Kenan Thompson
Kenan Thompson | |
---|---|
![]() Thompson in May 2012 | |
Born | |
Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian |
Years active | 1993–present |
Television | |
Spouse |
Christina Evangeline
(m. 2011) |
Children | 2 |
Website | www |
Kenan Thompson (/ˈkiːnən/ born May 10, 1978)[1] is an American actor and comedian. Thompson began his acting career in the early 1990s, and garnered fame as an original cast member of Nickelodeon's sketch comedy series All That.
In his early career, he often collaborated with fellow All That costar Kel Mitchell. In 1996, they began starring in their own sitcom Kenan & Kel (1996–2000). He has been a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live since 2003, and is the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history. Thompson is also known for his roles in The Mighty Ducks franchise, Good Burger, and the title character in the 2004 film Fat Albert.
He has received a Primetime Emmy Award from three nominations,[2] and is ranked at #88 on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars.
Early life and career
Thompson was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, to Fletcher and Elizabeth Ann Thompson. He has two siblings, an older brother and a younger sister. He began acting at age 15, appearing in the school play The Gingerbread Duck.[3] He auditioned for a theatre company The Youth Ensemble of Atlanta (YEA).[4] One of his earliest roles was as an entertainment reporter for CNN's "Real News for Kids",[5] and he would go on to star in All That, and Kenan & Kel.[5] While Kenan attended Tri-Cities High School, a Visual and Performing Arts Magnet School in East Point, Georgia, he began filming his first movie, D2: The Mighty Ducks.
Film and television career
Kenan has starred in several films including Good Burger, based on the All That sketch of the same title, and Fat Albert, in which he played the title character. He has also had supporting roles in the movies Heavyweights, D2: The Mighty Ducks, D3: The Mighty Ducks, Love Don't Cost a Thing, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, My Boss's Daughter, and Snakes on a Plane. Thompson had a recurring role on The Steve Harvey Show as Junior, with co-star Kel Mitchell.
In 2009, Thompson was a regular voice actor in the Fox cartoon series Sit Down, Shut Up, portraying Sue Sezno, who, as evidenced by her last name, always says no.[6] The series premiered on April 19, 2009,[6] but was canceled after only four episodes due to low ratings and less than favorable reviews. Thompson provided the voice for the LeBron James puppet in Nike's MVP "Most Valuable Puppets" commercials, which were produced to be shown throughout the 2009 NBA Playoffs. Thompson also guest starred on the USA Network TV show Psych in Season 4's "High Top Fade Out" (episode 7). He played an estranged college singing buddy of the character Gus. In 2011, he briefly returned to Nickelodeon, as he guest starred in "iParty with Victorious", a crossover episode of TV sitcoms iCarly and Victorious.
Thompson appeared as a host of sorts of TeenNick's 1990s programming block, The '90s Are All That, appearing in many of the block's early bumpers and hyping material. He would return to the block, now called NickSplat but at the time called The Splat, for All That's 22nd anniversary, with segments filmed at the 2015 New York Comic-Con.[7]
In 2015, Fandango announced that Thompson would play their brand character, fictional character Miles Mouvay. Thompson would play Mouvay in 18 videos, eight 30-second commercials, and a few comedic skits.[8]
On September 23, 2015, Thompson appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon alongside former All That co-star Kel Mitchell in which they reprised their popular Good Burger roles as "Ed" and "Lester Oakes, Construction Worker".
Saturday Night Live
Thompson returned to sketch comedy when he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2003, becoming the first SNL cast member to be born after SNL's premiere in 1975. Thompson was a featured player until 2005 (spanning the 29th and 30th seasons) and was promoted to repertory player at the beginning of season 31 (the 2005–2006 season).
Thompson has been a cast member on SNL for 16 seasons, breaking the record for the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history previously held by Darrell Hammond, who was on the show for 14 seasons. Thompson became the most senior cast member in the 2013–14 season, following the departure of Seth Meyers. He is also the longest-serving African-American cast member, surpassing Tim Meadows, who stayed on the show for ten seasons, and is also the second-oldest current cast member after Leslie Jones (born 1967).[9] Thompson also holds the record for most celebrity impressions performed on the show, performing 129, beating Hammond's previous record of 107.[10]
Personal life
Thompson married model Christina Evangeline on November 11, 2011.[11] Together, they have two daughters, Georgia Marie,[12] born in 2014,[13] and Gianna Michelle[14] born in 2018.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1994 | D2: The Mighty Ducks | Russ Tyler | |
1995 | Heavyweights | Roy | |
1996 | D3: The Mighty Ducks | Russ Tyler | |
1997 | Good Burger | Dexter Reed | |
2000 | The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle | Lewis | |
2002 | Big Fat Liar | Party Guest | |
The Master of Disguise | Guy on Computer | ||
2003 | Love Don't Cost a Thing | Walter Colley | |
My Boss's Daughter | Hans | ||
2004 | Barbershop 2: Back in Business | Kenard | |
Fat Albert | Fat Albert | ||
2006 | Snakes on a Plane | Troy | |
2008 | Space Chimps | Ringmaster | Voice |
Wieners | Wyatt | ||
2009 | Stan Helsing | Teddy | |
