actor; director; producer; screenwriter; television talk show host
Personal Information
Born June 8, 1958, Harlem, New York; son of Elvira and Howell Wayans; single.
Education: Attended Tuskeegee Institute, late 1970's.
Career
Performed stand-up comedy at prominent clubs in New York and Los Angeles; appeared in small movie and television roles, early 1980's; co-wrote and co-starred in the movie Hollywood Shuffle, 1987; writer for Eddie Murphy Raw, 1987; directed, wrote and starred in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, 1988; created, co-starred in television show, In Living Color, 1990-92; starred in A Low Down Dirty Shame, 1994, Most Wanted, 1997; starred in late-night talk show The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show, 1997--.
Life's Work
The career of Keenen Ivory Wayans spans many segments of the entertainment industry. Starting out as a stand-up comedian, Wayans soon realized that he needed to enhance his skills. In an interview with Aldore Collier of Ebony, Wayans remarked, "I will never get tired of doing comedy. Writing and directing are things I didn't really see myself doing. I only wanted to be a performer, a comedian. But because of the scarcity of projects, I realized that I would have to write." His credits include writing, producing, directing and starring in motion pictures such as Most Wanted, and the Emmy-winning comedy show In Living Color. Wayans is highly ambitious, proclaiming to People magazine in 1990 that he wanted to be the next Aaron Spelling or Steven Spielberg.
Keenan Ivory Wayans was born in Harlem, New York, the second of ten children born to Howell and Elvira Wayans. He received the name Ivory in honor of one of his grandfathers. The family moved to the predominantly white Fulton housing project when Wayans was six, where they encountered racism from a local police officer and local children. Faced with such hostility, Wayans's parents created a family environment that promoted self-esteem. Wayans has attributed the genesis of his comedic talents to this family environment. Howell Wayans was a Jehovah's Witness and did not allow his children to associate with other neighborhood children, so the Wayans siblings entertained each other at the dinner table. Wayans recalled to Dinitia Smith of New York, "Anything that happened that day, that's what the jokes were about. We'd start snappin' on each other. Everybody had a twisted sense of humor. We cracked jokes about your most painful experiences. A lot of it had to do with being alienated, being different from other kids. Repression-that's where it came from." Inspired by Richard Pryor, Wayans decided at an early age that he wanted to become a comedian. Because he shared a bedroom with two of his brothers, Damon and Dwayne, Wayans often retreated to the privacy of his bedroom closet, where he dreamed about becoming an entertainer.
While he was a student at Seward Park High School, Wayans had a reputation as a class clown. He often partnered with his brother Damon, and the two developed numerous comedy routines to entertain friends and family. Some of these routines became regular features on the Fox network television show, In Living Color. During his high school years, Wayans worked 70 hours a week as a manager at McDonald's and took great pride in helping his parents financially and providing new toys and ice-cream treats for his younger siblings. Although his grade point average suffered because of the long working hours, he still earned a scholarship to study engineering at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. However, Wayans left Tuskegee Institute and returned to New York City to pursue his dream to become an entertainer.
While in New York, Wayans appeared at the famous comedy club, The Improv, and met comedian Eddie Murphy, who declared, "I thought I was the only funny black guy in New York. Now I see there are two." In 1987, he collaborated with Murphy in the writing of the film Eddie Murphy Raw. While working at The Improv, he also met writer and director Robert Townsend. In 1987, he collaborated with Townsend on the motion picture Hollywood Shuffle.
Hollywood Shuffle tells the story of struggling actor Bobby Taylor, who is unable to find a respectable African American film role. Eventually, he accepts the role of a pimp in a blaxploitation movie. The white producers and directors of the film coach the black actors to act more "black." Taylor experiences a crisis of conscience and gives up the high-profile role rather that portray a Hollywood stereotype. Hollywood Shuffle was well-received by film critics, but Wayans's role in creating the film was rarely mentioned.
In 1988, Wayans released his first film, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. This film parodied the popular blaxploitation films of the 1970s and poked fun at Hollywood stereotypes of African Americans and other ethnic groups. Wayans explained to People, "I wanted to do something that was true to its ethnicity but not restricted to it. That's important to me as a black filmmaker because I feel that our society is painted to be more racist than it is." Although I'm Gonna Git You Sucka received excellent critical reviews, Wayans deeply resented the way that United Artists marketed the film. Fearing that white audiences would reject I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, United Artists only distributed the film in predominantly African American neighborhoods. Wayans strongly believed that I'm Gonna Git You Sucka had cross-cultural appeal. Reacting to UA's marketing strategy, Wayans told Betsy Sharkey of American Film, "With Sucka, {UA} never got beyond the fact that it was black. There are times when you ask yourself, 'What does a black man have to do?'" Wayans did not allow this disappointment to destroy his confidence. He invited Fox network executives to view the film and they were so impressed that they offered Wayans the opportunity to develop his own comedy show, In Living Color.
Wayans has described In Living Color as "in your face" comedy. Featuring four of Wayans's siblings, Damon, Kim, Marlon, and Shawn, In Living Color became extremely popular and ranked as one of the top twenty programs on television during the early 1990s. However, the show also created its share of controversy. Skits such as "Men on Film," and "The Homeboy Shopping Network" offended some viewers. "Men on Film," which featured two gay black film critics, was criticized for perpetuating stereotypes of gay behavior. "The Homeboy Shopping Network," featuring two black men selling their stolen wares on a home shopping channel, was criticized for stereotyping young black men as criminals. In response to his critics, Wayans explained to Smith of New York, "In Living Color shows people different sides of black life and black culture. It's important that I do it honestly. I don't just show the black bourgeoisie or professionals--or criminals. I try to show every side of black life." Continuing on the same theme, Wayans remarked to Lynda Wright of Newsweek, "If the show picked on only one group, I could understand people being uptight. But we get everybody."
Wayans won an Emmy Award for In Living Color in 1990 in the category of outstanding variety, music, or comedy program. Despite the show's success, Wayans and the Fox network became embroiled in a disagreement regarding the airing of reruns of the show. This disagreement led to the departure of Wayans from In Living Color. Upon leaving the show, Wayans concentrated his efforts on resuming his film career.
After years of focusing primarily on comedy, Wayans expanded his repertoire to include action-adventure roles. He told Ebony, "I like action and I like comedy. So I took both of them together as my style. It gives me more diversity. It is moving away from the spoof sort of style that I've done. I'll never be tired of comedy...." In 1994, Wayans produced and starred as private investigator Andre Shame in the film A Low Down Dirty Shame. He co- starred with Jon Voight in the 1997 film Most Wanted, which received mixed reviews.
In the summer of 1997, Wayans returned to television as the host of the late-night talk show, The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show. This show competed not only with well-established shows such as The Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman, but with the UPN network program Vibe. Vibe and The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show are both geared toward the same young, ethnically diverse, and musically oriented audience. By being exposed to a national audience on a daily basis, Wayans has had the opportunity to utilize his writing, directing, and performing skills.
Keenen Ivory Wayans lives in Los Angeles. He works out regularly with weights, enjoys chess, and is a member of both the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild.
Awards
Emmy Award for In Living Color for outstanding variety music or comedy program, 1990.
Further Reading
Books
- Contemporary Authors, volume 140, Gale Research Inc., 1993.
- Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, volume 17, Gale Research, 1998.
- American Film, July/August 1989.
- Ebony, Dec 1994.
- New York, October 8, 1990.
- People, Dec 31, 1990.
— Amanda Bersford McCarthy
