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Shawn Wayans

 
Actor: Shawn Wayans
  • Born: Jan 19, 1971 in New York, New York
  • Occupation: Actor, Writer
  • Active: '90s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Scary Movie, In Living Color, New Blood
  • First Major Screen Credit: In Living Color (1990)

Biography

As a key member of what many comedy lovers consider to be one of the funniest families on Hollywood, producer/writer/actor Shawn Wayans has been instrumental in bringing such hit parodies as Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, Scary Movie, and its sequel Scary Movie 2 to the big screen. Though Wayans has occasionally branched out to appear in such non-Wayans productions as the 1999 action thriller New Blood, it's mainly family that serves as this funnyman's bread and butter, with a lead role in the WB sitcom The Wayans Bros. leading to increasingly prominent roles in such family productions as White Chicks and Little Man. Raised in the Chelsea area of Manhattan with his nine siblings, Wayans credits his family's boundless sense of humor in helping him to get by when money was tight and the future looked grim. Supporting roles in such early efforts as elder brother Keenen Ivory's I'm Gonna Git You Sucka and the hit sketch comedy series In Living Color (for which he also DJ'ed) encouraged Wayans to try his hand at writing, and in the following years he would team with sibling Marlon to great success. Specializing in the kind of low-brow comedy that appealed mainly to the high-school and college set, the two Wayans soon found that an ideal way to gauge the success was in how much their efforts offended their mother. When their disapproving mom walked out on Scary Movie 2, the pair knew they had a surefire hit on their hands. After appearing as the titular "females" in the 2004 comedy White Chicks, it was time to shrink his best collaborator down to size for the big-head-on-a-little-body comedy Little Man in 2006. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Shawn Wayans
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Shawn Wayans
Born Shawn Mathis Wayans
January 19, 1971 (1971-01-19) (age 38)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Other name(s) DJ SW-1
Occupation Actor/Comedian
Years active 1987–present

Shawn M. Wayans (born January 19, 1971) is an American actor and comedian who starred in In Living Color and The Wayans Bros. He is the brother of Keenen Ivory, Damon, Marlon, Kim and Nadia Wayans.

Contents

Early life

Wayans, the second youngest of ten siblings, was born in New York City, New York, the son of Elvira, a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Wayans, a supermarket manager.[1] His family was involved in the Jehovah's Witnesses religion.[2][3] Wayans grew up in the housing projects in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea and is a 1989 graduate of the High School for the Humanities.

Career

Wayans made his feature debut in older brother Keenen's I'm Gonna Get You Sucka (1988). On Fox's In Living Color (1990-93), he began as deejay SW-1 and later became a featured performer, working with brothers Dwayne, Keenen (the show's creator), Damon, Marlon and sister Kim. Along with Marlon, Shawn Wayans created and starred in the sitcom The Wayans Bros. (The WB, 1995-99) and co-wrote, co-executive produced and starred in the feature Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996), in which Keenen also acted. Wayans guest-starred on episodes of MacGyver and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and provided the voice of Toof for the animated children's series Waynehead (based on brother Damon's real-life childhood experiences).

After a supporting stint in the little-seen gang drama New Blood (1999) Wayans' film fortunes increased dramatically when he co-starred with his brother Marlon in a hit film directed by their older brother Keenan: Scary Movie (1999-2000), a comic satire (which he also co-wrote) on the then-recent trend of horror films like Scream. Wayans played the apparently closeted Ray Wilkins, a role he reprised for the similarly popular 2001 sequel Scary Movie 2. He kept the familial team intact when he and Marlon starred in the Keenan-directed comedy White Chicks (2004), playing a pair of FBI agents forced to masquerade as a pair of spoiled white blonde heiress à la the Hilton Sisters. Shawn also received a share of story and screenplay credit on the film. Wayans teamed up with Marlon and Keenen once again for the 2006 comedy Little Man. He acted, co-wrote, and co-produced the film.

Filmography

Year Film Role
1988 I'm Gonna Git You Sucka Pedestrian
1990 In Living Color (TV Series) Various
1991 The Best of Robert Townsend & His Partners in Crime (TV) Various
MacGyver (TV Series) Robo
1993 Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (TV Series) Dominic
1995 The Wayans Bros. (TV Series) Himself
1996 Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood Ashtray
Waynehead (TV Series) Toof/Kid
The Parent 'Hood (TV Series) Himself
1998 Comics Come Home 4 (TV) Himself
1999 New Blood Valentine
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (TV Series) Bad Bobby (voice)
2000 Scary Movie Ray Wilkins
Open Mic Himself
2001 Scary Movie 2 Ray Wilkins
2004 White Chicks Kevin Copeland
2006 Little Man Darryl
Thugaboo: Sneaker Madness (TV) Slim (voice)
Thugaboo: Miracle on D-Roc's Street (TV) Slim, Cheapie
2009 Dance Flick Baby Daddy
2010 White Chicks 2 (TBA) Kevin Copeland

Writing credits

Producer/director credits

References

External links

Preceded by
Chris Rock
MTV Video Music Awards host
2000 (co-host with Marlon Wayans)
Succeeded by
Jamie Foxx

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Shawn Wayans" Read more