David Alan Grier
(born June 30, 1955), also known as "D.A.G." (DAG), is an American actor and comedian known for his work on the sketch comedy television show In Living Color
. He hosted the Comedy Central satirical news and sketch comedy program Chocolate News
from October 15, 2008 to December 17, 2008.
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DAVID ALAN GRIER TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Grier was born in
Detroit, Michigan, the son of Aretas Ruth (
née Dudley) and
William Henry Grier, a psychiatrist and writer who co-wrote the book
Black Rage
.
[1] He graduated from Detroit's premier high school,
Cass Tech and received a
BA from the
University of Michigan, and an
MFA from the
Yale School of Drama. Immediately after graduating, he landed the role of
Jackie Robinson in the short-lived
Broadway musical The First
, directed by
Martin Charnin and written by
Joel Siegel.
Career
Grier got his start on the
National Public Radio radio drama adaptation of
Star Wars in 1980. He was the voice of a nameless
X-Wing fighter pilot during the Battle of Yavin.
Grier was nominated for a
Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and won the
Theatre World Award for
The First
. He later starred as James "Thunder" Early in the hit Broadway musical
Dreamgirls
. Grier made his film debut in 1983 in
Streamers
, directed by
Robert Altman. He won the
Golden Lion for Best Actor at the
Venice Film Festival for the film. He also appeared in the
Negro Ensemble Company production
A Soldier's Play
and reprised his role in the film version
A Soldier's Story
. Although primarily known for his dramatic work, Grier began to shift towards comedy, making memorable appearances in the
cult films Amazon Women on the Moon
and
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
.
Keenen Ivory Wayans, the director of
Sucka
, cast Grier in his new
variety show In Living Color
. It became a ratings hit and won an
Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series. Grier became a popular cast member through his characters, which ranged from hyperactive children to crotchety old men. Among his prominent characters were obnoxious, megaphone-blaring shop teacher Al MacAfee; the elderly Mr. Brooks, whose autumn years are a never-ending verbal battle with his wife;
Calhoun Tubbs, a blues musician with very limited creativity; a member of Funky Finger Productions, a production company with more ambition than resources; and, most famously, flamboyant and proud homosexual Antoine Merriweather in the recurring sketch 'Men On Film'. He also played Rev. Leon Lonnie Love on the TV series
Martin
. After his success on the show, Grier began appearing in comedies such as
Boomerang
(as
Eddie Murphy's shy friend Gerard)
Blankman
(with
Damon Wayans),
In the Army Now
(as Fred Ostroff) along with
Pauley Shore and
Andy Dick in 1994, and as a policeman whose car is memorably crushed and eaten by a giant pod in
Jumanji
. Grier also gave a strong dramatic performance as an abusive father in
Rusty Cundieff's horror anthology
Tales from the Hood. In 1999, he made a guest appearance as himself on the
Aw, Here it Goes to Hollywood
episode of
Nickelodeon's sitcom,
Kenan & Kel
.
[2]
After the cancellation of
In Living Color
, Grier starred in the short-lived
sitcoms
The Preston Episodes,
Damon
(with
In Living Color
co-star
Damon Wayans) and
DAG
. He began doing
stand-up comedy and was an instant success. He hosted the
Comedy Central series
Premium Blend
. He also returned to Broadway in the musical
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
. In 2002, Grier joined the cast of the improv-based
ABC sitcom and
Bonnie Hunt vehicle
Life with Bonnie
which ran only two seasons. During this time, he continued to appear in comedy films but also returned to drama in the films
BAADASSSSS!
and
The Woodsman
. He starred in his own Comedy Central stand-up special
The Book of David: The Cult Figure's Manifesto
. He is also a frequent guest on the Comedy Central show
Crank Yankers
. Grier was the host of the
NBC show
Thank God You're Here.
He will also host his own national late night syndicated TV show in early 2007. He is currently starring in the revival production of
The Wiz
at the
La Jolla Playhouse directed by
Des McAnuff.
Grier is in talks to play the lead role in
The Nation
, a musical based on the rise of
Louis Farrakhan. Grier reports, "It has always been a dream of mine to take the controversy filled life of Minister Farrakhan and incorporate song and intricate dance routines. I really feel this could be my career defining role". Grier recently starred in
Gym Teacher: The Movie playing the villain, Shelly Bragg. He appeared as
Uncle Henry in the
ABC 2005 television movie
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
.
