David Alan Grier facts for kids

Quick facts for kids David Alan Grier
Grier in 2021
Born	(1956-06-30) June 30, 1956 (age 68) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Education	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (BA) Yale University (MFA)
Occupation	Actor comedian
Years active	1977–present

David Alan Grier (born June 30, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. He began his career by portraying Jackie Robinson in the 1981 Broadway production The First, for which he earned a nomination at the 36th Tony Awards for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. In 1982, he played James "Thunder" Early in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls. He then appeared in the Robert Altman film Streamers (1983) as Roger, a role for which he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.

That same year, he starred in the stage production of A Soldier's Play (1983), and later starred in the film adaptation titled A Soldier's Story (1984). Grier portrayed multiple characters on the American sketch comedy television series In Living Color (1990) (1990–1994). In 1992, he starred alongside Eddie Murphy in the romantic comedy Boomerang. From 1993 to 1997, he played the role of Reverend Leon Lonnie Love on the Fox comedy series Martin. For his performances in the Broadway productions Race (2009) and Porgy and Bess (2012), he received Tony Award nominations, with the latter also earning him a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album nomination. In 2021, he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role as Sergeant Vernon C. Waters in the stage revival of A Soldier's Play (2020).

His other works include starring as Bernard on Damon (1998), as David Bellows on Life with Bonnie (2002–2004), as Joe Carmichael on The Carmichael Show (2015–2017), a principal cast member in The Wiz Live! (2015), as Hal on A Series of Unfortunate Events (2018), Carl Bentley in Jumanji (1995), and Jim Fields in Bewitched (2005). He also created and executive-produced the American satirical show Chocolate News (2008) for Comedy Central.

Early life and education

Grier was born in Detroit, Michigan, one of three children, to Aretas Ruth (née Blaney), a school teacher, and William Henry Grier, a psychiatrist and writer, who co-wrote the book Black Rage.

He graduated from Detroit's Cass Technical High School, and received a B.A. in radio, television and film from the University of Michigan, and an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama, in 1981. Visiting lecturer Rachel Roberts took notice of his performance one evening in a piece entitled The Place of the Spirit Dance.

Career

After graduating from Yale, Grier landed the role of Jackie Robinson in the short-lived Broadway musical The First, directed by Martin Charnin and written by Joel Siegel. Grier was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and won the Theatre World Award for The First. He got his start on the National Public Radio radio drama adaptation of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in 1981. He was the voice of a nameless X-wing fighter pilot during the Battle of Yavin.

Grier later starred as James "Thunder" Early in the hit Broadway musical Dreamgirls. Grier made his film debut in 1983 in Streamers, directed by Robert Altman. He won the Golden Lion for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for the film. He appeared in the Negro Ensemble Company production A Soldier's Play and reprised his role in the film version A Soldier's Story. Grier appeared as a geology professor at Hillman College in the show A Different World.

In Living Color

Although primarily known for his dramatic work, Grier began to shift towards comedy. Director Keenen Ivory Wayans cast Grier in his new variety show In Living Color. It became a ratings hit and won an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series. Grier became a popular cast member through his characters, which ranged from hyperactive children to crotchety old men. Some of his more well-known characters were flamboyant and effeminate Antoine Merriweather in the "Men on..." sketch series, blues musician Calhoun Tubbs (based on Shakey Jake, a busker who often performed near the Michigan campus) megaphone-blaring shop teacher Al MacAfee, the elderly Mr. Brooks, and Tiny, a prison inmate. He also provided impersonations of Joe Jackson and Ike Turner.

Acting career

After his success on In Living Color, Grier began appearing in film comedies such as Boomerang, as Eddie Murphy's shy friend Gerard in 1992; Blankman, with Damon Wayans, in 1994; In the Army Now, as Fred Ostroff with Pauly Shore and Andy Dick, also in 1994; and as Carl Bentley, a factory employee turned police officer whose car is crushed and eaten by a giant pod in Jumanji in 1995. He played Rev. Leon Lonnie Love on the TV series Martin.

