Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence
[1] (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, director, and producer. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor. Lawrence has acted in numerous movie roles and starred in his own television series, Martin
, which ran from 1992 to 1997.
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Biography
Early Life
Martin Lawrence was born in
Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where his father, John Lawrence, served in the
U.S. Military.
After his parents divorced in 1973,
[2] Lawrence rarely saw his father, who worked as a police officer at the time.
[3] His mother, Chlora, began working several jobs to support her family.
[4] During his teen years, Lawrence excelled at
boxing.
While living in Maryland, he attended Thomas G. Pullen School of Creative and Performing Arts (
Landover, Maryland),
Fairmont Heights High School (
Fairmount Heights, Maryland),
Eleanor Roosevelt High School and also
Friendly High School in
Fort Washington, Maryland, becoming a Mid-Atlantic
Golden Gloves boxing contender.
Career
Lawrence moved to Los Angeles and found his way to the legendary Kings Wood
comedy club. Shortly after appearing at the Wood, he won a performance spot on
Star Search
, a popular show in the United States.
He did well on the show and made it to the final round before ultimately losing. However, executives at
Columbia TriStar Television saw Martin's performance and offered him an appearance on the television
sitcom ''What's Happening Now
|
; this was his first acting job. Following
What's Happening Now
|
, Lawrence had bit parts in various films and television roles before entertainment mogul Russell Simmons personally selected him to host the groundbreaking series
Def Comedy Jam on HBO.
Def Comedy Jam
gave many comedians (including Chris Tucker, Dave Chapelle, Bernie Mac and Cedric The Entertainer) mainstream exposure. In 1990, before Def Comedy Jam, Martin received a career breakthrough in film when he appeared in the movie-comedy,
House Party
alongside Christopher "Play" Martin and Christopher "Kid" Reid (popular duo Kid n' Play.) In
House Party
, Martin's character is "Bilal", the neighborhood DJ, who DJs at the party "Play" throws at his house while his parents are out of town. Tisha Campbell also plays alongside Martin in House Party, House Party 2 & 3, and ultimately co-stars opposite Martin in his hit sitcom,
Martin''.
During his role in
Def Comedy Jam
, Lawrence appeared in his own hit series,
Martin
, which aired on
Fox.
The show ran from 1992 to 1997 and was considered a success. He also hosted
Saturday Night Live
on February 19, 1994, where he made crude remarks on women's
genitalia and personal
hygiene. The monologue was later completely edited out of reruns and
syndicated versions. As a result, Lawrence was banned from the show for the rest of his life. After
Martin
ended its run, Lawrence worked on many film projects most of which were in the
comedy genre. He often starred in films as the second lead opposite actors including
Eddie Murphy,
Will Smith, and
Tim Robbins.
Many of his films were
blockbusters at the box office, including
Boomerang
(1992),
Bad Boys
(1995),
Nothing To Lose
(1997),
Blue Streak
(1999),
Life
(1999),
Big Momma's House
(2000) and
Bad Boys 2
(2003). He also starred in critical and box office failures including
Black Knight
(2001) and
National Security
(2002). His salary increased dramatically to over $10 million per role. He continues to work in film, with his recent films including
Big Momma's House 2
, which opened #1 at the North American box office and grossed almost $28 million its first weekend,
[5] and
Wild Hogs
(2007), where he played a bored suburbanite looking for adventure on the open road in a biker comedy alongside
John Travolta,
Tim Allen and
William H. Macy.
In 2006, Lawrence appeared on
Inside the Actors Studio
where he was requested by the studio audience to act out his famous characters he played on his
Martin
television show. To a great deal of excitement and cheering from the studio audience, Lawrence most of his characters again, out of wardrobe and with no lines. The audience became particularly excited when Lawrence acted out his
Mama Payne
,
Sheneneh Jenkins
, and
Jerome
characters. During the interview, when yet another character was named off for him to act out, Lawrence mentioned how he was surprised at how many characters he used to perform on the show. Once his
Martin
show ended, Lawrence never brought back any of his characters for another TV series or movie.
In 2009, at the BET Awards, he appeared in a spoof trailer for a fictitious movie which featured him as his infamous character Sheneneh, and Jamie Foxx as his infamous character Wanda.
Lawrence has reportedly signed on to star in an upcoming comedy titled Black To Africa. According to Variety, Lawrence will play a working-class man from Queens New York who discovers that he is the heir to the throne of an African country and travels there to claim his birthright. Lawrence will serve as a producer on the film, which will be released via his Runteldat imprint and Alcon Entertainment. A release date for the film has not been revealed.
Personal life
He married
Patricia Southall, a former
Miss Virginia, in January 1995. They divorced in September 1996. Lawrence has a daughter with Southall named Jasmine Page, born on January 15, 1996. Lawrence also has two other daughters, Lyana and Ameria, born in 2001 and 2003.
