Wayne Brady

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Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady 2010.jpg
Brady at the World of Color premiere, 2010
BornWayne Alphonso Brady
June 2, 1972 (age 43)
Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
OccupationActor, television personality, comedian, singer, presenter, game show host
Years active1990–present
Spouse(s)Diana Lasso (1993–1995)
Mandie Taketa (1999–2008)
Website
waynebrady.com
Wayne Alphonso Brady[1] (born June 2, 1972) is an American actor, singer, comedian, and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedytelevision series Whose Line Is It Anyway?. He was the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show, the original host of Fox's Don't Forget the Lyrics!, and has hosted Let's Make a Deal since its 2009 revival.

Early life[edit]

Brady was born in Columbus, Georgia[2] to West Indian parents,[citation needed] and moved to Orlando, Florida as a young child to live with his grandmother and aunt. Brady refers to his grandmother, Valerie Petersen, as his "mom," since she raised him.[3][4] Brady is second cousin to professional footballer Jozy Altidore[citation needed] who currently plays for Toronto FC.[5] At 16, Brady started performing in community theater and at the Orlando improv troupe SAK Comedy Lab, where he first started developing his improv skills. He attended Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida, where he graduated in 1989. In 1990, he enrolled at the University of Miami.[6] In 1996, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he continued developing his acting skills.[7]

Career[edit]

Brady's career began as one of the improvisational theater performers in the original (British) version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, along with Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, and host Clive Anderson in 1998 when the last season was filmed in Hollywood, after which he became a regular on the American version, hosted by Drew Carey, which was his first Stateside television exposure. In 2003, Brady won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety, Musical or Comedy Series for his work on the show, the only person to win the award for a television series, as opposed to a special, since Dana Carvey in 1993.[citation needed]
He went on to star in his own ABC variety show in 2001 called The Wayne Brady Show, and a daytime talk show of the same name in 2002, which lasted two seasons and won four Daytime Emmy Awards, two of which went to Brady for Outstanding Talk Show Host. Brady guest-starred on The Drew Carey Show in 1999 and 2000 to take part in "Drew Live" and "Drew Live II". On the show, Brady played several games taken from Whose Line Is It Anyway? for the two episodes with other characters.
In 2004, Brady joined the Broadway revival of Chicago, playing the role of lawyer Billy Flynn. He appeared briefly in the final episode of the 2004 season of the comedy Reno 911!. He guest starred on the Sci Fi Channel's hit series show Stargate SG-1 as Trelak, the first-prime of the Goa'uld System Lord, Ares. He made an appearance on Chappelle's Show, poking fun at his squeaky clean persona.[8]
Brady wrote and sang the theme song for Disney's animated series The Weekenders. In 2005, he sang and recorded Jim Brickman's original Disney song "Beautiful" (a cover of All-4-One's 2002 hit "Beautiful As You") and its Christmas version.[9]
In 2006, Brady became the host of TV Land's That's What I'm Talking About, a talk show discussing the role of African-Americans in the entertainment industry. From August 29 – September 29, 2006, Brady hosted the Fox show Celebrity Duets.
Brady made several guest appearances on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, playing James Stinson, the gay brother of Neil Patrick Harris's character, Barney Stinson. Brady has also appeared as a guest star for the MTV show Wild 'N Out, and lent his voice to the Adult Swim show Robot Chicken.
Brady has also guest starred in the CBC comedy, Getting Along Famously, alongside his Whose Line is It Anyway? costar Colin Mochrie. He has also appeared on the episode "You Don't Know Jack" on the television show Dirt and also guest starred on the show 30 Rock, where he played the role of Steven Black, Liz Lemon's date for The Source Awards.
Brady was the co-host of the short-lived VH1 show Vinyl Justice in 1998. In 2007, he starred in the ABC Family film The List. He starred in Flirt,[10] a comedy pilot developed for The CW Television Network, which, if it had been picked up, would have aired in the 2006–07 television season.
Brady guest starred as Julius Rock's gifted younger brother, Louis, in the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris, and hosted a singing game show called Don't Forget the Lyrics! on Fox until its cancellation in June 2009. He also performs "Wayne Brady: Making $%!^ up" at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada four nights a week.[11][12] He was also on two episodes of Kevin Hill. Brady's debut album was released on September 16, 2008. Brady's version of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" earned Brady a Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance category.[13]
Brady started hosting an updated version of the game show Let's Make a Deal for CBS in October 2009, which taped at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas and currently tapes in Los Angeles. The show replaced the soap opera Guiding Light, which ended its long-time run. The original host of Let's Make a Deal was Monty Hall, who serves as consultant for the new show. Drew Carey currently hosts The Price Is Right, and thus, both game shows in the CBS daytime lineup (as of May 2013) hold the distinction of being hosted by an alumnus of Whose Line Is It Anyway?.
Brady was the guest host on the May 3, 2010 episode of WWE Raw, where he was involved in an in-ring segment with Edge and Randy Orton, and eventually getting RKO'd by Orton.[14] Later that year, in August, Brady played the role of Tom Collins in a staged production of Rent at the Hollywood Bowl. The production was directed by Neil Patrick Harris.[15]
Brady appeared alongside Let's Make a Deal announcer Jonathan Mangum in two episodes of Fast and Loose, a new improvisational series on BBC2 hosted by Hugh Dennis, in January 2011. Then, along with Holly Robinson Peete, he co-hosted the 42nd annual NAACP Image Awards on March 4, 2011.[16]
On May 3 he appeared on Dancing With The Stars as the lead performer in a tribute to James Brown, celebrating what would have been Brown's 78th birthday in the Macy's Stars of Dance segment. He has also been a special guest of Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza on GSN.
Brady made a cameo in the 2011 song "Dedication To My Ex (Miss That)" by Lloyd featuring Lil Wayne and Andre 3000, narrating Lil Wayne's section of the song. He also appeared as a special guest star in the March 14, 2012 episode of the TV series Psych.
Brady starred in the 2012 ABC improvisational comedy series Trust Us with Your Life, and returned for the revival of Whose Line Is It Anyway? in the Summer of 2013.[17][18]
Brady guest starred as Don in the Phineas and Ferb episode, "Where's Pinky?" on June 7, 2013 and for one week February 9 to 13, 2015, guest host on The Late Late Show on CBS.