In October 2008, Grier began hosting a new
Comedy Central show called
Chocolate News
which focuses on how Grier "thinks" African Americans view the world. It is a spoof on TV news magazines, and, in a parodying way, how blacks would produce news and offer commentary. However, according to an article and statement by David Allen Grier, after the first show and with just one season completed, Chocolate News was canceled by Comedy Central.
[3] Even after its attempts to promote the show by "D.A.G." (DAG) such as on
The Bonnie Hunt Show,
it has not been renewed.
Grier appeared in
Dance Flick
as "Sugar Bear." The film was released in February 2009. He also was the voice for
Kobe Bryant
in the
Nike
puppet commercials.
In fall of 2009, Grier’s first book,
Barack Like Me: The Chocolate-Covered Truth, will be published by
Simon & Schuster.
[4] [5] The book will recount Grier's own life story, and is coauthored by
Alan Eisenstock. It is scheduled for release on October 6, 2009.
[6]
Loveline
He was often referred to as the third host of the radio show
Loveline
, as he was a frequent guest and guest host (usually filling in for Adam Carolla). One of his most famous contributions was a bit where he began calling out various pharmaceutical drugs Dr. Drew was recommending to a caller as though they were the names of black children being yelled at by their parents.
Also, on one of his other infamous episodes on 2002-09-25, David stops by lamenting his recent breakup with his girlfriend of four years. He recently (at the time) found out she had been cheating on him with multiple famous actors, at one point in the show DAG coughs while saying the names to avoid legal troubles.
During the show Engineer Anderson slows down the recording and plays it back, and the listeners are able to discern the names
Tom Sizemore and
Colin Farell from them. It is still unclear who the third person he named was.
Grier's supposed last appearance on
Loveline
was April 16, 2006.
[7] On his
MySpace page, Grier posted in a
blog:
“
| To all of my loyal fans. It pains me greatly to inform you all that I will probably never be heard on the radio show Loveline again. I have been informed of this sad fact by the one and only Dr. Drew Pinsky. I know not how or why this has happened, but we must ALL move on...
| ”
|
On March 3, 2009, David was a guest on
The Adam Carolla Podcast. He explained that the reason he was not asked back on
Loveline
was because the producers of the show did not want him back on despite Dr. Drew pushing for him to again be a guest. While Dr. Drew wasn't initially upfront with him about this, David has no hard feelings toward him and Dr. Drew has since apologized for what happened. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Drew explained on Loveline what had happened and expressed his intent to petition the producers for David to return, and on August 10, 2009, his request was finally granted: After over 3 years, David was once again on Loveline, joining former host
Adam Carolla and
Dr. Bruce Heischober
The Adam Carolla Show
Grier has made many guest appearances on the
Adam Carolla Show (
97.1 FreeFM), usually to plug his improv performances and have fun with the gang. One of his recurring bits is where he enacts a heavy-set black woman named Peanut who does a terrible job answering the phones at FreeFM. He also frequently antagonizes the co-host Teresa Strasser. This is done most often by snoring loudly while Teresa reads the news. Carolla's radio show is off the air, but Grier regularly appears on the Adam Carolla Podcast.
Dancing with the Stars
David was a contestant on the
8th season of
Dancing with the Stars
,
[8] partnered with
Kym Johnson. By the fourth week of the competition, Grier announced that he had lost 26 pounds.
[9] He was eliminated in the fifth week.
Performances
Week
| Dance
| Song Danced To
| Score
| Order Danced To
| Results
|
1 Night One
| Waltz
| "You Light Up My Life" - Whitney Houston
| 19
| 11
| No Elimination
|
1 Night Two
| Salsa
| "El Cumbanchero" - Angel Malandez and the 911 Orchestra
| 17
| 2
| Safe
|
2
| Foxtrot
| "Come Rain or Come Shine" - Natalie Cole
| 24
| 8
| Safe
|
3
| Lindy Hop
| "Bandstand Boogie" - Barry Manilow
| 22
| 1
| Safe
|
4
| Viennese Waltz
| "I Put a Spell on You" - Nina Simone
| 22
| 5
| Bottom 2
|
Week Four Dance-Off
| Viennese Waltz
| "I Put a Spell on You" - Nina Simone
| 24
| 1
| Eliminated Lost to Lawrence Taylor
|
Personal life
Grier was previously married to Maritza Rivera and they were divorced in 1995. In July 2007, he married Christine Y. Kim, Associate
Curator at the
Studio Museum in Harlem. Kim gave birth to their daughter Luisa Danbi Grier-Kim on January 10, 2008 at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
[10] On June 9, 2009, according to TMZ, Christine filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.
