Tommy Davidson

Thomas Davidson (born November 10, 1963) is an American comedian, film and television actor.[2] He was an original cast member on the sketch comedy TV show In Living Color.

Tommy Davidson
Davidson in 2008
Born	(1963-11-10) November 10, 1963 Rolling Fork, Mississippi, U.S.
Alma mater	Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (1982) University of the District of Columbia (one semester)
Occupation	Actor, comedian
Years active	1984–present[1]
Known for	Various roles in In Living Color Rushon in Booty Call Mitchell in Between Brothers Womack/Sleep'n Eat in Bamboozled Oscar Proud in The Proud Family
Children	2

Early years

Born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi,[3] Davidson was abandoned in the trash at 18 months old, before being rescued by the woman who became his adoptive mother.[4][5] He was a child of an interracial adoption; his adoptive parents are Caucasian, and he is African-American.[4] He has two older Caucasian siblings, Michael and Beryle. He and his family had moved from Colorado to Wyoming to Oregon by the time he was 5 years old,[6] when they settled in Silver Spring, Maryland.[4] He attended high school at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, in Bethesda, Maryland.[4] After graduating in 1981,[4] he studied communications and interned at the radio station of the University of the District of Columbia for one semester.[7] He had jobs in the kitchen of a hospital and in the storeroom of Hechinger in Hyattsville, Maryland.[4]

Career

Davidson started his career as a stand-up comedian in 1986,[1] when a childhood friend convinced him to perform stand-up at The Penthouse strip club in Park View, Washington, D.C..[4][8] He continued performing in various comedy clubs throughout the Washington Metropolitan region, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. He opened concerts for Patti LaBelle, Starpoint, and Kenny G.[9] He performed on a fundraising telethon for WHMM in 1987.[10]

Davidson won an amateur stand-up competition at the Apollo Theater in 1987.[4] Soon afterwards, he moved to North Hollywood, California, where he met Martin Lawrence, who lived in his building.[4][11] He performed at the Comedy Store, where Robert Townsend heard of him and asked him to be the warm-up comic for an HBO special.[4] After performing at Luther Vandross and Anita Baker shows, he appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show.[4]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Kid 'n Play: Funhouse	Uncredited	Video Short
1991	Strictly Business	Bobby
1993	CB4	Weird Warren
1993	A Cool Like That Christmas	Orlando	Television Movie
1995	Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls	The Tiny Warrior
1997	Booty Call	Rushon
1997	Plump Fiction	Julius
1998	Woo	Tim
1999	Pros & Cons	Ron Carter
2000	Bamboozled	Womack / Sleep'n Eat
2002	The Scream Team	Jumper	Television Movie
2002	Juwanna Mann	Puff Smokey Smoke
2004	Funky Monkey	Harland
2005	The Proud Family Movie	Oscar Proud (voice)	Television Movie
2009	Black Dynamite	Cream Corn
2009	Pimp 24/7	Detective Bill	Television Movie
2011	Dance Fu	Addict
2011	Shadow Hills	uncredited	Television Movie
2012	Who Killed Soul Glow	uncredited
2016	Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens	Aston Reynolds	Television Movie
2018	Fury of the Fist and the Golden Fleece	Homeless Comic
2018	Frat Pack	Big Daddy

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	CBS Summer Playhouse	Prince Tariq	Episode: "Coming To America"
1990–94	In Living Color	Various roles	125 episodes; Credited as Tommy Davidson
1990	Kid 'n' Play	Jazzy / Acorn	Television Animated Series
1991	Robert Townsend: Partners in Crime	Himself	Volume 3
1992	Roc	Donald	Episode: "The Hand That Rocs the Cradle"
1993	The Commish	Reese	Episode: Rising Sun
1993	Martin	Varnel Hill	Episodes: "Hollywood Swinging Parts 1& 2"
1994	Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man	Marvin	Episode: "Joking the Chicken"
1995-99	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Cassim / Jester	Animated Series
1996	The Ren & Stimpy Show	Sammy Mantis	Episode: "Sammy and Me/The Last Temptation"
1996	Boston Common	Darrell	Episode: "Soup to Nuts"
1997-99	Between Brothers	Mitchell Ford	17 episodes
1999-2000	Malcolm & Eddie	Dexter Sherman	4 episodes
2000	Cousin Skeeter	Uncredited	Episode: "The Feminine Ms. Skeet"
2000	The Wonderful World of Disney	Max	Episode: "Santa Who?"
2001-05	The Proud Family	Oscar Proud	Animated series
2002	The Proud Family Shorties	Oscar Proud	Television Mini-Series
2002	MADTv	Woogie Jones Johnson	Episodes 8.11, 8.19 & 9.6
2004-05	The Bernie Mac Show	Lou	Episodes: "Who Gives This Bride" & "Family Reunion"
2005	Lilo & Stitch: The Series	Oscar Proud	Episode: "Spats: Experiment #397"
2007	Everybody Hates Chris	Eddie	Episode: “Everybody Hates Houseguests”
2011-15	Black Dynamite	Cream Corn / Scarecrow	20 Episodes
2016-present	Vacation Creation	Host
2018	I'm Dying Up Here	Alan Lucas	Episode: " Plus One"
TBA	The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder	Oscar Proud	Upcoming series[12]

Comedy specials

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Takin' It To D.C.	Himself	Stand-Up Special
1991	Illin' in Philly	Himself	Stand-Up Special
1996	On The Strength	Himself	Stand-Up Special
2009	Shaq & Cedric the Entertainer Present: All Star Comedy Jam	Himself	Stand-Up Special

References

1. Peterson, Miranda (February 1, 2012). "Laughing with Comedian Tommy Davidson: Tommy talks Obama, performing for the troops & how to start a career in comedy". joonbug. SkyNet Media Group LLC.
2. Company, Johnson Publishing (1996). Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. pp. 14–.
3. Leff, Bill; Snyder, Wendy (September 18, 2013). "Actor and comedian Tommy Davidson reminisces with Bill and Wendy about his "In Living Color" days, compares his life to Webster and talks about his upcoming show at Laugh Factory Chicago" (audio). WGN Radio.
4. Brown, DeNeen (February 18, 1996). "In Living Black-and-White: How Tommy Davidson's World Shaped His Very Funny Comedy". The Washington Post. p. G1.
5. Maron, Marc, "Episode 605 - Tommy Davidson / Phil Hendrie", WTF with Marc Maron, May 25, 2015. (24th minute).
6. Gebreyes, Rahel (October 27, 2014). "Tommy Davidson Looks Back On Being Adopted Into A White Family In The '60s". The Huffington Post.
7. Brown, Bridgit (July 22, 2010). "In Living Tommy". The Boston Banner. pp. 11, 13.
8. Stoddard, Christine (May 15, 2013). "Comedian Tommy Davidson Comes to Richmond". Richmond Times-Dispatch.
9. Piccoli, Sean (April 20, 1990). "From strip joint to Fox: He's 'In Living Color'". The Washington Times. p. E1.
10. "WHMM Kicks Off Spring Membership Drive". Washington Informer. March 11, 1987. p. 18.
11. Doup, Liz (January 8, 1991). "The Fresh Face of Fame". The Sun-Sentinel.
12. Swift, Andy (February 27, 2020). "The Proud Family Revival Ordered at Disney+ With Original Cast — First Look". TVLine.

External links

• Tommy Davidson on IMDb