice, and social class. From 2005 to 2008, he hosted the Comedy Central show Mind of Mencia. Around the time of the show's cancellation, several comedians accused Mencía of plagiarism and stealing jokes.
Faizon Andre Love is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles in the comedy films The Meteor Man, Don't Be a Menace, Friday, B*A*P*S, Elf, The Replacements, Made, Mr Bones, and Couples Retreat, as well as the voice of Sean "Sweet" Johnson in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and his role as Wendell Wilcox on The Parent 'Hood.
Godfrey C. Danchimah Jr., professionally known as Godfrey, is a Nigerian-American comedian, impressionist and actor who has appeared on BET, VH1, Comedy Central, and feature films, such as Soul Plane, Original Gangstas, Zoolander, and Johnson Family Vacation. He was also a spokesperson for 7 Up during the popular '7up yours' advertising campaign and a cast member on the first season of The It Factor, a reality television show. Currently, he is a regular performer at the comedy club Comedy Cellar in New York. He is also known for doing the voices of Mr. Stubborn and Mr. Tall in The Mr. Men Show and hosting the FOX game show Bullseye. Godfrey also hosted his own radio show on SiriusXM until he parted ways with the show in July 2019. He now owns and hosts a podcast called 'In Godfrey We Trust' on the “Gas Digital Network”. He is also known for collaborating with other social media stars such as King Bach, Destorm Power, etc. He was once a regular guest on VladTV.
Gary Mule Deer is an American comedian and country musician.
The Meteor Man is a 1993 American superhero comedy film written, directed, co-produced and starring Robert Townsend with supporting roles by Marla Gibbs, Eddie Griffin, Robert Guillaume, James Earl Jones, Bill Cosby, and Another Bad Creation. The film also features special appearances by Luther Vandross, Sinbad, Naughty by Nature, Cypress Hill, and Big Daddy Kane. Townsend stars as a mild-mannered schoolteacher who becomes a superhero after his neighborhood in Washington, D.C. is terrorized by street gangs.
David Adkins, better known by his stage name Sinbad, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He became known in the 1990s from being featured on his own HBO specials, appearing on several television series, most notably as Coach Walter Oakes in A Different World (1987–1991) and as David Bryan on The Sinbad Show (1993–1994). He has also appeared in films such as That's Adequate (1989), Coneheads (1993), Houseguest (1995), Jingle All the Way (1996), Crazy as Hell (2002) and Planes (2013).
Robert Illes is an American award-winning screenwriter, television producer, playwright and author.
Bill Cosby 77 is an unreleased 2014 stand-up comedy film featuring Bill Cosby, filmed before a live audience at the San Francisco Jazz Center in California. Cosby chose the venue in honor of his friend Enrico Banducci and his establishment the hungry i. The comedian said his wife Camille Cosby helped with the editing process of the film.
Dwayne Perkins is an American stand-up comedian from Brooklyn, New York, currently residing in Los Angeles. He has made appearances on Conan, Comedy Central, and as a regular correspondent on The Jay Leno Show. In August 2012, he was selected by Rolling Stone magazine as one of their "Five Comics to Watch". In October 2015, he was the artist-in-residence at the Rotterdam International Comedy Festival.
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