Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans ( ; born June 8, 1958) 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.

One of these films, Scary Movie (2000), which Wayans directed, was the highest-grossing movie directed by an African American until it was surpassed by Tim Story's Fantastic Four in 2005. From 1997 to 1998, he hosted the talk show The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show. In 2014, he was a judge for the eighth season of Last Comic Standing.

Early life Wayans was born in Harlem, New York City, the second child of ten of Elvira Alethia (née Green; July 23, 1938–July 10, 2020), a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Stouten Wayans (August 26, 1936–April 1, 2023) a supermarket manager.Stated on Finding Your Roots, January 19, 2016, PBS Genealogical TV show Finding Your Roots revealed that his paternal line traced back to Madagascar. His father was a devout Jehovah's Witness. The family later moved to Manhattan's Fulton housing projects, where he primarily grew up. He attended Seward Park High School during his teenage years, and attended Tuskegee University on an engineering scholarship where he was initiated as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity's Gamma Phi chapter. He entertained his friends at college with made-up stories about life in New York. One semester before graduation, he dropped out of school to focus on comedy.

Career During his first set performing at The Improv in New York, Wayans met Robert Townsend, who helped him learn about the comedy business. Townsend and Wayans drove to Los Angeles together when Wayans moved to Los Angeles in 1980. Wayans worked there as an actor. He had a regular role as a soldier on the television series For Love and Honor and appeared on Hill Street Blues as an NFL wide receiver.

Townsend wrote, directed, and starred in the 1987 movie Hollywood Shuffle; Wayans was costar and cowriter. The movie's success allowed him to raise the money to make I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Fox Broadcasting Company approached Wayans to offer him his own show. Wayans wanted to produce a variety show similar to Saturday Night Live, with a cast of people of color that took chances with its content.

Fox gave Wayans a lot of freedom with the show, although Fox executives were a bit concerned about the show's content before its debut. Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the show, In Living Color, a sketch comedy television series that originally ran on Fox from 1990 to 1994.

In Living Color

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

Impressions Arsenio Hall Billy Dee Williams Don Cornelius Jesse Jackson Little Richard Mike Tyson Marsha Warfield Milli (Rob Pilatus) of Milli Vanilli Morgan Freeman (Damon Wayans was Hoke Coburn from Driving Miss Daisy/Riding Miss Daisy, Principal Joe Louis Clark from Lean on Me) Rick James Steve Harvey Carl Weathers (as Apollo Creed)

Personal life Wayans married Daphne Polk in 2001, but the couple filed for divorce in 2004, and their divorce was finalized in December 2006. He dated actress Brittany Daniel from 2007 to 2014.

Filmography

Film Year Title Director Writer Producer1987 Hollywood Shuffle Eddie Murphy Raw 1988 I'm Gonna Git You Sucka 1991 The Five Heartbeats 1994 A Low Down Dirty Shame 1996 Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood 1997 Most Wanted 2000 Scary Movie 2001 Scary Movie 2 2004 White Chicks 2006 Little Man 2009 Dance Flick 2026 Scary Movie

Acting roles Year Title Role Notes 1983 Star 80 Comic 1987 Hollywood Shuffle Donald / Jheri Curl 1988 I'm Gonna Git You Sucka Jack Spade 1994 A Low Down Dirty Shame Andre Shame1996 Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood Mailman The Glimmer Man Lieutenant Jim Campbell 1997 Most Wanted Gunnery Sergeant James Anthony Dunn 2000 Scary Movie Slave 2009 Dance Flick Mr. Stache

Television Year Title Director Writer Producer Creator Notes 1990–1992 In Living Color 1990 Hammer, Slammer, & Slade Unaired pilot 1997 The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show 2012 In Living Color Unaired TV special 2017 The Boo Crew 2020 The Last O.G. 8 episodes

Acting roles Year Title Role Notes 1981 An Evening at the Improv Himself Episode: "Episode #2.16"1982 Cheers Customer #1 Episode: "Sam's Women" CHiPs Roberts Episode: "Meet the New Guy"1983 The Renegades Lloyd Wayne Episode: "Back to School" For Love and HonorPvt. Duke Johnson Television film 1983–1984 For Love and Honor Main cast 1986 Benson Clete Hawkins Episode: "Summer of Discontent"1987 Hill Street Blues Raymond Jackson Episode: "The Runner Falls on His Kisser" A Different World Professor Lawrence Episode: "War of the Words" 1990–1993 In Living Color Himself Main host (season 1–4) 1991 American Music AwardsHimselfMain host 1997–1998 The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show 1998 Viva Variety Episode: "Episode #3.7" 2001 My Wife and Kids Ken Episode: "A Little Romance" 2012 In Living Color Himself Host; unaired TV special2013 Happily Divorced Tony Episode: "The Biggest Chill" Real Husbands of HollywoodHimself Episode: "Tisha & Duane" 2014–2015 Last Comic Standing Main judge (season 8–9) 2018 The History of Comedy Recurring guest (season 2) 2020 This Is Stand-Up Episode: "Episode #1.2"

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