[11]
Grier is a fan of motorcycles
[12] [13] [14] [15] [16] and owns the rare
Yamaha YZF-R1 Limited Edition [17] and on the August 11, 2009 episode of Loveline agreed to auction it to aid Bryan Bishop's Tumor Fund before storming out while Carolla and Anderson bickered on air. Grier is also a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do
In Living Color
Characters
- Al MacAfee
- Antoine Merriweather (Men On Film
)
- Calhoun Tubbs
- Cephus (Cephus & Reesie
)
- Clavelle (Funky Finger Productions
)
- David (Life with Bonnie
)
- Doug McPherson (Hemorrhoid Guy
)
- Hoke (Driving Miss Schott
)
- Jazz Mo' (Life with Bonnie
)
- Lamont Hightower
- Leon (Snack 'n Shack
)
- Lil' Magic's Mom
- Little Kid (Homey D. Clown
)
- Lonnie Anderson
- Loomis Simmons
- Mac
- Mr. Brooks
- Phat Man (Chocolate News
)
- Sammy (Zodiac Comedy Shack
)
- Tiny (Prison Cable Network
)
- Don 'No Soul' Simmons (Amazon Women on the Moon
)
- Candleopra (Chocolate News
)
- Seemingly homeless man in the soul diner (blurts out such classic lines as "I pop my pimples cuz they tell me to" and "I have a boil with an eye on it.")
Other Notable Roles / Characters
- Jimmy (My Wife and Kids TV series
)
- Kevin Walker / That Other Guy (Blankman
)
- Sugar Bear (Dance Flick
)
- Carl (Jumanji
)
- Performed as himself in a video installation created by artist Edgar Arcenaeux called The Alchemy of Comedy... Stupid
. The work was originally commissioned by Gallery 400 [18] at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was later shown at the 2008 Whitney Biennial. [19]
Impressions
- Al Sharpton
- Kobe Bryant in Nike MVP Commercials
- Clarence Thomas
- Colin Powell
- Dr. Dre
- Gary Coleman
- Ike Turner
- Joe Jackson
- Leonard Nimoy
- Marion Barry
- Maya Angelou
- Michael Winslow
- Muhammad Ali
- Ray Charles
- Rodney King
- Sinbad
- Dr. Drew Pinsky [20]
- Rev. Jeremiah Wright
References
- David Alan Grier Biography (1955?-)
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0619382/
- http://www.respect-authority.com/2008/10/in-future-chocolate-news/
- http://books.simonandschuster.com/Barack-Like-Me/David-Alan-Grier/9781439154922
- http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/show-patrol/2009/06/david-alan-grier-chicago-tbs.html
- http://authors.simonandschuster.com/David-Alan-Grier/63692388
- http://lovelinearchive.com/
- "Dancing’s Season Eight Cast Is Revealed! - PEOPLE TV Watch", 2009-02-09
- Dancing with the Stars Contestant Loses 26 Pounds Us Weekly, March 31, 2009
- Comedian David Alan Grier Welcomes a Girl - Babies, David Alan Grier : People.com
- >[1]
- http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=23484
- http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/303/1447/Motorcycle-Article/2005-Seattle-100-Charity-Ride.aspx
- http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=26542
- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/07/23/SPG93R56JV1.DTL
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E5DB163EF930A2575BC0A9609C8B63
- Adam Carolla Podcast, 2009-05-29
- http://www.uic.edu/aa/college/gallery400/01_exhibit-past.htm
- http://www.whitney.org/www/2008biennial/www/?section=artists&page=artist_arceneaux
- 5/12/08 The Adam Carolla Show