Wayne Brady

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Wayne Brady

Brady at the AIDS Project Los Angeles' Annual AIDS Walk
Born Wayne Alphonso Brady
June 2, 1972 (1972-06-02) (age 36)
Flag of the United States Orlando, Florida
Spouse(s) Mandie Taketa
(1999-2008) (Divorced)

Wayne Alphonso[1] Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an Emmy-winning American comedian, singer and television personality, known for his role on the ABC television show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and for his daytime talk show, The Wayne Brady Show. He is now the host of Fox's Don't Forget the Lyrics!.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Brady was born in Orlando, Florida, the son of Wayne Brady, a U.S. army officer.[2] He graduated from Dr. Phillips High School in 1989.[3] At 16, he started performing in community theater, along with playing Tigger at Walt Disney World.[4] He began to perform at a central Florida comedy club called SAK Comedy Lab. He moved from Florida to Las Vegas, Nevada and then eventually on to Los Angeles, California in 1996, where he developed his acting skills.

[edit] Career

In Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which featured Drew Carey, Ryan Stiles, and Colin Mochrie. In 2003, Brady won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety, Musical or Comedy Series for his work on the show, the only person to win the award for a television series, as opposed to a special, since Dana Carvey in 1993.

He went on to star in his own ABC variety show in 2001 called The Wayne Brady Show, which failed, and a daytime talk show of the same name in 2002, which lasted two seasons and won four Daytime Emmy Awards, two of which went to Brady for Outstanding Talk Show Host. Brady also guest-starred on The Drew Carey Show in 1999 and 2000 to take part in Drew Live and Drew Live II. On the show, Brady played several games taken from Whose Line Is It Anyway? for the two episodes with other characters.

In 2004, Brady joined the long-running Broadway revival of Chicago, playing the role of lawyer Billy Flynn. He also appeared briefly in the final episode of the 2004 season of the comedy Reno 911!. Additionally, Wayne guest starred on the Sci Fi Channel's hit series show Stargate SG-1 as the first-prime of the Goa'uld System Lord, Ares.

Brady wrote and sang the theme song for Disney's popular animated series The Weekenders. In 2005, he sang and recorded Jim Brickman's original Disney song "Beautiful" (a cover of All-4-One's 2002 hit "Beautiful As U") and its Christmas version.[5]

In 2006, Brady became the host of TV Land's That's What I'm Talking About, a talk show discussing the role of African-Americans in the entertainment industry From August 29 - September 29, 2006, Brady hosted the FOX show Celebrity Duets.

On November 27, 2006, Brady made a guest appearance on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, playing James, the gay brother of Neil Patrick Harris's character Barney. His character conflicts with Barney due to his choice to marry and adopt a baby. Brady returned to the show in 2007 in the episode The Yips, in which he is shown to be indirectly responsible for Barney's current superconfident personality. He had also appeared as a guest star for the MTV show Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out. Brady also helps with Adult Swim TV show Robot Chicken.

Brady has also gone "north-of-the-border" and guest starred in Mochrie's CBC comedy, Getting Along Famously. He has also appeared on the episode "You Don't Know Jack" on the television show Dirt and also guest starred on the show 30 Rock, where he played the role of Steven Black, Liz Lemon's date for the The Source Awards. Steven and Liz's relationship quickly ended when they discovered they had nothing in common and Liz accidentally shot him in the butt.

Brady was the co-host of the short-lived VH1 show "Vinyl Justice" in 1998. In 2007, ABC Family premiered the movie called "The List" starring Wayne Brady. The List is about a man who proposes to his girlfriend. When she says no, he begins to make a list of qualities he believes his "Perfect Woman" should have.

Brady guest starred as Julius Rock's gifted younger brother, Louis, in the television series, Everybody Hates Chris. He currently hosts a singing game show called Don't Forget the Lyrics! on FOX. He also performs "Wayne Brady: Making it up" at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada four nights a week.[6] [7] He was also on two episodes of Kevin Hill.

