Robert Townsend
- Birthday
- Feb 6, 1957
Bio: After seriously pursuing a baseball career, African American actor/writer/director Robert Townsend decided upon a life in show business. An alumnus of Illinois State University and Hunter College, Townsend worked as a stand-up comic, and with such organizations as Second City, the Negro Ensemble Theater and the Experimental Black Actor's Guild. In films from 1975,… More Bio: After seriously pursuing a baseball career, African American actor/writer/director Robert Townsend decided upon a life in show business. An alumnus of Illinois State University and Hunter College, Townsend worked as a stand-up comic, and with such organizations as Second City, the Negro Ensemble Theater and the Experimental Black Actor's Guild. In films from 1975, Townsend satirically encapsulated his frustrating experiences as a black performer in a white-dominated Hollywood with his first directorial effort, Hollywood Shuffle (1987), a labor of love which was largely financed with credit cards and chutzpah. He went on to direct the popular concert film Eddie Murphy Raw (1987), then tripled as actor, director and writer on The Five Heartbeats (1991) and Meteor Man (1993). Attempting to transfer his style and personality to the small screen, Townsend came up with the 1993 Fox Network variety weekly Townsend Television, which despite laudatory reviews folded after three months. Robert Townsend had better luck as star and co-executive producer of the WB network's The Parent 'Hood, a distressingly conventional 1995 sitcom which somehow caught on with its target audience. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Filmography
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In The Hive (2012)
- Director
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Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy (2009)
- Director
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Phantom Punch (2008)
- Director
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11.04.08: The Day Of Change (2008)
- Actor
- See all 44 films
Robert Townsend Videos
The Meteor Man
1 minutes 7 seconds
The Mighty Quinn
2 minutes 44 seconds
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
3 minutes 31 seconds
Eddie Murphy Raw
1 minutes 8 seconds
Taxman
2 minutes 49 seconds
Born Today
- Jamel Debbouze (38 years old)
- Kathleen Turner (59 years old)
- Max Records (16 years old)
- Julie Depardieu (40 years old)
- Lisa Barbuscia (42 years old)
- Keye Luke (109 years old)
- Marie Gillain (38 years old)
- Brian Benben (57 years old)
- Isabella Rossellini (61 years old)
- Kim Dickens (48 years old)
- Blake Shelton (37 years old)
- Carol Kane (61 years old)
- Kenan Imirzalioglu (39 years old)
- Tara Platt (33 years old)
- Roger Ebert (71 years old)
- Ian Carmichael (93 years old)
- George Hearn (79 years old)
- Kevin Bishop (33 years old)
- Willa Holland (22 years old)
- Alana De La Garza (37 years old)
- Paul McCartney (71 years old)
- Renee Olstead (24 years old)
- Eddie Cibrian (40 years old)
- Steve Miner (62 years old)
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