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Eddie Griffin

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For other people with the same name, see Edward Griffin.

Eddie Griffin
Griffin in 2008
Birth nameEdward Rubin Griffin
Born (1968-07-15) July 15, 1968 (age 56)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
MediumStand-up, film, television
Years active1989–present
GenresImprovisational comedy, observational comedy, blue comedy, satire
Subject(s)African-American culture, recreational drug use, human sexuality, race relations, politics, racism, religion, everyday life
Spouse
Carla Griffin
​
​
(m. 1984; div. 1997)​
Rochelle Griffin
​
​
(m. 2002; div. 2009)​
Nia Rivers
​
​
(m. 2011; div. 2012)​
Ko Lee
​
(m. 2017)​
Children11
Websiteeddiegriffin.com

Edward Rubin Griffin (born July 15, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman in the sitcom Malcolm & Eddie, the title character in the 2002 comedy film Undercover Brother, and Tiberius Jefferson "T.J." Hicks in Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999) and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005). He also portrayed Lester Matthews in John Q. (2002), Orpheus in Scary Movie 3 (2003), Pope Sweet Jesus in Norbit (2007), and voiced Richard Pryor on Black Dynamite (2012–2015). Griffin was ranked at number 62 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.[1]

Early life

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Griffin was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and was raised by his single mother, Doris Thomas, a phone company operator.[2] His family were Jehovah's Witnesses.[3] In 1984, at 16 years old, he moved to Compton, California, to live with his cousins. He later became a father and enlisted in the U.S. Navy but was discharged within months for using marijuana. After six months in jail on an assault conviction following a fight, he made ends meet dancing and painting houses.

Career

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At a comedy club open-mic night in 1989, Griffin hopped onstage on a bet and earned a standing ovation with family stories. He talked his way into stand-up gigs around town and in L.A. One popular bit was his gay version of tough-guy comic Andrew Dice Clay, who later hired Griffin to open for him.[4]

Once he achieved a fair amount of success in standup, Griffin became legendary at The Comedy Store for stopping in to do guest sets on open mic nights and staying up on stage long enough to tire the audience out for the hapless budding comic who had to follow him.

Griffin has appeared in films such as The Meteor Man (1993), The Walking Dead (1995) “David E. Talbert: A Fool & His Money” (1997), Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), Double Take (2001), Undercover Brother (2002), John Q (2002), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005), Norbit (2007), and Urban Justice (2007).

Griffin has appeared on television shows such as Malcolm & Eddie (1996–2000) and Chappelle's Show in the skit "World Series of Dice" as Grits n' Gravy. Griffin performed on two tracks from Dr. Dre's 1999 album, 2001, and the intro track from The D.O.C.'s 1996 album Helter Skelter. He has also appeared on commercials for Miller Beer's Man Laws.

In 2011, Comedy Central released Griffin's stand-up comedy special You Can Tell 'Em I Said It on DVD. In December 2019, his stand-up comedy special, E-Niggma, was released on Showtime.

Personal life

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Griffin and his mother got into an argument at his 20th birthday party when she accused him of stealing jewelry from her, which Griffin denied doing. Afterward, Griffin did not see his mother for four years until he moved back to Los Angeles, California, in March 1992, to be closer with his family when his mother was injured in a car accident.[5]

Griffin has been married four times. He married his first wife, Carla in 1984 when he was 16 years old. They divorced in 1997.[6] He married his second wife, Rochelle, in 2002 and divorced in 2009.[6] On September 8, 2011, he married his third wife, Nia Rivers. However, they filed for divorce after one month of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. They were officially divorced six months later in 2012.[7][8] He married his fourth wife, Ko Lee Griffin, on July 27, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada.[9]

In March 2007,[10] Griffin participated in a charity race at Irwindale Speedway to promote the film Redline, using a Ferrari Enzo owned by Daniel Sadek. During a practice run, Griffin accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and lost control of the Enzo, crashing hard into a concrete barrier.[10] He walked away unscratched, but the $1.5 million supercar was badly damaged.[10] Griffin later criticized reporters who suggested the crash was a publicity stunt.[11]

