• Born: Jan 27, 1942
• Occupation: Actor
• Active: '80s-2000s
• Major Genres: Comedy
• Career Highlights: Friday, Ride, Sprung
• First Major Screen Credit: Talkin' Dirty After Dark (1991)

Biography

Funnyman John Witherspoon has parlayed a successful career as a standup comic into a series of memorable film roles. Born in Detroit, MI, Witherspoon began his show business career as a model in the early '70s before striking out on his own as a comedian. His first big break came in 1977 when he landed a regular spot on Richard Pryor's short-lived television variety series, and he began playing supporting roles on such shows as What's Happening!, Good Times, and WKRP in Cincinnati. In 1980, Witherspoon made his film debut playing a nightclub MC in Neil Diamond's 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer. Witherspoon's big-screen breakthrough, however, came in Robert Townsend's comedy Hollywood Shuffle, in which Witherspoon played Mr. Jones, the manager of the Winky Dinky Dog hot-dog stand. The surprise success of Hollywood Shuffle led to a string of film parts and recurring roles on two television series -- the short-lived Townsend Television in 1993 and 1995's The Wayans Bros., which ran for four years, with Witherspoon playing "Pop" Williams. In 1995, Witherspoon also played ill-tempered dogcatcher Mr. Jones in Ice Cube's urban comedy Friday. John Witherspoon still tours as a standup comic when he's not busy with film and television work. Witherspoon played a recurring part on the sitcom The Wayans Brothers, and appeared in small roles in a variety of films including I Got the Hook Up, The Ladies Man, and Fakin' Da Funk. In addition to appearing in multiple sequels to Friday, Witherspoon teamed up with old colleagues when he played a part for the Wayans brothers in Little Man. Witherspoon also brought his caustic sensibility to his voice work on the animated television adaptation of the controversial comic strip The Boondocks. ~ All Movie Guide

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John Witherspoon (1723-1794) was a Scottish-born American Presbyterian divine and educator. He transformed the College of New Jersey (later Princeton)from a poor theological seminary into a vigorous academic community.

John Witherspoon was born into a ministerial family near Edinburgh on Feb. 5, 1723. He matriculated at the University of Edinburgh at 13 and took his master of arts degree in 1739 and his divinity degree 4 years later. In 1745 he accepted the call to the pulpit of Beith in Ayrshire. There he married Elizabeth Montgomery, who bore him ten children, only five of whom survived.

In 1757 the town of Paisley offered him its church and he served there for the next eleven years. An eloquent spokesman for the Popular (conservative) church party, he deplored the spiritual vacuity of the "paganized Christian divines" of his day and attracted the attention of intellectuals at home and abroad for his courage and leadership. As moderator of the synod of Glasgow and Ayr, he delivered a powerful sermon, "The Trail of Religious Truth by Its Moral Influence" (1759), in which he decried the flabby "theory of virtue" that was replacing "the great and operative views of the Gospel."

President of the College of New Jersey

Witherspoon was just the man for the presidency of the College of New Jersey, which was torn between new-and old-side factionalism, and the job was offered him in 1766. But his wife thought that to leave home "would be as a sentence of death to her." The persuasiveness of Benjamin Rush, an alumnus of the college, and now a medical student at Edinburgh, finally allayed her fears. Witherspoon and his family arrived in America in August 1768, loaded with valuable books for the college library.

The call to the college in Princeton, N.J., was more than an educational mission. The Presbyterian Church was divided in counsel and looked to the new president to heal its wounds. As Rush explained to Witherspoon, the college president "was from his office as it were the bishop of all our American churches and ruled in all our church judicatories," and his voice "has hitherto been a law in our synods." Under Witherspoon the schism was healed, the organization strengthened, and the church grew rapidly toward its union with Congregationalism in 1801.

As a college administrator, Witherspoon had equal success. His personal energy and magnetism filled the mismanaged and inadequate coffers. He pressured his trustees into purchasing substantial additions to the library and the finest scientific additions to the library and the finest scientific equipment, of which David Rittenhouse's orrery was the most coveted item. For the traditional recitations he substituted lectures on the largely neglected fields of history and rhetoric, and he encouraged his professors to promote more science and mathematics, while he himself taught French to those who wanted it. As the Colonies drew closer to revolution, he promoted public speaking and literary exercises on current events in an effort to fashion the civil leaders of the next generation. But his most abiding intellectual achievement was to introduce to America the Scottish commonsense philosophy, which quickly made short shrift of his tutors' infatuation with the idealism of George Berkeley.

Political Activities

The American Revolution put a damper on this progress. The students dispersed, Nassau Hall was mutilated in turn by British and colonial troops, and Witherspoon was drafted into a frantic round of political duties. From an early involvement in New Jersey committees of correspondence, he went on to sign the Declaration of Independence and to serve on a hundred congressional committees, including two important standing committees - the Board of War and the Committee on Secret Correspondence, or Foreign Affairs. He took an active part in the debates over the Articles of Confederation and helped organize the executive branch and draw up the instructions of the American peace commissioners.

