Marlon Wayans

Marlon Lamont Wayans<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for his work with his brother Shawn Wayans on The WB sitcom The Wayans Bros. (1995–1999) and the comedy films Don't Be a Menace (1996), Scary Movie (2000), Scary Movie 2 (2001), White Chicks (2004), Little Man (2006), and Dance Flick (2009).

Wayans' other film credits include Above the Rim (1994), The 6th Man (1997), Norbit (2007), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), The Heat (2013), A Haunted House (2013) and its sequel A Haunted House 2 (2014), Naked (2017), Fifty Shades of Black (2016), Sextuplets (2019), and On the Rocks (2020). He also had several dramatic roles, including the psychological drama film Requiem for a Dream (2000).

Wayans partnered with Randy Adams to create What the Funny, an online destination for urban comedy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He created the comedy competition television show Funniest Wins, which aired on TBS in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014, Wayans and his brothers traveled the United States with "The Wayans Brothers Tour".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, he co-wrote and starred in the NBC sitcom Marlon, which ran for two seasons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Wayans was born in New York City, the son of Elvira Alethia (Green), a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Stouten Wayans, a supermarket manager.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was raised in Fulton Houses, a housing project in New York City, the youngest of ten siblings. He is the brother of Dwayne, Keenen Ivory, Damon Sr., Kim, Elvira, Nadia, and Shawn. His family were Jehovah's Witnesses.<ref>Stein, Joel. (September 11, 2000) Marlon Wayans. Time. Retrieved on 2012-04-08.</ref><ref>Stated on Finding Your Roots, January 19, 2016, PBS</ref> Wayans went to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City, the school made famous in Fame. After graduating from high school, he attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., but dropped out after two years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Between 1992 and 1993, Wayans appeared with his siblings on the sketch comedy show In Living Color. From 1995 until 1999, he co-starred in the WB sitcom The Wayans Bros. with his brother Shawn Wayans. He was originally considered for the role of Robin in the 1992 film Batman Returns,<ref>Rabin, Nathan. (February 25, 1998) Marlon Wayans. The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2012-04-08.</ref> but it was felt that the film featured too many characters, so his character was omitted. Wayans was then formally signed to the role in the 1995 sequel Batman Forever to play opposite Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face, but the mid-production change in directors from Tim Burton to Joel Schumacher resulted in both parts being recast and Wayans being paid out (Williams was not yet signed on, but received a penalty fee as his contract for Batman allowed him the option of reprise), and he still receives royalty payments. He was replaced by Chris O'Donnell. In August 2021, a comic book adaptation of the original concept, Batman '89, began publication, by DC Entertainment, using Wayans's likeness for Robin with his permission, their civilian identity renamed Drake Winston.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Wayons film roles include the comedies Don't Be a Menace (1996), Scary Movie (2000), Scary Movie 2 (2001), White Chicks (2004), Little Man (2006), and Dance Flick (2009), and other films including Above the Rim (1994), The 6th Man (1997), Norbit (2007), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), The Heat (2013), A Haunted House (2013) and its sequel A Haunted House 2 (2014), Naked (2017), Fifty Shades of Black (2016), Sextuplets (2019), and On the Rocks (2020). Wayans produced the first two films of the Scary Movie series, in which he and Shawn were credited writers and co-stars. In 2000, he appeared as Tyrone C. Love in Requiem for a Dream and as Snails in Dungeons & Dragons. That same year, he and Shawn hosted the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.

In 2006, Wayans produced the Nickelodeon cartoon series Thugaboo. In 2017, NBC gave him his own sitcom, Marlon; it was canceled after two seasons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In September 2017, Variety announced that Wayans would partner with LA-based entertainment company Shots Studios to launch a YouTube channel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He has appeared in videos alongside creators such as Anwar Jibawi and Hannah Stocking. In 2020, Wayans signed a deal with HBO Max.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Wayans was in a long-term relationship with Angela Zackery from 1992 to 2013, and although he once called her his "ex-wife", he said in 2021 that he had never married.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They have two children, one of whom is transgender. In 2023, Wayans expressed support for his trans son and the LGBTQ community.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wayans also shares a child with his former girlfriend, Brittany Moreland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wayans was a close friend of rapper Tupac Shakur.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is also a longtime friend of actor Omar Epps.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Filmography

