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.
- 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
