American actor and comedian (born 1968)
Eddie Griffin
|
---|
Griffin in 2008
|
Birth name
| Edward Rubin Griffin
|
---|
Born
| (
1968-07-15
)
July 15, 1968
(age 55)
Kansas City, Missouri
, U.S.
|
---|
Medium
| Stand-up, film, television
|
---|
Years active
| 1989?present
|
---|
Genres
| Improvisational comedy
,
observational comedy
,
blue comedy
,
satire
|
---|
Subject(s)
| African-American culture
,
recreational drug use
,
human sexuality
,
race relations
,
politics
,
racism
,
religion
,
everyday life
|
---|
Spouse
|
Carla Griffin
(
m.
1984;
div.
1997)
Rochelle Griffin
(
m.
2002;
div.
2009)
Nia Rivers
(
m.
2011;
div.
2012)
|
---|
Children
| 11
|
---|
Website
| eddiegriffin
.com
|
---|
Edward Rubin Griffin
(born July 15, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman in the sitcom
Malcolm & Eddie
, the title character in the 2002 comedy film
Undercover Brother
, and Tiberius Jefferson "T.J." Hicks in
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo
(1999) and
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
(2005). He also portrayed Orpheus in
Scary Movie 3
(2003) and voiced
Richard Pryor
on
Black Dynamite
(2012?2015). He is also known for his role as Pope Sweet Jesus in the movie
Norbit
(2007). Griffin was ranked at number 62 on
Comedy Central
's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
[1]
Early life
[
edit
]
Griffin was born in
Kansas City, Missouri
, and was raised by his single mother, Doris Thomas, a phone company operator.
[2]
His family were
Jehovah's Witnesses
.
[3]
In 1984, at 16 years old, he moved to
Compton, California
, to live with his cousins. He later became a father and enlisted in the
U.S. Navy
but was discharged within months for using marijuana. After six months in jail on an assault conviction following a fight, he made ends meet dancing and painting houses.
Career
[
edit
]
At a comedy club open-mic night in 1989, Griffin hopped onstage on a bet and earned a standing ovation with family stories. He talked his way into stand-up gigs around town and in L.A. One popular bit was his gay version of tough-guy comic
Andrew Dice Clay
, who later hired Griffin to open for him.
[4]
Once he achieved a fair amount of success in standup, Griffin became legendary at
The Comedy Store
for stopping in to do guest sets on open mic nights and staying up on stage long enough to tire the audience out for the hapless budding comic who had to follow him.
Griffin has appeared in films such as
The Meteor Man
(1993),
The Walking Dead
(1995) “David E. Talbert: A Fool & His Money” (1997),
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo
(1999),
Double Take
(2001),
Undercover Brother
(2002),
John Q
(2002),
Scary Movie 3
(2003),
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
(2005),
Norbit
(2007), and
Urban Justice
(2007).
Griffin has appeared on television shows such as
Malcolm & Eddie
(1996?2000) and
Chappelle's Show
in the skit "World Series of Dice" as Grits n' Gravy. Griffin performed on two tracks from
Dr. Dre
's 1999 album,
2001
, and the intro track from
The D.O.C.
's 1996 album
Helter Skelter
. He has also appeared on commercials for
Miller Beer
's
Man Laws
.
In 2011, Comedy Central released Griffin's stand-up comedy special
You Can Tell 'Em I Said It
on DVD. In December 2019, his stand-up comedy special,
E-Niggma
, was released on
Showtime
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Griffin and his mother got into an argument at his 20th birthday party when she accused him of stealing jewelry from her, which Griffin denied doing. Afterward, Griffin did not see his mother for four years until he moved back to
Los Angeles, California
, in March 1992, to be closer with his family when his mother was injured in a car accident.
[5]
Griffin has been married four times. He married his first wife, Carla in 1984 when he was 16 years old. They divorced in 1997.
[6]
He married his second wife, Rochelle, in 2002 and divorced in 2009.
[6]
On September 8, 2011, he married his third wife, Nia Rivers. However, they filed for divorce after one month of marriage, citing
irreconcilable differences
. They were officially divorced six months later in 2012.