Personal life[edit]

In 2007, Brady became an official supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, the Friends of RMHC.[19]
Brady has been married twice. He married Diana Lasso on December 31, 1993. They divorced on September 21, 1995. On April 3, 1999, he married dancer Mandie Taketa. He and Taketa have one child, a daughter named Maile Masako Brady, born on February 3, 2003. Brady and Taketa separated on April 5, 2006 and Taketa filed for divorce on July 2, 2007.[20]
In 2013, Bill Maher jokingly compared Brady to President Barack Obama, in that they were both supposedly "not black enough". Brady took issue with this statement, suggesting that Maher should "be careful when you make statements like that, because it will allow his viewers to make the same stereotypical assumptions about black people."[21]
Wayne stated in a November 2014 Entertainment Tonight interview that he suffers from clinical depression, and that he suffered a mental breakdown on his 42nd birthday. He credits Taketa for helping him recover.[22]

Filmography[edit]

YearTitleRoleNotes
1990SuperboyJohnEpisode: "The Sons of Icarus"
1993I'll Fly AwayDamon2 episodes
1993In the Heat of the NightHenry Ulmer"Hatton's Turn" Parts 1 & 2
1997–99Kwik WitzHimself
1998Whose Line Is It Anyway?HimselfSeries 10; British version
1998–2006,
2013–present		Whose Line Is It Anyway?HimselfStarring seasons 2–7, 9–; recurring seasons 1 & 8
Also executive producer (season 9–); American version
1999, 2000The Drew Carey ShowHimself2 episodes
2000Batman BeyondMicron"The Call" Parts 1 & 2
2000GeppettoThe MagicianTV movie
2001-2004The Wayne Brady ShowHimself, HostVariety Show
2002Miss AmericaHimself, host
2004Clifford's Really Big MovieShackelford
2004Going to the MatMason Wyatt
2004Chappelle's ShowHimself2 episodes
2005Roll BounceD.J. Johnny Feelgood
2005Stargate SG-1TrelakEpisode: "It's Good to be King"
2006/08Everybody Hates ChrisLouis2 episodes
2006Stuart Little 3: Call of the WildReeko (Voice)Video
2006CrossoverVaughn
2006Shorty McShorts' ShortsCameronVoice; 3 episodes
2006–2014How I Met Your MotherJames Stinson13 episodes
2007The ListLewis
200730 RockSteven BlackEpisode: "The Source Awards"
2007DirtHenchmanEpisode: "You Don't Know Jack"
2008The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the DragonSparx
2007–09Don't Forget the Lyrics!Himself, host
2009–presentLet's Make a DealHimself, host
2011Fast and LooseHimself, performer
2011Are We There Yet?DevinEpisode: "The Man and the Bragging Snafu Episode"
2011Drew Carey's Improv-A-GanzaHimself, guest panelist
2012–13American DadCuba Gooding Jr. / TungeeVoice; 3 episodes
2012Foodfight!Daredevil DanVoice
2012Trust Us with Your Life2 episodes
2012PsychHilton FoxEpisode: "Shawn and the Real Girl"
2013-presentSofia the FirstClover the RabbitVoice
2013So You Think You Can DanceHimself, guest judge2 episodes
2013Scooby-Doo! Stage FrightBrik Pimlento
2014Hollywood Game NightHimself
2014So You Think You Can DanceHimselfGuest Judge [23]
2014The Hero of Color CityBlue
2015The Late Late ShowHimself, guest host5 episodes

