Shawn Wayans

Shawn Wayans
Wayans in 2004
Born	Shawn Mathis Wayans (1971-01-19) January 19, 1971 New York City, New York, U.S.
Other names	DJ SW-1
Occupation	Actor, comedian, DJ, producer, writer
Years active	1988–present

Shawn Mathis Wayans (born January 19, 1971) is an American actor, DJ, producer, writer 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.

Early life

Wayans, second youngest child 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 were once Jehovah's Witnesses.^[2][3] Wayans grew up in the Fulton Houses in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea and is a 1989 graduate of the Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities.

On Fox's In Living Color, he began as DJ 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 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 heiresses. 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, which Wayans acted in, co-wrote, and co-produced.

Filmography

Writing credits

• Scary Movie 5 (2013) (characters)
• Dance Flick (2009) (written by)
• Little Man (2006)
• Scary Movie 4 (2006) (characters)(Derek Dodd)
• White Chicks (2004) (screenplay) (story)
• Scary Movie 3 (2003) (characters)
• Scary Movie 2 (2001) (characters) (written by)
• Scary Movie (2000) (written by)
• Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996) (written by)
• The Wayans Bros. (1995–1999) TV series

Producer/director credits

• Little Man (2006) (producer)
• White Chicks (2004) (producer)
• Scary Movie 2 (2001) (co-executive producer)
• Scary Movie (2000) (producer) (uncredited)
• Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996) (co-executive producer)
• The Wayans Bros. (1995) TV series (Producer, director and executive consultant)

References

External links

• Shawn Wayans at the Internet Movie Database
• Shawn Wayans on Twitter