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 in association with 20th Television and was taped at stage 7 at the Fox Television Center on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans Sr. is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and a member of the Wayans family of entertainers. He first came to prominence as the host and the creator of the 1990–1994 Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color. He has produced, directed and/or written several films, starting with Hollywood Shuffle, which he cowrote, in 1987.
Marlon Lamont Wayans is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Wayans began his career portraying a pedestrian in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988). He went on to regularly collaborate with his brother Shawn Wayans on The WB sitcom The Wayans Bros. (1995–1999), and in the comedy films Scary Movie (2000), Scary Movie 2 (2001), White Chicks (2003), Little Man (2006), and Dance Flick (2009). Wayans had a dramatic role in Darren Aronofsky's critically acclaimed film Requiem for a Dream (2000), which saw his departure from the usual comedies.
Kim N. Wayans is an American actress, comedian, producer, writer and director. Wayans is the sister of Keenen Ivory, Damon Sr., Marlon, Shawn and Nadia Wayans. She is best known for her numerous roles on the Fox sketch comedy show In Living Color (1990–94), and Tonia Harris on In the House (1995–98). Wayans is also best known as the noted family matriarch of The Wayans Family.
Shawn Mathis Wayans is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and DJ. Along with his brother Marlon Wayans, he wrote and starred in The WB sitcom The Wayans Bros.(1995–1999), and in the comedy films Don’t Be a Menace (1996), Scary Movie (2000), Scary Movie 2 (2001), White Chicks (2003), Little Man (2006), and Dance Flick (2009).
David Alan Grier is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work on the sketch comedy television show In Living Color, as David Bellows on Life with Bonnie (2002-2004), as Joe Carmichael on The Carmichael Show (2015-2017), as Hal on A Series of Unfortunate Events (2018); and for his movie roles such as Roger in Streamers (1983), Carl Bentley in Jumanji (1995), and Jim Fields in Bewitched (2005).
Antonio Juan Fargas is an American actor known for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation movies, as well as his portrayal as Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series Starsky & Hutch.
John Shaft is a fictional character created by screenwriter Ernest Tidyman. He was portrayed by Richard Roundtree in the original 1971 film and in its four sequels, Shaft's Big Score! (1972), Shaft in Africa (1973), Shaft (2000) and Shaft (2019), with Samuel L. Jackson portraying his son, named John Shaft II, in Shaft (2000) and Shaft (2019), and Jessie Usher portraying the character's grandson in Shaft (2019). The blurb on the paperback on which the original film is based states Shaft is "Hotter than Bond, cooler than Bullitt."
John Keith Vernon was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer in Animal House, the Mayor in Dirty Harry and Fletcher in The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Kadeem Hardison is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dwayne Wayne on A Different World, a spin-off of the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. He also starred in the Disney Channel series K.C. Undercover as Craig Cooper, the title character's father. Hardison played Norman in OWN's Love Is before it was cancelled. As of 2019, he is starring in the Showtime comedy Black Monday.
Steve James was an American actor, stunt performer and martial artist. He starred mostly in action films such as the American Ninja series, The Delta Force (1986), The Exterminator (1980), and Enter the Game of Death (1978). James also portrayed Kung Fu Joe in the 1988 comedy/spoof film I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, and its 1990 television pilot spinoff Hammer, Slammer, & Slade.
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood is a 1996 American crime comedy parody film directed by Paris Barclay in his feature film directorial debut, and produced by Keenen Ivory Wayans, and also written by Wayans brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans, who also both starred in the lead roles. The film was released in the United States on January 12, 1996.
Three the Hard Way is a 1974 action blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks Jr., written by Eric Bercovici and Jerrold L. Ludwig, and starring Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, and Jim Kelly.
Hollywood Shuffle is a 1987 American satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadblocks he encounters, represented through a series of interspersed vignettes and fantasies. Produced, directed, and co-written by Robert Townsend, the film is semi-autobiographical, reflecting Townsend's experiences as a black actor when he was told he was not "black enough" for certain roles.
Vampire in Brooklyn is a 1995 American comedy horror film directed by Wes Craven. Eddie Murphy, who also produced and stars in the film, wrote the film's script, alongside Vernon Lynch and Murphy's older brother Charles Q. Murphy. Vampire in Brooklyn co-stars Angela Bassett, Allen Payne, Kadeem Hardison, John Witherspoon, Zakes Mokae, and Joanna Cassidy. Murphy also plays an alcoholic preacher and a foul-mouthed Italian gangster.
Ms. Melodie, the stage name of Ramona Parker, was an American emcee. She was associated with KRS-One's group Boogie Down Productions (BDP) and was for a time married to KRS-One. She was described by Vibe as "one of the ladies who could sonically spar with the fellas, spit raw lyrics, rhyme from a female's perspective, and hold their own."
The Wayans family is an American show business comedian family. Family members include Chaunté Wayans, Damon Wayans Sr., Kim Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Damon Wayans Jr., Keenen Ivory Wayans and Shawn Wayans. Some works created by Wayans family members include the Scary Movie film series, The Wayans Bros., In Living Color, White Chicks, My Wife and Kids, and Little Man.
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The films, while popular, suffered backlash for disproportionate numbers of stereotypical film characters showing bad or questionable motives, including most roles as criminals resisting arrest. However, the genre does rank among the first in which black characters and communities are the heroes and subjects of film and television, rather than sidekicks, villains, or victims of brutality. The genre's inception coincides with the rethinking of race relations in the 1970s.
