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Donald Faison
Donald Faison by Gage Skidmore 2 (cropped).jpg
Faison in 2013
Born
Donald Adeosun Faison

(1974-06-22) June 22, 1974 (age 50)
New York City, U.S.
Occupation
  • Actor
  • comedian
Years active 1989–present
Spouse(s)
  • Lisa Askey
    (m. 2001; div. 2005)
  • CaCee Cobb
    (m. 2012)
Children 6
Relatives Olamide Faison (brother)

Donald Adeosun Faison (/ˈfzɒn/; born June 22, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his leading role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC/NBC comedy-drama Scrubs (2001–2010), and a supporting role as Murray in both the film Clueless (1995) and the subsequent television series of the same name. He also starred as Phil Chase in the TV Land sitcom The Exes (2011–2015). Faison has also co-starred in the films Waiting to Exhale (1995), Remember the Titans (2000), Uptown Girls (2003), Something New (2006), Next Day Air (2009), Skyline (2010), and Kick-... 2 (2013).

Early life

Faison was born in Harlem in New York City, the son of Shirley, a talent agent, and Donald Faison, a building manager. His parents divorced in 1992. He is the older brother of singer/musician Olamide Faison. His middle name stems from the words "ade" (meaning "crown") and "osun" (meaning "river of life") in the west African language of Yoruba. His parents were active with the National Black Theatre in Harlem. He attended the Professional Children's School in Manhattan with his best friend, actor Dash Mihok.

Career

Faison first appeared in a 1989 commercial for Folgers coffee at the age of 15, in which he played the younger brother of a soldier returning from war. In 1992, he appeared with Malik Yoba in the ABC News special Prejudice: Answering Children's Questions, hosted by Peter Jennings. He also had a small role in Sugar Hill starring Wesley Snipes. He then became famous for his role as Murray Duvall in the 1995 film Clueless and the subsequent television series, which ran from 1996 to 1999. In 1995, he also appeared in Waiting to Exhale as Tarik, the son of Loretta Devine's character, Gloria. He was featured in New Jersey Drive. He also starred in Big Fat Liar alongside Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti, and Amanda Bynes. He had a recurring role as Tracy on Felicity, appeared in Remember the Titans as the running back turned safety Petey Jones, and provided voice work for various characters in the MTV animated series Clone High. He had minor roles in the sitcoms Sister, Sister and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and in the film Josie and the Pussycats. In 2005, Faison produced one episode of MTV's Punk'd involving his Scrubs co-star Zach Braff. He also appeared in the music videos for Brandy's "Sittin' Up in My Room," Fall Out Boy's cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It," and Gavin Degraw's "Chariot."

In 2008, Faison voiced Gary the Stormtrooper in Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II. Afterwards, he interned on the Robot Chicken show to learn more about stop motion animation, and started a Star Wars-themed Lego stop-motion show, BlackStormTrooper, on his YouTube channel, shundigga.

On February 13, 2009, Faison participated in the NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game. Other celebrities participating included NBA Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins, NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens, actor Chris Tucker, and four Harlem Globetrotters.

In 2010, Faison starred alongside Scottie Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Eric Balfour, Laz Alonso, and Crystal Reed in the Brothers Strause science fiction thriller Skyline.

Faison was in the 2010 CBS comedy pilot The Odds.

As of March 2011, Faison appeared in commercials for The Sims Medieval. In 2012, he made a cameo appearance in the movie Pitch Perfect. In 2013, Faison hosted the short-lived TBS comedy sketch show Who Gets the Last Laugh?. From 2016 to 2018, he hosted the GSN game show Winsanity.

From 2018 until 2020, Faison voiced pilot Hype Fazon, a character written and named for him by Dave Filoni, in Star Wars Resistance. Faison had caught Filoni's attention via his stop motion Star Wars cartoons.