2011 | The Smurfs | Greedy Smurf | Voice |
2012 | The Magic of Belle Isle | Henry | |
2013 | The Smurfs 2 | Greedy Smurf | Voice |
2014 | They Came Together | Teddy | |
Opposite Sex | Mitch | ||
2016 | Rock Dog | Riff | Voice |
Brother Nature | Miesha | ||
2017 | Going in Style | Keith | |
2018 | The Grinch | Bricklebaum | Voice |
2019 | Wonder Park | Gus |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1994–99; 2002; 2005 | All That | Various Roles | Main role |
1996–98 | The Steve Harvey Show | Junior | 4 episodes |
1996–2000 | Kenan & Kel | Kenan Rockmore | Main role |
1997 | Sister, Sister | Trevor | Episode: "Inherit the Twin" |
1998 | Sabrina, the Teenage Witch | Himself | Episode: "Sabrina's Choice" |
1999 | The Amanda Show | Himself | Episode: "Episode 1" |
Cousin Skeeter | Kenan Rockmore | Episodes: "Hoo, I'm Wild Wild West" (Parts 1 & 2) | |
2000 | Two Heads Are Better Than None | Kenan Rockmore | Kenan & Kel TV movie |
The Parkers | Damon | Episode: "Trading Places" | |
2001 | Felicity | DeForrest Ingram | 4 episodes |
2002 | Off Centre | MC French | 2 episodes |
2003 | Clifford the Big Red Dog | Hamburger | Episode: "Food for Thought/Friends Forever" |
2003–present | Saturday Night Live | Various roles | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics (2018) Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics (2017) Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series |
2005, 2018 | Wild 'N Out | Himself | Episodes: "Kenan Thompson" "All That Takeover" |
2006 | Rugrats | Mirror | Episode: "Tales from the Crib: Snow White" |
2007 | Crank Yankers | Mark Thomas | Episode: "4.1" |
2008 | The Mighty B! | Rocky Rhodes | 3 episodes |
2009 | Psych | Joon | Episode: "High Top Fade-Out" |
2009 | Sit Down, Shut Up | Sue Sezno | 13 episodes |
2011 | iCarly | Himself | Crossover episode: "iParty with Victorious" |
Victorious | |||
The '90s Are All That | Host | ||
2013 | Martha Speaks | Stanley | Episode: "Stanley Saves The Day/Milo Goes For Gold"[15] |
2013–15 | The Awesomes | Austin "Impresario" Sullivan | Voice |
2015 | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Lester Oakes | Episode: "James Spader/Andrew Rannells/Brian Regan |
2015–2017 | Nature Cat | Ronald | Voice |
2015 | F Is for Family | Additional Voices | 5 Episodes |
2016 | Maya & Marty | Various roles | Main role |
2016, 2019 | Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | Roland | 2 episodes |
2018 | Double Dare | Himself | Contestant; episode: "Team Kel vs. Team Kenan"[16] |
Studio C | Himself, various roles | [17][18] | |
2019 | Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? | Himself | [19] |
Albums
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2004 | Good Times | Comedy album |
References
- ^ "Kenan Thompson". TV Guide. Archived from the original on July 27, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
- ^ "Kenan Thompson". emmy.com. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
- ^ "Kenan Thompson Biography – Yahoo! Movies".
- ^ Tuck, Angela (August 5, 2015). "For 25 years, group for young Atlanta performers has mixed art, issues". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- ^ a b "Kenan Thompson Biography (1978–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ^ a b "Sit Down, Shut Up". Fox. Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ Harnick, Chris (March 23, 2016). "An All That Reunion Is Coming to The Splat—This Is Vital Information for Your Everyday Life". E! Online. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ "Fandango To Launch Brand Personality Series Starring Kenan Thompson". Tubefilter. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
- ^ "Fred Armisen Is Leaving 'SNL' Too, Jason Sudeikis "Probably"". May 16, 2013.
- ^ “Saturday Night Live – Kenan Thompson“ SNLarchives.net. Web. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
- ^ Rebecca Macatee. "Saturday Night Live's Kenan Thompson Gets Married!". US Weekly. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
- ^ Heller, Corinne. "Here's an SNL Weekend Update: Kenan Thompson Is a Dad!". E! Online. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
- ^ Evelyn Diaz (June 23, 2014). "Kenan Thompson, Wife Welcome Baby Girl - It's the first child for the SNL comedian". BET. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
- ^ "'SNL' Star Kenan Thompson and Christina Evangeline Welcome Their Second Child". August 4, 2018.
- ^ "PBS KIDS Debuts New Episodes & Online Content from ARTHUR and MARTHA SPEAKS – BWWTVWorld". Broadway World TV. October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
- ^ Lawrence, Derek (June 25, 2018). "Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell reuniting to compete on special episode of Double Dare". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ "Studio C + Kenan Thompson in Season 9 Premiere!". YouTube, Studio C Channel. September 10, 2018.
- ^ "Studio C Live from NYC". BYUTV.org. September 10, 2018.
- ^ "Boomerang Unveils New SCOOBY-DOO AND GUESS WHO? & YABBA-DABBA DINOSAURS! Series". Broadway World. May 23, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
External links
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- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- Male actors from Atlanta
- Musicians from Atlanta
- American male child actors
- African-American comedians
- American male film actors
- African-American male actors
- American male comedians
- American impressionists (entertainers)
- American male voice actors
- American male television actors
- American sketch comedians
- Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Santa Monica College alumni
- 1978 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American comedians
- 21st-century American comedians