During the sexual assault allegations on Bill Cosby, Griffin suggested that Cosby was the victim of a conspiracy to destroy his image and claimed, without specification, that several other prominent African-American men had been victims of similar conspiracies.[12] Griffin has also been called out by the Sikh community for referring to an elderly Sikh man as "Osama Bin Laden" in the aftermath of 9/11, not understanding the difference between Sikhs and Muslims and also thinking that stereotyping Muslim Americans for the sake of "comedy" was appropriate given all the hate crimes both the Muslim and Sikh communities endured after 9/11.[13]

In October 2024, Griffin stated that he would likely vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 United States presidential election. He said, referring to Kamala Harris, "Everybody I talk to don't like you. Ain't nobody gonna vote for you."[14]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1991 Dice Rules Gas Station Attendant
The Last Boy Scout Club DJ
1992 Brain Donors Messenger
1993 Coneheads Customer
The Meteor Man Michael Anderson
1994 The Legend of Dolemite Himself
House Party 3 Guest at Kid's Bachelor Party
Jason's Lyric Rat
1995 The Walking Dead Pvt. Hoover Brache
1998 Armageddon Bike Messenger
1999 Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo Tiberius Jefferson "T.J." Hicks
The Mod Squad Sonny
Foolish Miles "Foolish" Waise
2000 All Jokes Aside Himself
Picking Up the Pieces Sediento
2001 Double Take Freddy Tiffany
2002 John Q. Lester Matthews
The New Guy Luther
Undercover Brother Anton Jackson/Undercover Brother
Pinocchio The Cat (voice)
2003 Dysfunktional Family Himself
Scary Movie 3 Orpheus
2004 My Baby's Daddy Lonnie
Blast Lamont Dixon
Pryor Offenses Richard Pryor TV movie
2005 The Wendell Baker Story McTeague
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo Tiberius Jefferson "T.J." Hicks
2006 Date Movie Frank Jones
Irish Jam Jimmy Winston "Da Jam" McDevitt
Who Made the Potatoe Salad? Malik
The Year Without a Santa Claus Jingle TV movie
2007 Norbit Pope Sweet Jesus
Redline Infamous
Urban Justice Armand Tucker Video
2008 Beethoven's Big Break Stanley Mitchell Video
2012 ATypical Love Sweet Jimmy
Highway Redneck Trucker
2013 How Sweet It Is Ronnie
2014 The Slimbones K-Kutta
Going to America Fumnanya
2015 American Hero Lucille
2017 All About the Money Christopher Jefferson Johnson
2018 A Star Is Born Pastor
2020 The Comeback Trail Devon
Bad President The Devil
2023 All You Need Is Blood Detective Moses T Swan

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1992 One Night Stand Himself Episode: "Eddie Griffin"
Just for Laughs Himself Episode: "Episode #7.0"
Def Comedy Jam Himself Episode: "Episode #1.8"
1993 Roc Al Episode: "Labor Intensive"
1994 HBO Comedy Half-Hour Himself Episode: "Eddie Griffin"
1996–2000 Malcolm & Eddie Eddie Sherman Main Cast
1999 Hollywood Squares Himself/Panelist Recurring Guest
2003 Punk'd Himself Episode: "Episode #1.1"
The Osbournes Himself Episode: "The Osbourne Family Christmas Special"
2004 Celebrity Blackjack Himself Episode: "Tournament 1, Game 3"
Chappelle's Show Grits N' Gravy Episode: "World Series Of Dice & Mooney On Movies"
2005 Independent Lens Himself/Narrator Episode: "Parliament Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove"
Reel Comedy Himself Episode: "Deuce Bigalow European Gigolo"
Comedy Central Roast Himself/Roaster Episode: "Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson"
2008 Black Poker Stars Invitational Himself Main Guest
2009 Eddie Griffin: Going For Broke Himself Main Cast
2011 Comedy All-Stars Himself Episode: "Eddie Griffin"
2012 Black Dynamite Richard Pryor (voice) Episode: "Taxes and Death or Get Him to the Sunset Strip"
2014 The Boondocks Himself (voice) Episode: "Good Times"
2017 The Comedy Get Down Himself Main Cast
2020 This Is Stand-Up Himself Episode: "Episode #1.2"
The Comedy Store Himself Recurring Guest
2020–22 Woke 40 Oz. Bottles (voice) Recurring Cast
2021 Dark Humor Himself Recurring Guest
2022–23 Criss Angel's Magic with the Stars Himself/Host Main Host