In 1996, Lawrence's
Martin
co-star,
Tisha Campbell-Martin, filed a lawsuit against Lawrence and the show's producers for
sexual harassment and verbal and physical
assaults.
HBO Studios settled the lawsuit so the show's final season could be completed. Campbell-Martin agreed to complete the season on the condition that she not appear in any scenes with Lawrence.
[6]
While filming
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
in the mid-1990s, Lawrence had a violent outburst on the set and began taking psychotropic drugs. He became increasingly erratic and was arrested after he reportedly brandished a pistol and screamed at tourists on
Ventura Boulevard in
Los Angeles.
He was also arrested at
Burbank Airport for carrying a loaded gun in his suitcase. In March 1997, Lawrence was arrested again after assaulting a man in a
Hollywood nightclub.
During August 1999, Lawrence went into a three-day
coma after collapsing from
heat exhaustion while jogging in 100-degree heat with several layers of heavy clothing.
He recovered in the hospital from near death and running a body temperature of 107 °F (41.7 °C), his breathing assisted by a
respirator.
Filmography
Year
| Title
| Role
| Notes
|
1989
| ''Do The Right Thing
| Cee
|
|
1990
| House Party
| Bilal
|
|
1991
| Talkin' Dirty After Dark
| Terry
|
|
House Party 2
| Bilal
|
|
1992
| Boomerang
| Tyler
|
|
1994
| You So Crazy
| Himself
| stand-up acting executive producer and writer
|
1995
| Bad Boys
| Marcus Burnett
|
|
1996
| A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
| Narrator/Darnell 'Deeny/'D'/D.W.' Wright
| also director, exc. producer,music supervisor and writer
|
1997
| Nothing to Lose
| Terrance Paul Davidson
|
|
1999
| Life
| Claude Banks
|
|
Blue Streak
| Miles Logan/Detective Malone
|
|
2000
| Big Momma's House
| Malcolm Turner/Big Momma
| also executive producer
|
2001
| What's the Worst That Could Happen?
| Kevin Caffery
|
Black Knight
| Jamal Walker/Skywalker
|
2002
| Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat
| Himself
| also executive producer stand-up acting/writer
|
2003
| National Security
| Earl Montgomery
| also executive producer
|
Bad Boys II
| Marcus Burnett
|
|
2005
| Rebound
| Roy McCormick/Preacher Don
| also executive producer
|
2006
| Big Momma's House 2
| Malcolm Turner/Big Momma
|
Open Season
| Boog
| voice
|
2007
| Wild Hogs
| Bobby Davis
|
|
2008
| Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
| Dr. RJ Stevens/Roscoe Steven Jenkins, Jr.
|
|
College Road Trip
| Chief James Porter
|
|
2009-2010
| Big Momma's House 3 the return of lester
| Malcolm Turner/Hattie Mae "Big Momma" Pierce
| TBA
|
2010
| Wild Hogs 2: Bachelor Ride
| Bobby Davis
| also producer
|
Television
|'' (cast member from 1987-1988) - Maurice
- A Little Bit Strange
(1989) (unsold pilot)
- Hammer, Slammer, & Slade
(1990) (unsold pilot)
- Private Times
(1991) (unsold pilot)
- Martin
(1992-1997) - Martin Payne
- Def Comedy Jam
(host from 1992-1993)
Discography
Year
| Album
| Chart Positions
|
US
| US Hip-Hop
|
1993
| Martin Lawrence Live Talkin' Shit
| 76
| 10
|
1995
| Funk It
| -
| 35
|
Awards and nominations
- Blockbuster Entertainment Award
- *nominated with Eddie Murphy for Favorite Comedy Team (2000) for the movie Life
- *nominated for Favorite Actor (2001) for the movie Big Momma's House
- NAACP Image Award
- *won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1995) for the series Martin
- *won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1996) for the series Martin
- *nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1997) for the series Martin
- Kids' Choice Award
- *nominated for Favorite Television Actor (1995) for the series Martin
- *nominated for Favorite Television Actor (1996) for the series Martin
- *nominated for Favorite Movie Actor (2001) for the movie Big Momma's House
- MTV Movie Award
- *nominated with Will Smith for Best On-Screen Duo (1996) for the movie Bad Boys
- *nominated for the movie Big Momma's House
- *nominated with Will Smith for Best On-Screen Team (2003) for the movie Bad Boys II
- ShoWest - Male Star of Tomorrow (1995)
- Teen Choice Award - nominated for Wipeout Scene of the Summer (2000) for the movie Big Momma's House
- BET Comedy Award - Icon Comedy Award (2005)
References
- Stated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio''
- Martin Lawrence Biography - Yahoo! Movies
- Martin Lawrence Biography (1965-)
- Martin Lawrence - Profile, Latest News and Related Articles
- Yahoo! Movies - Weekend Box Office and Buzz
- Rebound: Old School Meets Middle School