Grier appeared with Tom Arnold in the 1997 comedy McHale's Navy as Ensign Charles Parker. In 1999, he made a guest appearance as himself in the "Aw, Here it Goes to Hollywood" episode of Nickelodeon's sitcom Kenan & Kel. After the cancellation of In Living Color, Grier starred in the short-lived sitcoms The Preston Episodes, Damon (with In Living Color co-star Damon Wayans), and DAG. He had a cameo in the Robert De Niro and Edward Burns film 15 Minutes (2001) as a Central Park mugger. He also played in Rusty Cundieff's anthology film Tales from the Hood.

In 2002, Grier joined the cast of the improv-based ABC sitcom and Bonnie Hunt vehicle Life with Bonnie which ran for two seasons. During this time, he continued to appear in comedy films but also returned to drama in the films Baadasssss! (2003) and The Woodsman (2004). He starred in his own Comedy Central stand-up special The Book of David: The Cult Figure's Manifesto. He is also a frequent guest on the Comedy Central show Crank Yankers. Grier was the host of the NBC show Thank God You're Here. He starred in Gym Teacher: The Movie (2008) playing the villain, Shelly Bragg. He appeared as Uncle Henry in the ABC 2005 television film The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.

Grier guest starred in Season 6 of Fox's Bones. He played Professor Bunsen Jude, the Science Dude, the host of a children's television program. This character was inspired by Bill Nye "the Science Guy".

In May 2013, Grier appeared in Tyler Perry Presents Peeples, playing the role of Virgil Peeples, alongside Kerry Washington and Craig Robinson. Also in 2013, Grier appeared in The Watsons Go To Birmingham, a Hallmark Channel adaptation of Christopher Paul Curtis' 1995 Newbery Honor-winning novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963. He appeared on the CBS TV-adaptation of Bad Teacher, playing the role of principal Carl Gaines. He played the Cowardly Lion in NBC's live performance of The Wiz, which aired on December 3, 2015.

In 1998, Grier co-starred with Jon Stewart in Elmopalooza, as the director of Stewart's production crew, who he often chastises at Elmo and Telly after realizing what happened to the rest of the cast. In 2008, Grier starred in the Comedy Central series Chocolate News which had satirical sketches about current events and news stories. It lasted for one season of ten episodes. Grier appeared as Jimmy Dale in the series Queen Sugar appearing in Season 3 and played the role of Mr. Packard in the Paramount Pictures film Clifford the Big Red Dog.

In April 2022, it was announced that Grier would join the cast of the upcoming musical remake, The Color Purple. He is set to play Pastor Avery, the father of Shug Avery, a role also featured in the 1985 film of the same name.

In 2022, he starred in The Patient on Hulu with Steve Carell.

Comedy

Grier is a comedian and hosted the Comedy Central series Premium Blend in 2001. He was ranked no. 94 on Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups. He made an appearance on the Dave, Shelley, and Chainsaw (DSC) Show (San Diego Jack 100.7 FM) on October 5, 2012, before doing performances at The Madhouse Comedy Club. In the interview, he debunked internet reports that he was involved in a musical based on the life of Louis Farrakhan.

Stage

Grier returned to Broadway to perform in the musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1997. He returned to Broadway for the premiere of Race, written and directed by David Mamet, opposite James Spader, Kerry Washington, and Richard Thomas, which opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on December 6, 2009. Grier received his second Tony nomination for the role. He also appeared in the revival production of The Wiz at the La Jolla Playhouse directed by Des McAnuff.

Grier appeared on Broadway as Sportin' Life in the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, which opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on January 12, 2012, alongside Norm Lewis and Audra McDonald. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for this role. In addition to his Tony Award nomination, Grier received a 2013 Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theater Album for his performance on the cast recording of the play.

