Marlon Wayans
Wayans in 2008
Born	Marlon Lamont Wayans (1972-07-23) July 23, 1972 (age 50) New York City, U.S.
Occupations	Actor comedian writer producer
Years active	1988–present
Spouse	Angelica Zackary ​ ​ (m. 2005; div. 2013)​
Children	2
Family	Wayans family

Marlon Lamont Wayans^[1] (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Wayans began his career portraying a pedestrian in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988). He went on to regularly collaborate with his brother Shawn Wayans on The WB sitcom The Wayans Bros. (1995–1999), and in the comedy films Scary Movie (2000), Scary Movie 2 (2001), White Chicks (2004), Little Man (2006), and Dance Flick (2009). Wayans had a dramatic role in Darren Aronofsky's critically acclaimed film Requiem for a Dream (2000), which saw his departure from the usual comedies.

Wayans has appeared in other films including Norbit (2007), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), The Heat (2013), A Haunted House (2013) and its sequel A Haunted House 2 (2014), Naked (2017), Fifty Shades of Black (2016), Sextuplets (2019), and On the Rocks (2020). He partnered with Randy Adams to create What the Funny, an online destination for urban comedy.^[2][3] Wayans created the comedy competition television show Funniest Wins, which aired on TBS in 2014.^[4] In 2014, Wayans and his brothers traveled the U.S. with "The Wayans Brothers Tour".^[5] In 2017, he began starring in his own NBC sitcom Marlon, which ran for two seasons.^[6]

Early life

Wayans was born in New York City, the son of Elvira Alethia (Green), a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Stouten Wayans, a supermarket manager.^[7] His family were Jehovah's Witnesses.^[8][9] Wayans was raised in the housing projects of New York City, the youngest of ten siblings. He is the brother of Nadia, Shawn, Keenen Ivory, Damon, Dwayne, and Kim. Wayans went to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City, the school made famous in Fame. After graduating from high school, he attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., before dropping out after two years.^[10]

Career

Marlon appeared with his siblings on In Living Color between 1992 and 1993. From 1995 until 1999, Wayans co-starred in the WB sitcom The Wayans Bros. with brother Shawn Wayans. Wayans was originally considered for the role of Robin in the 1992 film Batman Returns,^[11] however it was felt that the film featured too many characters, so the character was omitted from that film. He was then formally signed for the role in the 1995 sequel Batman Forever to play opposite Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face, but the mid-production change in directors from Tim Burton to Joel Schumacher would result in both parts being recast and Wayans being paid out (Williams was not yet signed on, but he received a penalty fee as his contract for Batman allowed him the option of reprise), for which he still receives some royalty payments to this day. He was replaced by Chris O'Donnell. In August 2021, a comic book adaptation of the original concept, Batman '89, began publication, by DC Entertainment, using Wayans' likeness for Robin with his permission, their civilian identity renamed Drake Winston.^[12] He produced the first two films of the Scary Movie series, in which he and Shawn were credited writers and co-stars. Those films were released in 2000 and 2001. In 2000 he appeared as Tyrone C. Love in Requiem for a Dream and as Snails in Dungeons & Dragons. That same year he and his brother Shawn hosted the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Wayans produced the Nickelodeon cartoon series Thugaboo. In 2017, NBC gave him his own sitcom, Marlon, for a 10-episode run. In September 2017, Marlon got renewed for a second season by NBC, which is now available on Netflix.

In September 2017, Variety announced that Wayans would be partnering up with LA-based entertainment company Shots Studios to launch his own YouTube channel.^[13] He's appeared in videos alongside creators such as Anwar Jibawi and Hannah Stocking. More recently, he signed a deal with HBO Max.^[14]

Personal life

Wayans began dating Angela Zackery in 1992. The couple separated in 2013. They were never married (though Wayans once referred to Zackery as his "ex wife".) ^[15] Wayans said in 2021 that he had never been married before.^[16] Wayans and Zackery have two children: Amai Zackery Wayans (b. May 24, 2000), and Shawn Howell Wayans, (b. February 3, 2002). Wayans was close friends with rapper Tupac Shakur until his death in 1996.^[17] He is also a longtime friend of actor Omar Epps.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

• Marlon Wayans on Facebook
• Marlon Wayans at IMDb
• Marlon Wayans at AllMovie