Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans ( ; born June 8, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is a member of the Wayans family of entertainers. Wayans first came to prominence as the host and creator of the 1990–1994 Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color. He has produced, directed or written several films, starting with Hollywood Shuffle, which he cowrote, in 1987. Most of his films have included him and one or more of his siblings in the cast.
One of these films, Scary Movie (2000), which Wayans directed, was the highest-grossing movie directed by an African American until it was surpassed by Tim Story's Fantastic Four in 2005. From 1997 to 1998, he hosted the talk show The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show. In 2014, he was a judge for the eighth season of Last Comic Standing.
Life and career
Wayans was born in Harlem, New York City, the second child of ten for Elvira Alethia (née Green; July 23, 1938–July 10, 2020), a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Stouten Wayans (August 26, 1936–April 1, 2023) a supermarket manager. His father was a devout Jehovah's Witness. The family later moved to Manhattan's Fulton housing projects, where he primarily grew up. He attended Seward Park High School during his teenage years, and attended Tuskegee University on an engineering scholarship where he was initiated as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity's Gamma Phi chapter. One semester before graduation, he dropped out of school to focus on comedy.
During his first set performing at The Improv in New York, Wayans met Robert Townsend, who helped him learn about the comedy business. Wayans wanted to produce a variety show similar to Saturday Night Live, with a cast of people of color that took chances with its content. He dated actress Brittany Daniel from 2007 to 2014.
In Living Color
Characters
- Death Row Comic (Prison Cable Access)
- Frenchie
- Ice Man (Homeboy Shopping Network)
- Tom Brothers (The Brothers Brothers)
- Wes (Wes & Les)
Impressions
- Arsenio Hall
- Billy Dee Williams
- Don Cornelius
- Jesse Jackson
- Little Richard
- Mike Tyson
- Marsha Warfield
- Milli (Rob Pilatus) of Milli Vanilli
- Morgan Freeman (Damon Wayans was Hoke Coburn from Driving Miss Daisy/Riding Miss Daisy, Principal Joe Louis Clark from Lean on Me)
- Rick James
- Steve Harvey
- Carl Weathers (as Apollo Creed)
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Title
! Director
! Writer
! Producer
|-
| rowspan=2|1987 || Hollywood Shuffle|| || ||
|-
| Eddie Murphy Raw|| || ||
|-
| 1988 || I'm Gonna Git You Sucka|| || ||
|-
| 1991 || The Five Heartbeats|| || ||
|-
| 1994 || A Low Down Dirty Shame|| || ||
|-
| 1996 || Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood|| || ||
|-
| 1997 || Most Wanted || || ||
|-
| 2000 || Scary Movie|| || ||
|-
| 2001 ||Scary Movie 2|| || ||
|-
| 2004 || White Chicks|| || ||
|-
| 2006 || Little Man || || ||
|-
| 2009 || Dance Flick || || ||
|-
| 2026 || Scary Movie || || ||
|-
|}
Acting roles
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin-right: 0;"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1983
| Star 80
| Comic
|
|-
| 1987
| Hollywood Shuffle
| Donald / Jheri Curl
|
|-
| 1988
| I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
| Jack Spade
|
|-
| 1994
| A Low Down Dirty Shame
| Andre Shame
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1996
| Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood
| Mailman
|
|-
| The Glimmer Man
| Lieutenant Jim Campbell
|
|-
| 1997
| Most Wanted
| Gunnery Sergeant James Anthony Dunn
|
|-
| 2000
| Scary Movie
| Slave
|
|-
| 2009
| Dance Flick
| Mr. Stache
|
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Title
! Director
! Writer
! Producer
! Creator
! Notes
|-
| 1990–1992
| In Living Color
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1997
| The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2017
| The Boo Crew
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2020
| The Last O.G.
|
|
|
|
| 8 episodes
|-
|}
Acting roles
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin-right: 0;"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1981
| An Evening at the Improv
| Himself
| Episode: "Episode #2.16"
|-
| rowspan=2|1982
| Cheers
| Customer #1
| Episode: "Sam's Women"
|-
| CHiPs
| Roberts
| Episode: "Meet the New Guy"
|-
| rowspan=2|1983
| The Renegades
| Lloyd Wayne
| Episode: "Back to School"
|-
| For Love and Honor
| rowspan=2|Pvt. Duke Johnson
| Television film
|-
| 1983–1984
| For Love and Honor
| Main cast
|-
| 1986
| Benson
| Clete Hawkins
| Episode: "Summer of Discontent"
|-
| rowspan=2|1987
| Hill Street Blues
| Raymond Jackson
| Episode: "The Runner Falls on His Kisser"
|-
| A Different World
| Professor Lawrence
| Episode: "War of the Words"
|-
| 1990–1993
| In Living Color
| Himself
| Main host (season 1–4)
|-
| 1991
| American Music Awards
| rowspan=3|Himself
| rowspan=2|Main host
|-
| 1997–1998
| The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show
|-
| 1998
| Viva Variety
| Episode: "Episode #3.7"
|-
| 2001
| My Wife and Kids
| Ken
| Episode: "A Little Romance"
|-
| rowspan=2|2013
| Happily Divorced
| Tony
| Episode: "The Biggest Chill"
|-
| Real Husbands of Hollywood
| rowspan=4|Himself
| Episode: "Tisha & Duane"
|-
| 2014–2015
| Last Comic Standing
| Main judge (season 8–9)
|-
| 2018
| The History of Comedy
| Recurring guest (season 2)
|-
| 2020
| This Is Stand-Up
| Episode: "Episode #1.2"
|}