American actor John Witherspoon: biography, interesting facts and best films

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Actor John Witherspoon's career flourished during the early days of television shows. He took part in many of them and was remembered by the audience primarily as a comedian. Today, John Witherspoon lives for his own pleasure in his own house with his wife. However, she periodically appears in films as a guest star.

Strong relationships since childhood

The future comedian was born on January 27, 1942 in Detroit, one of twelve children. Despite the almost distressed situation, the family was distinguished by strong relations. Many of John's brothers made their way into the arts. So, William became a famous songwriter, and Cato took up his own business related to video rental. The brothers maintained friendly relations even in adulthood. It is noteworthy that none of them, having achieved fame, did not suffer from star fever.

John Witherspoon started his modeling career, appearing for several brochuresclothing manufacturers. And then I realized that fame would not come like that, and went to television.

Stars nearby

He did not study acting, but simply decided to try his hand and came to the audition. The producers gave the newcomer a chance and offered him a small role in a show called Barnaby Jones. It was a big responsibility: our hero had to make the audience laugh. And he did it very well. "Lit up" in a number of passing television series, in 1980, John received his first small role in the musical drama "The Jazz Singer". The main star in it was Laurence Olivier, and Witherspoon was shocked at how close he could be with a star of this magnitude.

In the early 80s, there was not a single show on the screen in which John Witherspoon would not appear. Films and series with his participation were warmly received by the audience, and his popularity as an actor grew. Moreover, he tried in every possible way to diversify his role - he appeared in the form of a detective, then in the role of a fraudulent hamburger seller.

Long road to fame

Since the mid-80s, Witherspoon has been taking a break from television and focusing on feature-length work. One after another, several paintings with his participation are released: “Bird”, “Kidnapped”, “Five Hot Hearts”, “Home Party”. John Witherspoon continued his ascent into the 90s, appearing in films such as Fatal Instinct and Vampire in Brooklyn.

Back in 1988, John tied the knot with actress Angela Robinson. They are,By the way, they appeared more than once in general pictures. The couple had two sons, whose godfather was the famous TV presenter David Letterman. John struck up a friendship with him many years ago.

In 2017, Angela directed the documentary Mister, starring John.

The real breakthrough came with the release of the 1995 comedy Friday. With a small budget, its box office surprised everyone: both producers and critics. The latter especially noted the minor appearance of Witherspoon. The continuation of the comedy called "Next Friday" was no less successful. The triquel One More Friday was released in 2002.

In the early 2000s, John got small roles in a number of famous films, including "Naughty", "After Sex" and "Nikki the Devil Jr." By the way, many Hollywood stars starred in this comedy, including aspiring actress Reese Witherspoon. Press interest in the film was fueled by a curious moment - are John Witherspoon and Reese Witherspoon relatives? As it turned out, no. Reese's relative was the full namesake of John, who at one time signed the declaration of independence of America, and with our hero they were just namesakes.

Back to basics

The actor always loved music, but did not perform professionally. However, he supported many performers and was happy to star in their videos. Among those were the hip-hop group Field Mob, Jay-Z and others.

In 2008, John Witherspoon returned to hiscomedy origins and organized a whole tour in which he appeared as a comedian in various images. He also created the scenes himself. The premiere took place on the Showtime Network, and after that he visited about twenty cities. John later performed at the Funny Bone comedy club in Mississippi.

John Witherspoon Filmography

During his career, the actor starred in more than eighty films. In addition to the paintings mentioned in this article, in conclusion, we will focus on other famous film works by John Witherspoon:

• "Murder was business" (1995);
• "Swindlers" (1998);
• Doctor Dolittle 2 (2001);
• "A Thousand Words" (2009);
• Black Comedy (2014).