Keenen Ivory Wayans

Keenen Ivory Wayans
Born	June 8, 1958 (1958-06-08) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, Comedian, Director, Screenwriter, Producer
Years active	1979—present

Keenen Ivory Wayans (born June 8, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, director and writer known as the host and creator of the FOX sketch comedy series In Living Color. Wayans is the director/creator of Scary Movie, the highest grossing movie ever directed by an African-American. He briefly hosted his own show called The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show.

Biography

Wayans was born in New York City, son of Howell Wayans, a supermarket manager, and his wife Elvira, a homemaker and social worker. His dad was a devout Jehovah's Witness. Wayans attended Tuskegee University, where he became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity through the Gamma Psi chapter. However, he dropped out in his final year to become a comedian.

In 1990, Wayans and his brother Damon created, wrote and starred in In Living Color. an American sketch comedy television series which originally ran on the Fox Network from 1990 to 1994. The show was notable for producing comedy with a strong emphasis on modern black culture. The show also starred Jim Carrey, Kelly Coffield, Jamie Foxx, brothers Damon Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans, sister Kim Wayans, David Alan Grier, Tommy Davidson and featured Rosie Perez, Jennifer Lopez, and Laurie Ann Gibson.

Wayans is one of several family members who have become famous in Hollywood, including his siblings Damon, Kim, Nadia, Shawn and Marlon. He is an uncle of Craig Wayans, Damon Wayans, Jr., Michael Wayans, Cara Mia Wayans, Kyla Wayans, Damien Dante Wayans and Chaunté Wayans.

Personal Life

Wayans is a vegetarian and a supporter of the animal rights group, PETA.

In 2003, Wayans filed for divorce from his wife of 3 years and he sought joint custody of their five children.

In Living Color

Characters

• Death Row Comic (Prison Cable Access)
• Frenchie
• Ice Man (Homeboy Shopping Network)
• Tom Brothers (The Brothers Brothers)
• Wes (Wes & Less)

Impressions

• Arsenio Hall
• Billy Dee Williams
• Don Cornelius
• Jesse Jackson
• Little Richard
• Mike Tyson
• Marsha Warfield
• Milli (Rob Pilatus) of Milli Vanilli
• Morgan Freeman (such as Hoke Colburn from Driving Miss Daisy, Principal Joe Clark from Lean On Me)
• Rick James
• Steve Harvey
• Carl Weathers (as Apollo Creed)

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
1982	Cheers (TV Series)	Customer #1
1983	CHiPs (TV Series)	Roberts
1983	Star 80	Comic
1983	For Love and Honor (TV Series)	Pvt. Duke Johnson
1986	Benson (TV Series)	Benson "Clete" Hawkins, (Benson's nephew)
1987	Hollywood Shuffle	Donald/Jheri Curl
1987	Hill Street Blues	Raymond Jackson
1987	A Different World (TV Series)	Professor Lawrence
1988	I'm Gonna Git You Sucka	Jack Spade
1989–1994	In Living Color (TV Series)	Various
1994	A Low Down Dirty Shame	Shame
1996	The Glimmer Man	Det. Jim Campbell
1996	Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood	Mailman
1997	Most Wanted	Sergeant James Dunn
2000	Scary Movie	Slave (Amistad II)
2009	Dance Flick	Mr. Stache

Writing/producing/directing credits

• Hollywood Shuffle (1987) (and writer)
• Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987) (producer)
• I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) (writer and director)
• In Living Color (1989–1994; 2012- ) (executive producer, director and creator/writer)
• The Five Heartbeats (1991) (writer)
• A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994) (writer and director)
• Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996) (producer)
• The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show (1997) (executive producer)
• Most Wanted (1997) (executive producer and writer)
• Scary Movie (2000) (actor and director)
• Scary Movie 2 (2001) (director)
• White Chicks (2004) (producer, director)
• Little Man (2006) (producer, writer, director)
• Dance Flick (2009) (producer, writer)
• It Takes A Village (TBA) (writer, director)

External links

• Keenen Ivory Wayans at the Internet Movie Database