Music video appearances

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Year Artist Song
1993 Snoop Dogg featuring Daz Dillinger, Heney Loc & Jewell "Gin & Juice"
1997 Mariah Carey "Honey"
Puff Daddy featuring Mase "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down"
1999 Magic, Master P & Mo B. Dick (musician) "Foolish (Master P song)"
2001 Lil' Bow Wow featuring Fundisha "Take Ya Home"

Comedy specials

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Year Title
1997 Eddie Griffin: Voodoo Child
2003 Eddie Griffin: Dysfunktional Family
2008 Eddie Griffin: Freedom of Speech
2011 Eddie Griffin: You Can Tell 'Em I Said It!
2018 Eddie Griffin: Undeniable
2019 Eddie Griffin: E-Niggma

Documentary

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Year Title
2007 I'm Rick James

Discography

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Live albums

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Title Album details
The Message in The Hat
The Message
  • Released: March 29, 1999
  • Label: Warner Bros, WEA International Inc
  • Formats: CD, digital download, LP
Freedom Of Speech
  • Released: April 24, 2008
  • Label: Comedy Central/CodeBlack
  • Formats: digital download|-
You Can Tell 'Em I Said It
  • Released: February 22, 2011
  • Label: Comedy Central
  • Formats: digital download

Soundtrack albums

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Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
US US R&B
Foolish (with various artists) 32 10

Album appearances

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Awards

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Award Film Event
Best Actor Last Supper Los Angeles International Film Festival 2014 [15]
Best Actor Last Supper San Francisco Global Movie Fest 2014 [16]

References

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  1. ^ Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time at IMDb
  2. ^ "Eddie Griffin finds his material in his funky, troubled family". Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
  3. ^ Griffin, Eddie. "Eddie Griffin on Jehovah Witnesses and the Benefits of Polygamy. Standup Comedy From The Vault". The Vault. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  4. ^ "Verve Griffin | PEOPLE.com".
  5. ^ "New Material Drives Comedian Eddie Griffin's New Special, Stand-up Tour". Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Miller, Samantha (April 21, 2003). "Verve Griffin". People. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  7. ^ "Eddie Griffin - The Walk-In VEGAS Wedding!!!!". TMZ.com. August 28, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  8. ^ "Eddie Griffin FINALLY DIVORCED After 6 Months of Marriage". TMZ. March 24, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  9. ^ "Eddie Griffin on Instagram". Instagram. May 10, 2020. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c "Eddie Griffin Wrecks $1.5 Million Ferrari". CBS News. March 27, 2007.
  11. ^ Norman, Pete; Pfeiffer, Kimberly (March 30, 2007). "Eddie Griffin: Car Wreck, Injuries No Hoax". People.com. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  12. ^ Howard, Adam (December 31, 2015), Eddie Griffin defends Cosby, alleges 'systematic effort to destroy' black male stars, MSNBC, retrieved December 31, 2015
  13. ^ "Sikhs Raise Concerns Over New Film | The Pluralism Project".
  14. ^ Hall, Alexander, "Actor-comedian Eddie Griffin says he may be 'going with Trump' instead of 'liar' Kamala Harris", Fox News, 11 October 2024
  15. ^ Winners 2014, laufilmfest.com, retrieved December 1, 2014
  16. ^ Awards 2014, sfmoviefest.com, archived from the original on August 26, 2014, retrieved August 16, 2014
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