Faison and Scrubs co-star Zach Braff co-host the rewatch podcast Fake Doctors, Real Friends, which launched in March 2020, sharing their stories and experiences of shooting the show. The podcast is distributed by iHeartRadio.

Faison created the web series Alabama Jackson for Adult Swim's Youtube channel, which premiered in 2022. Faison stars as the title character.

Personal life

CaCee Cobb Donald Faison Shankbone 2010 NYC (cropped)
Faison with second wife CaCee Cobb at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival

Faison has a son born in 1997 with ex-girlfriend Audrey Ince. In 1997, Faison started dating Lisa Askey, a nursing student. The two were married from 2001 to 2005. They have three children together: fraternal boy-girl twins born in 1999, and a son born in 2001.

Faison married his second wife, CaCee Cobb, on December 15, 2012, after six years of dating. The wedding was held at the home of Faison's former Scrubs co-star and best friend Zach Braff, who also served as a groomsman. Serving as a bridesmaid was singer Jessica Simpson, for whom Cobb formerly worked as a personal assistant. The couple have two children together: a son born in 2013 and a daughter born in 2015. The children he had with Askey moved in with Faison and Cobb after their mother died in 2017.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Juice Student
1994 Sugar Hill Kymie Daniels
1995 New Jersey Drive 'Tiny Dime' Credited as Donald Adeosun Faison
1995 Clueless Murray Duvall
1995 Waiting to Exhale Tarik Matthews Credited as Donald Adeosun Faison
1996 The Quest Robber Uncredited
1997 Academy Boyz Glen Lewis
1998 Butter Khaleed
1998 Can't Hardly Wait Dan
1999 Trippin' June Nelson
2000 Remember the Titans Petey Jones
2001 Double Whammy Cletis
2001 Josie and the Pussycats D.J. Uncredited
2002 Big Fat Liar Frank Jackson
2003 Ravedactyl: Project Evolution Gunner Short film
2003 Uptown Girls Huey
2003 Good Boy! Wilson Voice only
2005 King's Ransom Andre
2006 Something New Nelson McQueen
2006 Bachelor Party Vegas Ash
2006 Homie Spumoni Renato Molina / Leroy
2007 Venus & Vegas Stu
2009 Next Day Air Leo
2010 Skyline Terry
2012 Pitch Perfect Older Acapella Man
2013 ... 2 Samuel Keers / Doctor Gravity
2013 A Snow Globe Christmas Ted
2013 Stag Ken
2014 Wish I Was Here Anthony
2014 Let's Kill Ward's Wife Ward
2014 Wonderland Ted
2016 The Perfect Match Rick
2016 Hot Bot Mr. Huffington
2017 Little Evil Larry
2018 Game Over, Man! Himself
2019 The Wave Jeff
2020 Embattled Mr. Dan Stewart