[edit] Public image and Chappelle's Show satire

Brady has successfully carved out a career and public image through his various family-friendly projects and roles, and because of this, he has also sometimes been the subject of mocking satire and claims that he acts "too white".

In an episode of the Comedy Central series Chappelle's Show, cast member Paul Mooney mocked Brady in his "Negrodamus" sketch. In the sketch, Mooney's character "prophesied" that "White people love Wayne Brady, because he makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X"; a reference to the fact that many of Brady's fans are white Americans who enjoy the actor's family-friendly projects.

Show creator and star Dave Chappelle later called to apologize to Brady and offered him a guest spot on the show. In the episode, Brady is hired to host the series after Chappelle "quits" the series. Toward the end of the episode, Chappelle returns, and the two co-star in a flashback sequence (which parodies the 2001 film Training Day), in which Brady reveals himself to be a violent, sociopathic pimp who torments Chappelle when the two spend the night hanging out together. Among the acts of depravity Brady commits is a drive-by shooting, the murder of a police officer, and forcing Chappelle to smoke PCP. As a joke from what Paul Mooney said, Wayne Brady himself says "I make Brian Gumbel look like Malcolm X huh motherfucker?" right after a flashback of Paul Mooney saying it. Some of the lines from the sketch include Wayne Brady telling a prostitute who worked for him, "Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch?", "This is not an option nigga, if you do not smoke this then we have a problem," (to Chappelle in reference to the PCP), "I don't give a fuck, they cancelled my show, and shit goes crazy!" (after murdering a police officer who pulled him over), and, later, "I'm Wayne Brady bitch!" (after shooting Dave Chappelle in the leg), a reference to Chappelle's Rick James catch phrase, "I'm Rick James, bitch!".

[edit] Personal life

Brady revisited his Alma mater Dr. Phillips High School in Florida showcasing many of the impersonations, vocal gymnastics and outrageous creativity that has made him a star.[specify] Performing vocals with him in this event were singers Wendy Alane Wright and Connie Jackson.

Brady married his wife Mandie in 1999, but according to documents filed July 2, 2007, she filed for divorce from Wayne, citing irreconcilable differences.[8] The couple finalized their divorce on April 16th 2008.

In 2007, Wayne became an official supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC.[9]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Singles

  • "Don't Stop" (2005) - Jamie Jones featuring Wayne Brady and William Carthright
  • "Beautiful" (2005) - Wayne Brady, accompanied on piano by songwriter Jim Brickman for the soundtrack of Cinderella.
  • "Unsung Heroes" (2004) - Wayne Brady

[edit] References

  1. ^ PeopleFinders.com | People Summary
  2. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/63/Wayne-Brady.html
  3. ^ Boedeker, Hal (2007-07-02). Joey Fatone, Wayne Brady form mutual-admiration society. OrlandoSentinel.com. Orlando Sentinel Communications. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  4. ^ Potts, Kimberly (2008-07-02). Wayne Brady's 'Lyric'-al TV Return. AOL Television. AOL LLC.. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  5. ^ "Beautiful" from The Disney Songbook album by Jim Brickman and Disney's Cinderella [Special Edition] soundtrack. "Beautiful" (Christmas version) from Disney's Princess Christmas Album
  6. ^ http://www.venetian.com/BRADY.aspx
  7. ^ http://shop.vegas.com/shows/showtimes2.jsp?show=1015
  8. ^ TELEVISION - Comcast.net
  9. ^ Celebrity Friends of RMHC. McDonald's Corporation.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Bob Barker		 Host, Daytime Emmy Awards
2003		 Succeeded by
Vanessa Marcil
v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program

Barbra Streisand (2001) · Sting (2002) · Wayne Brady (2003) · Elaine Stritch (2004) · Hugh Jackman (2005) · Barry Manilow (2006) · Tony Bennett (2007)
Persondata
NAME Wayne Brady
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Comedian, improv actor
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1972 (1972-06-02) (age 36)
PLACE OF BIRTH Orlando, Flordia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH