Brady, Wayne

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Brady, Wayne

Actor and talk-show host

B orn June 2, 1972, in Orlando, FL; married Mandie Taketa (an actress), April 3, 1999 (divorced, 2007); children: Maile Masako.

Addresses: Office—c/o Don’t Forget the Lyrics, P.O. Box 900, Attn: FOX Broadcasting Publicity Dept., Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900.

Career

A ctor on television, including: Superboy, 1990; I’ll Fly Away, 1993; In the Heat of the Night, 1993; On Promised Land (movie), 1994; Kwik Witz, 1996; Vi-nyl Justice, 1998; Whose Line Is It Anyway, ABC, 1998-2003; Hollywood Squares, 1999-2003; Geppetto (movie), 2000; (also producer and writer) The Wayne Brady Show, 2001, then syndicated, 2002-04; Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, 2001, 2002; American Dreams, 2003; The Electric Piper (movie), 2003; Going to the Mat (movie), 2004; Reno 911!, Comedy Central, 2004; I Do, They Don’t (movie), 2005; Kevin Hill, 2005; Stargate SG-1, 2005; Girlfriends, 2006; Celebrity Duets, 2006; 30 Rock, 2007; (host) Don’t Forget the Lyrics, 2007—. Stage appearances include: Wayne Brady & Friends, U.S. cities, 2000-04; Chicago, Broadway production, 2004; Making **it Up, Venetian, Las Vegas, NV, 2007—; A Chorus Line; A Raisin in the Sun; Jesus Christ Superstar; I’m Not Rappaport; The Only Game in Town; Blade to the Heat, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, CA. Film appearances include: Clifford’s Really Big Movie (voice), 2004; Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (voice), 2005; Roll Bounce, 2005; The List, 2006; Crossover, 2006; The Adventures of Brer Rabbit (voice), 2006. Served as host of Miss America Pageant, 2002; 30th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, 2003; Broadway on Broadway, 2004; 8th Annual Soul Train Christmas Starfest, 2005; That’s What I’m Talking About, VH1, 2006; Countdown to theAmerican Music Awards. Also worked at Disney World as a character performer for Tigger and Goofy; performed in shows at Universal Studios Florida theme park, including Beetlejuice, Ghostbusters, and Rock ’n’ Roll Re-vue; appeared with a comedy troupe in Orlando, FL, and with House Full of Honkies, Los Angeles, CA.

Awards: Rookie of the Year, Saks Theatre, 1992; Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding talk show and outstanding talk show host, for The Wayne Brady Show, National Television Academy, 2003; Emmy Award for outstanding individual performance in a variety or music program for Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, 2003; Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding talk show host, for The Wayne Brady Show, National Television Academy, 2004.

Sidelights

A n Emmy Award-winning television show host, Wayne Brady is also a popular actor with an upbeat point of view, strong singing voice, and dancing ability which allows him to work in a variety of genres. Gifted at the art of improv, he first came to international attention for his appearances on the Drew Carey-hosted Whose Line Is It Anyway? in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Brady’s success on the show eventually led to his own short-lived talk show, The Wayne Brady Show, a stint on Broadway in Chicago, and small film roles beginning in 2004.

Born on June 2, 1972, in Orlando, Florida, Brady was raised by his grandmother, Valerie Petersen, and was a shy child with a stuttering problem. By the time he attended Dr. Phillips High School, he was a member of the ROTC and seemed destined to join the military. However, after appearing in a school play, Brady caught the acting bug and joined the drama club. Brady told Steve Hedgpeth of New Jersey’s Star-Ledger, “When I was 16, I was in ROTC. I hadn’t made up my mind about a career yet. But as soon as I found out that my calling was being an actor, there was never any doubt. I knew that I was leaving myself open to some extreme butt-kicking, but there was nothing else I could possibly do.”

Brady put all his energy into his new career focus as he completed his high school education and moved into community theater. In addition to appearing with a comedy troupe in Orlando, he also worked at Disney World as a character performer and performed in shows at Universal Studios Florida theme park, including Beetlejuice, Ghost-busters, and Rock ’n’ Roll Revue. Brady had roles in stage productions like A Raisin in the Sun, toured in musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar, and appeared in locally filmed television series like Superboy, as well.

To fully pursue his career goals, Brady moved to Las Vegas, then Los Angeles in the early 1990s. In California, he began appearing with an improv group called House Full of Honkies. Brady also landed guest spots in television series such as I’ll Fly Away and In the Heat of the Night, as well as a 1994 television movie On Promised Land.

Brady’s career really took off in 1998 when he began appearing in the American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, hosted by Carey. Carey had seen the long-running, popular British version of the show, and brought it to the United States to high ratings. Brady was a regular on Whose Line for several years, demonstrated both his quick wit and singing ability. His work on the show led to an Emmy Award nomination for him in 2000 and an EmmyAward in 2003, the same year it was canceled. Of the show’s affect on his career, he told Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret News that Whose Line “pretty much changed my entire life. It changed everything about my life. Not one thing, past certain personal things, was the same.”

Brady’s work on Whose Line led to new career opportunities. In the early 2000s, he toured the United States in an improv show entitled Wayne Brady & Friends with four other improv actors and a keyboard player. It was first performed in comedy clubs in 2000, then made its way into bigger theaters and attracted audiences in the thousands in 2001. Brady continued to regularly tour with the show over the next several years.

Also in 2001, Brady launched his own television show, The Wayne Brady Show. This weekly prime-time program on ABC included elements of a variety show, such as a full band, dancers, improv and sketch comedy, a supporting cast, and special guests, and had a brief, seven-episode run. Admitting he owed a debt to variety series from the 1960s and 1970s, Brady told Robin Vaughan of the Boston Herald, “It really involves stuff I most enjoy doing, the blending of music and comedy. It’s a melding of some classic comedy shows of the past. Having grown up on the Flip Wilson and Carol Burnett shows, I think we pay a little homage to them. But I think if anything what we’ll try to do is have a classic feel with a very now energy.”

While ABC declined to pick up The Wayne Brady Show for a longer run, the show was re-tooled by the network in 2002 to become more of a talk show with celebrity guests. Brady still included comedy and musical elements as well on the syndicated daily program. The Wayne Brady Show paid homage to classic television, with Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin inspiring Brady. When The Wayne Brady Show debuted in the fall of 2002, it received the best ratings of the five new talk shows on the air. Brady won an Emmy as best talk show host for his work on The Wayne Brady Show in 2003.

As Brady’s television career was taking off, he was tapped to host a number of impressive gigs. In 2001 and 2002, he served as the host of the annual classic show Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve in 2001 and 2002. Also in 2002, Brady was selected to host the Miss America Pageant. He was the first African American to host the American institution. Before the pageant aired, he told Walt Belcher of the Tampa Tribune that though he hesitated to take the job, “I realized that I would be part of television history as the first African American to be the host, so I’m honored to be a small part of pop culture. And the format does allow me to entertain, and so I hope to bring some fun to the pageant.”

Because of declining ratings, The Wayne Brady Show was canceled after its second season ended in 2004. By this time, Brady had expanded his acting repertoire by appearing television movies like The Electric Piper, doing guest spots on shows like American Dreams and Reno 911!, and providing a voice for his first film, Clifford’s Really Big Movie. After The Wayne Brady Show ended, Brady made his Broadway debut by joining the cast of Chicago for a limited run as Billy Flynn in the fall of 2004.

In 2005, Brady temporarily shook off his good guy, daytime television-friendly persona with an appearance on the popular Chappelle’s Show on Comedy Central. In addition to hosting a mock episode, Brady appeared in a sketch where he swore, used drugs, and played a pimp. Brady received much attention for his work in the sketch and his acting career continued to take off. Though he continued to work in television in guest spots and movies, Brady acted in a variety of films, including Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild, Roll Bounce, and The List. In 2006’s street basketball-focused Crossover, he played the seedy agent Vaughn.

Brady returned to series television in 2006 when he served as the host of the reality series Celebrity Du-ets on FOX. In 2007, after touring in his solo improv show and launching a regular show in Vegas, he began hosting a game show on FOX entitled Don’t Forget the Lyrics. The show was a karaoke-type competition where competitors sing along with a band and a teleprompter for part of a song, but must complete it on their own when the music and lyrics are cut. Because of its popularity, Don’t Forget the Lyrics was expected to run at least through early 2008.

No matter what happens in his career, Brady was grateful to keep working. He told the Chicago Sun-Times’ Mike Thomas, “I really believe that as long as you’re a nice person, you give due where it’s due, and you keep your nose to the grindstone, that you can always work. Maybe someday it won’t be on a big TV show, or it will just be doing theater, but as long as I’m working. I think a lot of people get sucked into the negative side of show business, and that’s not me.”