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Sesame Street Duane 9 episodes
1996 New York Undercover James Episode: "Sympathy for the Devil"
1996–2000 Sabrina, the Teenage Witch Justin Episode: "Magic Joel"
Dashiell Calzone 3 episodes
1996–1999 Clueless Murray Duvall Main role
1998 Sister, Sister Darryl Episode: "Greek to Me"
1999 Supreme Sanction Marcus Television film
2000–2002 Felicity Tracy 23 episodes
2002–present Clone High Toots / Various Characters Voice only; 13 episodes
2001–2010 Scrubs Christopher Turk Main role
2004–2005 Higglytown Heroes Firefighter Hero Voice only; 2 episodes
2005–present Robot Chicken Various voices 10 episodes
2006 The Playbook Host 3 episodes
2007 Saturday Night Live Christopher Turk Episode: "Zach Braff/Maroon 5"
2007 Robot Chicken: Star Wars Dr. Cornelius Evazan / Mace Windu Voice only; television special
2007 Kim Possible Ricky Rotiffle Voice only; episode: "Homecoming Upset"
2008 The Boondocks Catcher Freeman / Tobias / Wedgie Rudlin Voice only; 3 episodes
2008 Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II Gary / Darth Maul / Imperial Pilot Voice only; television special
2009 Scrubs: Interns Christopher Turk Episode: "Our Meeting with Turk and Todd"
2009 American Dad! Christopher Turk Voice only; episode: "... Circus"
2009 Titan Maximum Martian Fleet Commander Episode: "Pilot"
2010 Fact Checkers Unit Donald 9 episodes
2010 Cubed Himself Episode: "2.12"
2010 Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III Gary Voice only; television special
2010 The Odds Tyler Television film
2011 Love Bites Ricky 2 episodes
2011–2015 The Exes Phil Chase 64 episodes
2012 Tron: Uprising Bartik Voice only; 5 episodes
2012 Adventure Time Princess Cookie Voice only; episode: "Princess Cookie"
2013 Wedding Band Moses Episode: "99 Problems"
2013 Who Gets the Last Laugh? Host 9 episodes
2013 A Snow Globe Christmas Ted Television film
2014 Hollywood Game Night Himself 3 episodes
2014 Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Wizard Episode: "Head's Up"
2015 Undateable Donald 2 episodes
2015–2018 Supermansion Quiplash Voice only; 4 episodes
2015–2018 ... History Joe Louis / Mansa Musa 2 episodes
2016 Winsanity Host
2016 House of Lies Donald 2 episodes
2017 Bill Nye Saves the World Himself
2017–2019 Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television Himself 2 episodes
2017–2018 Ray Donovan Antoine A'Shawn Anderson 7 episodes
2018 Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. Jacques Agnant 2 episodes
2018–2020 Star Wars Resistance Hype Fazon/TIE Pilot #1 Voice only; 18 episodes
2019 Timeline Principal Anderson Main role
2019–2020 Emergence Alex Evans Main role
2020 Star Wars The Clone Wars Tactical Droid Voice only; episode: "Old Friends Not Forgotten"
2021 The L Word: Generation Q Tom Maultsby 5 episodes
2022–present Alice's Wonderland Bakery Harry the March Hare Voice only
2022 Legends of Tomorrow Booster Gold Episode: "Knocked Down, Knocked Up"
Reindeer in Here Bucky (voice) Television special
2022–present Alabama Jackson Alabama Jackson Main role; also creator, executive producer and writer
2023 The Wonder Years Terrence Episode: "Blockbusting"
2023–present Extended Family Trey Lead role

Music videos

Year Title Artist
1995 "Sittin' Up in My Room" Brandy
1996 "Kissin' You ("Oh, Honey" Remix)" Total, Puff Daddy & Notorious B.I.G
1999 "No Doubt" Imajin
1999 "Flava" Imajin
1999 "Da Bomb" DJ Fury and RX Lord
2003 "Chariot" Gavin DeGraw
2008 "Beat It" Fall Out Boy featuring John Mayer
2013 "More Champagne" DJ Whoo Kid featuring A$AP Ferg, Problem and Wiz Khalifa
2015 "Time Machine" Ingrid Michaelson

Video games

A dance that Faison performs during an episode of Scrubs is featured in the video game Fortnite. Faison's permission was not sought before including the dance, and he did not receive royalties for it.

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2002 6th OFTA Television Awards Best Actor in a New Comedy Series
Scrubs
Nominated
2004 6th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick Nominated
1st BET Comedy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Won
2005 36th NAACP Image Awards Nominated
7th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick Nominated
9th Prism Awards Performance in a Comedy Series Nominated
2nd BET Comedy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Won
2006 37th NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
8th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick Nominated
2007 38th NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
9th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick Nominated
2008 39th NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
2009 40th NAACP Image Awards Nominated
2010 41st NAACP Image Awards Nominated
2013 44th NAACP Image Awards
The Exes
Nominated
6th L.A. Comedy Film Festival and Screenplay Competition Awards Best Actor in a Feature Film
Stag
Nominated

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Donald Faison para niños

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