Discography[edit]

Albums
YearAlbum detailsChart Positions
USUS
R&B		US
Heat
2008A Long Time Coming 157202
2011Radio Wayne ———
Singles
  • 2000
  • 2004
    • "Unsung Heroes"
    • "Between" – Wayne Brady with The Sesame Street Muppets
  • 2005
    • "Beautiful" – Wayne Brady, accompanied on piano by songwriter Jim Brickman
    • "Don't Stop" – Jamie Jones featuring Wayne Brady and William Carthright
  • 2008
  • 2009
    • "F.W.B."
  • 2013

References[edit]

Notes
  1. Jump up ^ PeopleFinders.com | People Summary
  2. Jump up ^ video Let's Make A Deal, episode May 11, 2010 at 9:23 minutes, Wayne Brady says he was born in Columbus, Georgia.
  3. Jump up ^ Brady, Wayne. "A Long Time Coming iTunes Booklet (PDF)" (PDF). concordmusicgroup.com. p. 7. My mother, Valerie Petersen, the best mother a guy could have.
  4. Jump up ^ Walker, Nicole (2003-02-10). "Wayne Brady". Jet 103 (7). Brady also credits his 72-year-old grandmother, Valerie Peterson [sic], who reared him and whom he affectionately calls 'Mom,'...
  5. Jump up ^ "Toronto FC acquire US international Jozy Altidore via Allocation, send Jermain Defoe to Sunderland". MLSsoccer.com. January 16, 2015.
  6. Jump up ^ Totalspeakers.com | Wayne Brady
  7. Jump up ^ Boedeker, Hal (2007-07-02). "Joey Fatone, Wayne Brady form mutual-admiration society". OrlandoSentinel.com. Orlando Sentinel Communications. Archived from the original on 2008-04-25. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
  8. Jump up ^ Neal Brennan & Dave Chappelle (writers); Neal Brennan (director) (2004-04-07). "Episode #2.12". Chappelle's Show. Season 2. Episode 12. Comedy Central.
  9. Jump up ^ "Beautiful" from The Disney Songbook album by Jim Brickman and Disney's Cinderella [Special Edition] soundtrack. "Beautiful" (Christmas version) from Disney's Princess Christmas Album
  10. Jump up ^ Dana Slagle, "Comedic Actor Wayne Brady Demonstrates Versatility In New Movie, 'Crossover'", Jet 110.11 (Sep 18, 2006), 61.
  11. Jump up ^ Wayne Brady Las Vegas Show Tickets – Comedy at The Venetian
  12. Jump up ^ Wayne Brady: Making it Up! | VEGAS.com
  13. Jump up ^ "News » Grammy Nomination". Wayne Brady. 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  14. Jump up ^ WWE.com March 22, 2010
  15. Jump up ^ Brady, Tveit, Astin And Thoms Join RENT At Hollywood Bowl
  16. Jump up ^ "Wayne Brady and Holly Robinson Peete to Host ’42nd NAACP Image Awards’ Friday, March 4 on Fox – Ratings | TVbytheNumbers". Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  17. Jump up ^ "About this show: Trust us with your life". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  18. Jump up ^ Ng, Philiana (March 1, 2013). "'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' Being Revived by The CW". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  19. Jump up ^ "Celebrity Friends of RMHC". McDonald's Corporation.
  20. Jump up ^ "Comic Wayne Brady, Wife Divorcing". People. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  21. Jump up ^ http://www.mediaite.com/tv/wayne-brady-calls-bullsht-on-bill-maher-i-will-beat-your-ass-in-public-for-questioning-my-black-cred/
  22. Jump up ^ Bueno, Antoinette (3 November 2014). "Wayne Brady Opens Up About His Depression: 'I Had a Complete Breakdown'". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  23. Jump up ^ "So You Think You Can Dance - 2014 Casting Guide with Call Dates". Retrieved June 19, 2014.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wayne Brady.

Media offices
Preceded by
Tony Danza		Host of Miss America
2002		Succeeded by
Tom Bergeron
Preceded by
Bob Barker		Host, Daytime Emmy Awards
2003		Succeeded by
Vanessa Marcil
Preceded by
First Host		Host of Don't Forget the Lyrics!
2007–2009		Succeeded by
Mark McGrath
Preceded by
Billy Bush		Host of Let's Make a Deal
2009–present		Succeeded by
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