In January 2020, Grier returned to the stage for the Broadway production of A Soldier's Play, this time playing Tech Sergeant Vernon C. Waters, the role originated by Adolph Caesar in the off-Broadway production. For this role, he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

Other work

In 1998 Grier hosted the game show Random Acts of Comedy on Fox Family, what is now Freeform. The show lasted one season. He was a contestant on the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with Kym Johnson. By the fourth week of the competition, Grier announced that he had lost 26 pounds. He was eliminated in the fifth week.

His first book Barack Like Me: The Chocolate-Covered Truth was published by Simon & Schuster in 2009. The book recounts Grier's own life story, and was written with Alan Eisenstock.

He appeared in an episode of Clean House along with his brother and his brother's family. Grier invited the show to help his brother due to his severe problems with clutter, and the family received a home makeover. He hosted the game show Snap Decision, which debuted August 7, 2017, on the Game Show Network and many Sinclair TV stations.

Personal life

Grier was married to Maritza Rivera and divorced in 1997. In July 2007, he married Christine Y. Kim, an associate curator of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She gave birth to their daughter, Luisa Danbi Grier-Kim on January 10, 2008, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles. On July 9, 2009, Kim filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

When Grier was young, his family marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in a March on Poverty in Detroit, where King gave an early version of the "I Have A Dream" speech.

He is a fan of motorcycles, and owns the rare Yamaha YZF-R1 Limited Edition. On the August 10, 2009, episode of Loveline, Grier agreed to auction it to aid Bryan Bishop's Tumor Fund, but walked off set while Carolla and the audio engineer bickered on air. He is an avid cook and began food blogging during the run of the play Race, where James Spader helped to critique the food Grier made.

Filmography

Film

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Streamers	Roger
1984	A Soldier's Story	Corporal Cobb
1985	Beer	Elliott Morrison
1987	From the Hip	Steve Hadley
	Amazon Women on the Moon	Don 'No Soul' Simmons
1988	Off Limits	Rogers
	Me and Him	Peter Conklin
	I'm Gonna Git You Sucka	Newsman
1990	Loose Cannons	Drummond
	Almost an Angel	Det. Bill
1992	The Player	Himself
	Boomerang	Gerard
1994	In the Army Now	Fred Ostroff
	Blankman	Kevin Walker
1995	Tales from the Hood	Carl
	Jumanji	Carl Bentley
	Goldilocks and the Three Bears	Spike
1997	McHale's Navy	Ensign Charles Parker
	Top of the World	Detective Augustus
1998	Elmopalooza	Himself (show's director)
1999	Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby	Mr. Butz
	Stuart Little	Red	Voice
2000	3 Strikes	Detective Jenkins
	Return to Me	Charlie Johnson
	The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle	Measures
2001	15 Minutes	Mugger in Central Park
2003	Baadasssss!	Clyde Houston
	Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie	Himself, Announcer
	Tiptoes	Jerry Robin Jr.
2004	The Woodsman	Bob
2005	Bewitched	Jim Fields
2006	Little Man	Jimmy
2008	Kissing Cousins	The Griller
	The Hustle	Rev. Isaac Montgomery Paid
	The Poker House	Stymie
	An American Carol	Rastus Malone
2009	Dance Flick	Sugar Bear
	Astro Boy	Mr. Squirt, Math Cowboy, Boxer Robot	Voice
2010	Something Like a Business	3D
2011	Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil	Moss the Troll	Voice
2013	Peeples	Virgil Peeples
2015	Road Hard	Michael
2017	The Big Sick	Andy Dodd
2018	Arizona	Coburn
	Sprinter	Coach
2019	Native Son	Marty
2020	Coffee & Kareem	Captain Hill
2021	Clifford the Big Red Dog	Mr. Packard
2023	They Cloned Tyrone	The Preacher
2023	The Color Purple	Reverend Avery	Post-production

Television

Radio

Theater

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: David Alan Grier para niños