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Cedric the Entertainer
Cedric at the Johnson Family Vacation premiere in March 2004
Birth name	Cedric Antonio Kyles
Born	April 24, 1964 (1964-04-24) (age 45) Jefferson City, Missouri, U.S.
Medium	Film, television, stand-up
Years active	1987–present
Genres	Comedy
Influences	Chris Tucker
Influenced	Martin Lawrence
Spouse	Lorna Wells (m. 1999, 2 children)
Website	http://www.ceddybear.com/

Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), best known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American actor and comedian. He is perhaps best known as the co-star of the WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, as Eddie in the Barbershop films, and as one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 3 Filmography 4 Television 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Personal life

Cedric was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, the son of Rosetta, a school teacher, and Kitrell Kyles, an employee of a railroad company.¹ His only sibling, younger sister Sharita Kyles Wilson, is an instructor at the University of Missouri in Columbia.²³ He was raised in Caruthersville, Missouri, but after junior high school he moved to Berkeley, Missouri. Cedric is a 1982 graduate of Berkeley High School in Berkeley, Missouri. He continues his involvement with his high school by awarding a scholarship each year to a graduating senior through his Cedric the Entertainer Charitable Foundation Inc. The foundation's motto is, "Reaching Out...Giving Back." Cedric majored in Mass Communication at Southeast Missouri State University and worked as a State Farm insurance claims adjuster, and substitute High School teacher before becoming a full-time comedian. He is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi. He is married to Lorna Wells and they have two children, Croix and Lucky Rose, and an older daughter Tiara from a previous relationship.

Career

In 1992, he made his first TV appearance on It's Showtime at the Apollo. Soon after, he appeared on HBO's Def Comedy Jam and BET's ComicView, which he would later host for the 1993-94 season. Cedric was one of the Grand Prize Winners of the Miller Lite Comedy Search along with fellow comedian, Bernie Mac. In 1994, Cedric also won the Richard Pryor Comic of the Year Award from BET.

In 1996, Cedric moved into acting, playing Steve Harvey's friend, Cedric Jackie Robinson, on his sitcom, The Steve Harvey Show. His acting career grew and he began appearing in movies, including Dr. Dolittle 2, Barbershop, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Ride, Serving Sara, Johnson Family Vacation, Intolerable Cruelty, Man of the House, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Madagascar and Be Cool. Cedric was the subject of controversy when his Barbershop character made unsavory remarks regarding Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks.^{citation needed} These comments were spoken in character, were part of the script, and he has never apologized for them. In the 2005 animated film Madagascar, Cedric voiced Maurice the aye-aye. In October 2005, Cedric joined the Champ Car auto racing series as a part owner. Cedric appeared in the movie Charlotte's Web as the voice of Golly the gander. While his acting career grew, Cedric continued stand-up and traveled the country as one of the Kings of Comedy headliners, with Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Bernie Mac. The act was later made into a film by Spike Lee called The Original Kings of Comedy. Cedric briefly had his own sketch comedy show called Cedric the Entertainer Presents, but it never caught on and was canceled after one season. The show had been renewed for a second season, but Fox canceled it before the season began. He then appeared in the 2003 PlayStation 2 video game Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004. His most recent HBO Comedy Special was titled Cedric "The Entertainer": Taking You Higher. Two of the background dancers from the special were Kamilah Barrett and Sandra Colton, who were also finalists in Fox's So You Think You Can Dance.

Cedric appeared in the 2007 film Code Name: The Cleaner, a comedy in which he plays Jake, a janitor with amnesia who may be a secret undercover government agent involved in an illegal arms conspiracy. The film flopped, grossing under $10,000,000 out of its $20,000,000 budget. He then starred in the 2008 films Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins and Street Kings.

Cedric appeared as the lead comedian at the White House Correspondence Dinner but jokingly remarked that he was unprepared because he thought that he would follow a humorous speech by President George W. Bush but instead followed First Lady Laura Bush, who he commented was very funny.

Cedric the Entertainer was inducted to the St. Louis Walk of Fame on June 7, 2008. His star is located at 6166 Delmar.⁴

Cedric the Entertainer was the special guest host for WWE Raw on September 21, 2009 in Little Rock Arkansas . During the show, he participated in a wrestling match, defeating Chavo Guerrero by pinfall. The match also featured Santino Marella as a guest referee. Cedric also got help with an unknown wrestler dubbed The Sledge Hammer and Hornswoggle.⁵

In March 2000 Cedric filmed his Directorial Debut with Chicago Pulaski Jones, produced and funded indepently by his company Bird and a Bear Entertainment with Producer Eric C. Rhone.

Cedric was recently seen in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's "American Buffalo," the story of three small-time crooks that come to blows during a plot to steal a valuable coin collection.⁶

Filmography

• Ride (1998)
• Big Momma's House (2000)
• The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
• Kingdom Come (2001)
• Serving Sara (2002)
• Barbershop (2002)
• Ice Age (2002) (voice)
• Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
• Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004)
• Johnson Family Vacation (2004)
• Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
• Be Cool (2005)
• Madagascar (2005) (voice)
• Man of the House (2005)
• The Honeymooners (2005)
• Charlotte's Web (2006) (voice)
• Code Name:The Cleaner (2007)
• Talk to Me (2007)
• Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)
• Street Kings (2008)
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) (voice)
• Cadillac Records (2008)

Television

• It's Showtime at the Apollo (1987-present) - Himself
• Def Comedy Jam (1992-1997) - Himself
• Comic View (1992-present) - Himself
• The Steve Harvey Show (1996-2002) - Cedric J. Robinson
• Cedric the Entertainer Presents (2002) - Himself
• The Proud Family (Voice) (2001-2004) - Uncle Bobby Proud
• Un-broke: What You Need To Know About Money (2009 television special) - Himself
• WWE Raw (2009) - Special 'Guest Host'
• Wild 'n Out (2009) - 'Special Guest'
• Merry Madagascar (2009) - Maurice

See also

• All Jokes Aside Documentary

Preceded by Brad Garrett

Host of TV Land Awards 2005

Succeeded by Megan Mullally

References

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Cedric the Entertainer

External links

• Cedric the Entertainer Official Site
• Cedric the Entertainer at the Internet Movie Database
• Cedric the Entertainer interview on the Tavis Smiley show
• Cedric the Entertainer profile on Living St. Louis.
• Bill Bellamy and Cedric The Entertainer Headline Ccgi 2009