Wayne Brady

Biography

Wayne Brady may have made one of his most lasting marks serenading unsuspecting audience members with love ballads on the American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? Hosted by Drew Carey, the show featured Colin Mochrie,Ryan Stiles, and other regulars, who played improvisational games in front of a studio audience. Brady's brilliant interaction with the other players on the show earned him not only three Emmy nominations (one of which actually found the comic taking home the prize), but enough attention to spawn his own Emmy award-winning series, The Wayne Brady Show, in 2001.

Born June 2, 1972, in Orlando, FL, Brady began performing the central Florida theater circuit when he was still a teenager. After a brief stay in Las Vegas, he relocated to Los Angeles in 1996, where he gained a lot of stage and television experience as a dramatic artist. He made appearances on several dramatic series, including I'll Fly Away and In the Heat of the Night. In 1998, he hosted the VH1 series Vinyl Justice, in addition to his late-'90s appearance on Whose Line Is It Anyway? The TV movie musical Geppetto featured Brady in the role of a magician, alongside Whose Line host Drew Carey, who starred in the comedy.

The Wayne Brady Show debuted in 2001. Written by, produced by, and starring Brady, the series showcased both his comedic and dramatic talents. A sketch comedy show that had a relatively brief run on daytime television, The Wayne Brady Show nevertheless paved the way for a similarly titled talk show that would hit the airwaves the very same year the original Wayne Brady Show was canceled. His popularity growing at a rapid rate thanks to his amiable, down to earth persona and everyman attitude, Brady proved that he had a sense of humor about his nice guy image, but portrayed himself as a drug-dealing psychopath on a particularly memorable episode of the wildly popular Comedy Central series Chappelle's Show in 2004. Numerous appearances in a variety of television series, including Reno 911, Stargate SG-1, and Kevin Hill, were quick to follow, and in February of 2006 the versatile comic would serve as host to the thought-provoking TV Land series That's What I'm Talking About, a free-flowing look at the black lifestyle in America that featured such special guests as Spike Lee, Wanda Sykes, D.L. Hughley, and Paul Mooney.

As a recurring role in the popular television series Girlfriends continued to keep Brady busy on the small screen, additional performances in such wide-release features as the retro-minded roller-skating comedy drama Roll Bounce and the high-stakes streetball drama Crossover found the comic's film career continuing to gain momentum as well. In 2007 he was hosting the prime-time singing game show Don't Forget the Lyrics. A year later he focused on his own singing career by releasing his debut full-length, A Long Time Coming. The album was filled with slow jams, classic R&B flavors, and a couple of cover versions, including Stevie Wonder's "All I Do" and the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love." ~ Sarah Sloboda, All Music Guide