[7]
[8]
He married his fourth wife, Ko Lee Griffin, on July 27, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
[9]
In March 2007,
[10]
Griffin participated in a charity race at
Irwindale Speedway
to promote the film
Redline
, using a
Ferrari Enzo
owned by Daniel Sadek. During a practice run, Griffin accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and lost control of the Enzo, crashing hard into a concrete barrier.
[10]
He walked away unscratched, but the $1.5 million supercar was badly damaged.
[10]
Griffin later criticized reporters who suggested the crash was a publicity stunt.
[11]
During the
sexual assault allegations
on
Bill Cosby
, Griffin suggested that Cosby was the victim of a conspiracy to destroy his image and claimed, without specification, that several other prominent African-American men had been victims of similar conspiracies.
[12]
Griffin has also been called out by the Sikh community for referring to an elderly Sikh man as "
Osama Bin Laden
" in the
aftermath
of
9/11
, not understanding the difference between Sikhs and Muslims and also thinking that stereotyping Muslim Americans for the sake of "comedy" was appropriate given all the hate crimes both the Muslim and Sikh communities endured after 9/11.
[13]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Music video appearances
[
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]
Comedy specials
[
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]
Year
|
Title
|
1997
|
Eddie Griffin: Voodoo Child
|
2003
|
Eddie Griffin: Dysfunktional Family
|
2008
|
Eddie Griffin: Freedom of Speech
|
2011
|
Eddie Griffin: You Can Tell 'Em I Said It!
|
2018
|
Eddie Griffin: Undeniable
|
2019
|
Eddie Griffin: E-Niggma'
|
Documentary
[
edit
]
Discography
[
edit
]
Live albums
[
edit
]
Soundtrack albums
[
edit
]
Album appearances
[
edit
]
Awards
[
edit
]
Award
|
Film
|
Event
|
Best Actor
|
Last Supper
|
Los Angeles International Film Festival 2014
[14]
|
Best Actor
|
Last Supper
|
San Francisco Global Movie Fest 2014
[15]
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time
at
IMDb
- ^
"Eddie Griffin finds his material in his funky, troubled family"
. Archived from
the original
on March 27, 2018
. Retrieved
October 11,
2009
.
- ^
Griffin, Eddie.
"Eddie Griffin on Jehovah Witnesses and the Benefits of Polygamy. Standup Comedy From The Vault"
. The Vault
. Retrieved
April 7,
2018
.
- ^
"Verve Griffin | PEOPLE.com"
.
- ^
"New Material Drives Comedian Eddie Griffin's New Special, Stand-up Tour"
. Retrieved
March 30,
2011
.
- ^
a
b
Miller, Samantha (April 21, 2003).
"Verve Griffin"
.
People
. Retrieved
May 7,
2018
.
- ^
"Eddie Griffin - The Walk-In VEGAS Wedding!!!!"
. TMZ.com. August 28, 2011
. Retrieved
January 29,
2012
.
- ^
"Eddie Griffin FINALLY DIVORCED After 6 Months of Marriage"
. TMZ. March 24, 2012
. Retrieved
October 16,
2014
.
- ^
"Eddie Griffin on Instagram"
.
Instagram
. May 10, 2020. Archived from
the original
on December 23, 2021
. Retrieved
September 5,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Eddie Griffin Wrecks $1.5 Million Ferrari"
.
CBS News
. March 27, 2007.
- ^
Norman, Pete; Pfeiffer, Kimberly (March 30, 2007).
"Eddie Griffin: Car Wreck, Injuries No Hoax"
.
People.com
. Retrieved
April 27,
2018
.
- ^
Howard, Adam (December 31, 2015),
Eddie Griffin defends Cosby, alleges 'systematic effort to destroy' black male stars
, MSNBC
, retrieved
December 31,
2015
- ^
"Sikhs Raise Concerns Over New Film | The Pluralism Project"
.
- ^
Winners 2014
, laufilmfest.com
, retrieved
December 1,
2014
- ^
Awards 2014
, sfmoviefest.com, archived from
the original
on August 26, 2014
, retrieved
August 16,
2014
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Artists
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Other
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