| Keegan-Michael Key | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 22, 1971 Southfield, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor/Comedian |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Spouse | Cynthia Blaise |
Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American comic actor best known for his roles as a cast member on MADtv for six seasons. He has also had recurring roles on Reno 911! and Gary Unmarried. He used to be the host of The Planet's Funniest Animals. Key will star in his own Comedy Central sketch series Key & Peele, which begins airing on January 31, 2012.
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Key was born in Southfield, Michigan and raised in Detroit. His father is African-American and his mother is Caucasian. He is a graduate of Shrine Catholic High School in Royal Oak, Michigan (class of 1989). Key attended the University of Detroit as an undergraduate and earned his Master of Fine Arts at the Pennsylvania State University School of Theatre.
Keegan joined the cast of MADtv midway into the ninth season. He was groomed to be the next only black male cast member to be chosen over Jordan Peele. But the latter created memorable characters, and had the most chemistry with Key in sketches, including one where both played jinx-breaking radicals called "The Superstitious Knights". Both were promoted to repertory player status during season 10.
Keegan's characters include the semi-psychotic Coach Hines, who threatens students and others at school assemblies. On the penultimate episode of MADtv, Hines revealed that he is the long-lost heir to the Heinz Ketchup company and only became a Catholic school coach to help delinquent teenagers like Yamanashi [Bobby Lee]). During seasons 9 and 10, Key appeared as "Dr. Funkenstein" in blaxploitation parodies, with Jordan Peele playing the monster.
Key also portrayed various guests on Real **********ing Talk like the strong African Rollo Johnson and blind victim Stevie Wonder Washington. He often goes "backstage" as Eugene Struthers, an always-ecstatic water- or flower-delivery man who accosts celebrities. Struthers' catch-phrase is "takin it to a 'ho 'nuva level."
There is also "Jovan Muskatelle", a shirtless man with a jheri curl and a shower cap. He interrupts live news broadcasts by a reporter (always played by Ike Barinholtz), annoying him with rapid fire accounts of events that have happened frequently exclaiming "It was crazy as hell!"
Celebrities that Key impersonated on the show include Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Matthew Lillard, Bill Cosby, Al Roker, Terrell Owens, Tyler Perry, Robin Antin, Chris Brown, Eddie Murphy (as his character James "Early" Thunder from the movie Dreamgirls), Sherman Hemsley (as his character George Jefferson on The Jeffersons), Charles Barkley, Sendhil Ramamurthy (as Mohinder Suresh), Tyson Beckford, Seal, Sidney Poitier, Lionel Richie, Barack Obama, Usain Bolt, and Kobe Bryant.
He also played female characters, including Eva Longoria (as Gabrielle Solis on a "Desperate Housewives" parody) and Phylicia Rashād.
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Keegan was one of the founders of Hamtramck, Michigan's Planet Ant Theatre, and was a member of the Second City Detroit's mainstage cast before joining the Second City e.t.c. theater in Chicago.
Keegan is also the current host of Animal Planet's The Planet's Funniest Animals. He made a cameo in "Weird Al" Yankovic's video - "White & Nerdy" with fellow MADtv co-star Jordan Peele.[1]
During the 2008 NBA finals, Keegan was featured in a series of GMC Denali commercials playing an overzealous attendant in a parking garage.
In 2009, Keegan hosted GSN's "Big Saturday Night", and has co-starred in Gary Unmarried on CBS.
Keegan was a panelist on the NPR comedy quiz show Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me... on March 27 and July 24, 2010.
Keegan has been in several episodes of Reno 911! as the "Theoretical Criminal".[2]
Key and his former MADtv castmate Jordan Peele will create and star in their own sketch series Key & Peele, which begins airing on Comedy Central on January 31, 2012.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Just Go with It | Ernesto | cameo |
| 2010 | Due Date | New Father | cameo |
| The Wild Bunch | Grape Vine | In Production | |
| 2008 | MADtv | Himself-Various | 2004–2009 |
| Chocolate News | Woodsy | guest | |
| Role Models | Duane | ||
| Reno 911! | Theoretical Criminal | ||
| Talkshow with Spike Feresten | Himself | Guest-starred | |
| 2007 | Sucker For Shelley | Michael | |
| Frangela | Deshawn | ||
| 2006 | Al TV | segment 'White & Nerdy' | |
| Grounds Zero | Arch | ||
| Alleyball | Curt Braunschweib | ||
| 2005 | The Planet's Funniest Animals | Himself-Host | Host 2005–Present |
| 2004 | I'm With Her | Orderly | |
| 2003 | Uncle Nino | Airport Stranger | |
| 2001 | ER | Witkowski | |
| 2000 | Garage: A Rock Saga | TV Studio Manager | |
| 1999 | Get the Hell Out of Hamtown | J |
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