Though Witherspoon was often absent from the college, leaving his son-in-law Samuel Stanhope Smith in charge, the institution was never far from his thoughts. While in Congress, he criticized the galloping depreciation of currency that was pinching endowed institutions, extracted a grant of £7,250 from Congress for damages to Nassau Hall, and fought for military deferments for students and teachers. When he returned to full-time teaching in 1782, the college was in relatively sound condition, though it never fully recovered from the war during his lifetime.

The remainder of Witherspoon's busy years were spent in rebuilding the college. He lost an eye on a fruitless fundraising trip to Great Britain in 1784, and his total sight in 1792. When his wife died, the 68-year-old president delighted the college community by marrying a young widow of 24, by whom he had two daughters. On Nov. 15, 1794, "our old Scotch Sachem" (as Benjamin Rush affectionately called him) died at his farm near Princeton.

Further Reading

The definitive, scholarly biography of Witherspoon is Varnum L.Collins, President Witherspoon (2 vols., 1925). Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker places the man in his academic setting in Princeton, 1746-1896 (1946).

Additional Sources

Stohlman, Martha Lou Lemmon, John Witherspoon: parson, politician, patriot, Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989, 1976.

actor

Personal Information

Born on January 27, 1942, in Detroit, MI; married Angela Robinson; children: John David, Alexander.

Career

Movie and television actor and standup comedian, 1973-; appearances include: Barnaby Jones, 1973; Good Times, 1974; Hill Street Blues, 1981; Martin, 1992; Friday, 1995; Next Friday, 2000; Friday After Next, 2002.

Life's Work

Well known to movie audiences for his appearances in the series of Friday movies starring rapper Ice Cube, character actor John Witherspoon's popularity took root in a new generation after he had spent more than 30 years in show business. Getting his start as a standup comic in the early 1970s, Witherspoon appeared in some of the most popular sitcoms of the decade, including Good Times and What's Happening!! Equally adept at playing dramatic character roles, Witherspoon also appeared in acclaimed shows such as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and Frank's Place in the 1980s. Over the next decade his acting range and improvisational skills gradually led to parts in a diverse set of films that included Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle, Keenen Ivory Wayans's I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, and Eddie Murphy's Boomerang. After becoming a regular performer on television in the The Wayans Brothers Show in 1994, Witherspoon played the character of Mr. Jones in the Hollywood movie Friday, a box office hit that led to two sequels, Next Friday and Friday After Next. Building on his success, Witherspoon has branched out into screen writing, announcing a new movie project, From the Old School, in which he plans to take a starring role as an elderly man working to prevent the conversion of a neighborhood corner store into a strip club.

John Weatherspoon (later Witherspoon) was born in Detroit, Michigan, on January 27, 1942, and grew up as one of eleven children. As a child, Witherspoon occasionally worked as a model. Both Witherspoon and his older brother William showed an early interest in music. The young John Witherspoon learned to play the French horn and trumpet, and William went on to make a career for himself as a songwriter and producer at Motown Records in the 1960s. John Witherspoon soon began a career as a standup comic. Some African-American comedians such as Moms Mabley and Flip Wilson had become household names by the late 1960s, through their appearances on television variety shows, but there had been fewer inroads made on the integrated nightclub circuit by black comedians. Despite the obstacles, by the early 1970s Witherspoon had made a name for himself as a standup act. He had also made a number of friends in the business, including Robin Williams, Jay Leno, Sandra Bernhard, Marsha Warfield, and Tim Reid, as well as David Letterman, who would later serve as godfather to both of Witherspoon's sons.

While pursuing his standup work, Witherspoon made an easy transition into television acting. One of his first appearances came on the hit detective series Barnaby Jones in 1973. During the rest of the decade, Witherspoon appeared in some of the most-watched situation comedies of the era, including African-American shows such as Good Times and What's Happening!!, and the popular comedy WKRP in Cincinnati, which also featured his friend Tim Reid. Witherspoon joined Reid again in the comedy-drama Frank's Place in 1987, one of dozens of television appearances that he made in the 1980s. Balancing his roles between drama and comedy, Witherspoon's most notable television roles during the decade included appearances on Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law, in addition to a guest-starring role in the comedy Amen. All the while, Witherspoon continued to work as a successful standup comic. He married actress and artist Angela Robinson, whom he met on the movie set of Out of the Dark, and the couple would later reside in the San Fernando Valley suburb of Thousand Oaks, California, with their two sons, John David and Alexander.

Witherspoon's film career got off to a slower start. He appeared in the lackluster Neil Diamond drama The Jazz Singer in 1980, but it was several years before his Hollywood breakthrough appearance came in Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle, a role he mostly ad-libbed on the set. In the 1990s Witherspoon worked with Townsend again in the film The Five Heartbeats and in the television project Townsend Television. He made another lasting association with the Wayans family when he appeared in Keenen Ivory Wayans's blaxploitation parody, I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, in 1988. Six years later Witherspoon became a featured performer on The Wayans Brothers Show as crotchety "Pop" Williams, a character he would portray through 1999. With the growth of African-American sitcoms on new television networks such as the Fox and Warner Brothers networks, the 1990s were a busy decade for Witherspoon. In addition to appearing on Living Single and Martin, Witherspoon also popped up on Waynehead and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Witherspoon's most successful film appearances in the 1990s included parts in the comedies House Party with rappers Kid n' Play and Boomerang with fellow comedian Eddie Murphy, and in the dramas Murder Was the Case and A Vampire in Brooklyn. In 1995 Witherspoon took on his most widely visible role as Mr. Jones, the father of the character played by rapper Ice Cube, in the movie Friday. Witherspoon returned in both the film's sequels, Next Friday and Friday After Next, and Witherspoon became a cult icon as a result of the appearances. An Entertainment Weekly review of Friday After Next noted, "It's always amusing to see John Witherspoon, as the addled Mr. Jones, do his crotchety-to-the-point-of-hysteria routine."

In 2001 Witherspoon announced that he would be collaborating with Ice Cube on a script that they envisioned as "an urban Grumpy Old Men, " and according to a Hollywood Reporter article, Witherspoon would star in the movie, to be titled From the Old School. Witherspoon has also continued to work as a standup comic and made appearances in the Adam Sandler comedy Little Nicky in 2000 and as the voice of an animal in the Eddie Murphy comedy Dr. Dolittle 2 in 2001.

Works

Selected works

• Films
• The Jazz Singer, 1980.
• Hollywood Shuffle, 1987.
• I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, 1988.
• The Five Heartbeats, 1991.
• Boomerang, 1992.
• Friday, 1995.
• Fakin' Da Funk, 1997.
• Bulworth, 1998.
• Next Friday, 2000.
• Little Nicky, 2000.
• Friday After Next, 2002.
• Television
• Barnaby Jones, 1973.
• Good Times, 1974.
• What's Happening!!, 1976.
• Hill Street Blues, 1981.
• L.A. Law, 1986.
• Frank's Place, 1987.
• Martin, 1992.
• Living Single, 1993.
• The Wayans Brothers Show, 1994-1999.

Further Reading

Periodicals

• Black Elegance, April 1998, p. 72.
• Entertainment Weekly, November 29, 2002, p. 80.
• Hollywood Reporter, August 23, 2001, p. 2.
• People, May 8, 1995, p. 24.

On-line

• Bang Bang Bang Bang.com (Official John Witherspoon web site), http://www.bangbangbangbang.com/bio.html
• Capitol International Productions, http://www.capitolint.com/johnwitherspoon.bio.htm
• Internet Movie Database, http://us.imdb.com/Name?Witherspoon,+John
• Movieweb, http://movieweb.com/movie/nextfriday/nextfrid.htm
• Patterson and Associates, http://www.pattersonandassociates.com/bios/John_Witherspoon/

— Timothy Borden

For more information on John Witherspoon, visit Britannica.com.

1723–94, Scottish-American Presbyterian clergyman, political leader in the American Revolution, and signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Haddingtonshire (now East Lothian), Scotland. He was educated at the Univ. of Edinburgh. From 1745 to 1768 he occupied pastorates in Scotland. A conservative in religion, he wrote Ecclesiastical Characteristics (1753) as an attack on those ministers who preached humanism instead of dogmatic truth, and in his Serious Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Stage (1757) he maintained that drama was not an innocent recreation but an arouser of immoral passion. In 1768, Witherspoon was appointed president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton Univ.), where he broadened the curriculum and considerably improved the quality of education. He promoted the growth of the Presbyterian Church in America and healed schisms. Despite his original feeling that the clergy should avoid politics, he accepted a position as delegate from New Jersey to the Continental Congress and served almost continuously from 1776 to 1782. His last years were spent in restoring the college at Princeton and in participating in New Jersey politics. His collected works appeared in nine volumes in 1815.

Bibliography

See biography by V. L. Collins (1925, repr. 1969).

(1723-1794)

1753	Ecclesiastical Characteristics. Witherspoon's satire on religious liberals becomes a bestseller, going through seven editions. It would be followed by his Swiftian satire on church history, History of a Corporation (1765).
1768	Practical Discourse on the Leading Truths of the Gospel. The Scottish-born Presbyterian minister who comes to America in 1768 to accept the presidency of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) publishes this theological treatise.
1776	"The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men." Witherspoon delivers his most memorable sermon in Princeton, New Jersey, on May 17, an eloquent statement on behalf of independence. He served as a member of the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence.
1781	The Druid. The first systematic analysis of the usage of English in America and its divergence from its English source, a trend that Witherspoon decried. It is noteworthy as well for its coinage of the term Americanism.

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