Key

Template:Dagger

Denotes productions that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Movie	Character	Notes
1988	I'm Gonna Git You Sucka	Pedestrian
1992	Mo' Money	Seymour Stewart
1994	Above the Rim	Bugaloo
1996	Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood	Loc Dog	Also co-writer
1997	The 6th Man	Kenny Tyler
1998	Senseless	Darryl Witherspoon
2000	Requiem for a Dream	Tyrone C. Love
	Scary Movie	Shorty Meeks	Also co-writer
	The Tangerine Bear	Louie Blue	Voice; direct-to-video
	Dungeons & Dragons	Snails
2001	Scary Movie 2	Shorty Meeks	Also co-writer
2004	The Ladykillers	Gawain MacSam
	White Chicks	Marcus Anthony Copeland II / Tiffany Wilson	Also co-writer and producer
2006	Behind the Smile	Danny Styles
	Little Man	Calvin "Baby-face" Sims	Also co-writer and producer
2007	Norbit	Buster "Bust-A-Move" Perkin
2009	Dance Flick	Mr Moody	Also co-writer and producer
	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	Rip Cord
2010	Marmaduke	Lightning	Voice
2013	A Haunted House	Malcolm Johnson	Also co-writer and producer
	The Heat	Special Agent Levy
2014	A Haunted House 2	Malcolm Johnson	Also co-writer and producer
2016	Fifty Shades of Black	Christian Black
2017	Naked	Rob Anderson
2019	Sextuplets	Various roles
2020	On the Rocks	Dean
2021	Respect	Ted White
	Back Home Again	Mr. Tortoise	Short film
2022	The Curse of Bridge Hollow	Howard Gordon	Also producer <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2023	Air	George Raveling
2025	Him	Isaiah White
2026	Scary Movie 6 Template:Dagger	Shorty Meeks	Also co-writer and producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992–1993	In Living Color	Himself	Cast member; 17 episodes (Season 3–4)
1995–1999	The Wayans Bros.	Marlon Williams	101 episodes; also co-creator and sketch writer
1996	The Parent 'Hood	Himself	Episode: "Ode to Billy Shankbreath"
	Mr. Show with Bob and David	KKK Member	Episode: "The Biggest Failure in Broadway History"
1996–1997	Waynehead	Blue	Voice; 6 episodes
1999	Hollywood Squares	Himself	Recurring panelist
	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Bad Bobby	Voice; episode: "The Bremen Town Musicians"
2000	Comedy Central Canned Ham	Himself	Episode: "Scary Movie"
	2000 MTV Video Music Awards		Main host
2001	Mad TV		Episode: "Episode #6.25"
2005			Episode: "Episode #11.1"
2006	The Boo Crew	Dirty	Voice; television specials
	Six Degrees	Homeless Guy	Episode: "The Puncher"
2011	Childrens Hospital	Dr. Black	Episode: "The Black Doctor"
2013	Sidewalks Entertainment	Himself	Host; episode: "Marlon Wayans"
	Anderson Live		Co-host; episode: "Episode #2.77"
	Second Generation Wayans		2 episodes; also executive producer
	Legit	Doctor	Episode: "Fatherhood"
2014	Funniest Wins	Himself	Host; 8 episodes
	Deal with It		Episode: "Marlon Wayans & Mo Mandel"
2015	Lip Sync Battle		Competitor; episode: "Queen Latifah vs. Marlon Wayans"
	I Can Do That		Main host
	America's Got Talent		Guest judge; episode: "Judge Cuts 3"
2016	Hollywood Game Night		Player; episode: "Way-ans to Go!"
	The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore		Panelist; episode: "Rand Paul Talks Donald Trump's Candidacy"
	Givit Wednesday		Episode: "Puppies & Tattoos - Marlon Wayans/Alison Eastwood"
	Big Boy's Big Brawl		Episode: "Pilot"
	Animals.	Ry-Ry	Voice; episode: "Squirrels Part I"
2017	Safeword	Himself	Episode: "Kevin Hart vs. Damien Dante Wayans"
2017–2018	Marlon	Marlon Wayne	20 episodes; also co-creator and executive producer
2018	Do or Dare	Himself	Episode: "Marlon Wayans vs. Naomi"
	Drop the Mic		Episode: "Episode #2.3"
	The Hollywood Puppet Show		Episode: "Marlon Wayans and Bow Wow"
2019	Sherman's Showcase		Episode: "Enemies"
2022	To Tell the Truth		Episode: "Marlon Wayans, Arsenio Hall, and Joel McHale"
	Oh Hell No! with Marlon Wayans		Host; 6 episodes
2022–2024	Bel-Air	Lou	3 episodes
2023	The Daily Show	Himself	Recurring host; season 28<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2025	Poppa's House	Melvin

Comedy specials

Year	Title	Notes
2018	Marlon Wayans: Woke-ish	Netflix-stand-up comedy special
2021	Marlon Wayans: You Know What It Is	HBO Max-stand-up comedy special
2022	Marlon Wayans Presents: The Headliners	HBO Max-stand-up comedy special; with Tony Baker, Sydney Castillo, DC Ervin, Esau McGraw, and Chaunté Wayans
2023	Marlon Wayans: God Loves Me	HBO Max-stand-up comedy special
2024	Marlon Wayans: Good Grief	Amazon Prime-stand-up comedy special

Documentary

Year	Title
1991	The Best of Robert Townsend & His Partners in Crime
2003	Tupac: Resurrection
2005	Hubert Selby Jr.: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow
2009	Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy
2012	Venus and Serena

Music videos

Year	Song	Artist
1992	"The Best Things in Life Are Free"	Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson
2018	"Just My Type"	Tiana

Accolades

Award	YearTemplate:Efn	Category	Nominated work	Result	Template:Refh
Black Reel Awards	2001	Best Supporting Actor	Requiem for a Dream	Template:Nom	<ref>2001 Black Reel Awards</ref>
Critics' Choice Awards	2024	Best Acting EnsembleTemplate:Efn	Air	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Golden Raspberry Awards	2007	Worst ActorTemplate:Efn	Little Man	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	2010	Worst Supporting Actor	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards	2023	Best EnsembleTemplate:Efn	Air	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

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