# Robert Townsend (actor)

Robert Townsend (born February 6, 1957) is an American actor, director, comedian, and writer. Townsend is best known for directing the films Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Eddie Murphy Raw (1987), The Five Heartbeats (1991) and various other films and stand-up specials. He is especially known for his portrayal of The WB's sitcom The Parent 'Hood 's main character Robert Peterson, the series he created and directed select episodes of ran from 1995 to 1999. He later wrote, directed and produced Making the Five Heartbeats (2018), a documentary film about the production process and behind the scenes insight into creating the film. Townsend is also known for his production company Townsend Entertainment which has produced films Playin' for Love, In the Hive and more. During the 1980s and early–1990s, Townsend gained national exposure through his stand-up comedy routines and appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Townsend has worked with talent including Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Chris Tucker, Beyoncé, Denzel Washington, Ayo Edebiri, and many more.

## Early life and career

Townsend was born in Chicago, the second of four children to Shirley (née Jenkins) and Robert Townsend. His mother ended up raising him and his three siblings as a single parent. Growing up on the city's west side, Townsend attended Austin High School; graduating in 1975. He became interested in acting as a teenager. During a reading of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex in high school, Townsend captured the attention of Chicago's X Bag Theatre, The Experimental Black Actors Guild. Townsend later auditioned for parts at Chicago's Experimental Black Actors' Guild and performed in local plays studying at the famed Second City comedy workshop for improvisation in 1974. Townsend had a brief uncredited role in the 1975 movie Cooley High, but says the film "changed his life" for what he perceived as its true-to-life portrayal of people like him.
After high school, Townsend enrolled at Illinois State University, studied a year and later moved to New York to study at the Negro Ensemble Company. Townsend's mother believed that he should complete his college education, but he felt that college took time away from his passion for acting, and he soon dropped out of school to pursue his acting career full-time.

## Career

Townsend auditioned to be part of Saturday Night Live's 1980–1981 cast, but was rejected in favor of Eddie Murphy. In 1982, Townsend appeared as one of the main characters in the PBS series Another Page, produced by Kentucky Educational Television that taught literacy to adults through serialized stories. Townsend later appeared in small parts in films like A Soldier's Story (1984), directed by Norman Jewison, and after its success garnered much more substantial parts in films like The Mighty Quinn (1989) with Denzel Washington.
In 1987, Townsend wrote, directed and produced Hollywood Shuffle, a satire based on the hardships and obstacles that African-American actors undergo in the film industry. The success of his first project helped him establish himself in the industry. Another of his films was The Five Heartbeats based on 1960s R&B male groups and the tribulations of the music industry. Townsend created and produced two television variety shows—the CableACE award–winning Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime for HBO, and the Fox Television variety show Townsend Television (1993). He also created and starred in the WB Network's sitcom The Parent 'Hood which originally ran from January 1995 to July 1999. In 2018, Townsend also directed 2 episodes for the B.E.T. Series American Soul which began airing in 2019. The show is about Don Cornelius and Soul Train. Townsend was programming director at the Black Family Channel, but the network folded in 2007. Townsend created The Robert Townsend Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to introduce and help new unsigned filmmakers.

## Awards and other credits

Townsend directed the 2001 TV movie, Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story for which Cole won the NAACP Image Award as Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special. Townsend also directed two television movies in 2001 and 2002 respectively, Carmen: A Hip Hopera and 10,000 Black Men Named George. In 2013, Townsend was nominated for an Ovation Award in the category of "Lead Actor in a Musical" for his role as Dan in the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts production of Next to Normal.

## Personal life

Townsend was married to Cheri Jones from September 15, 1990, to August 9, 2001. They have three children, including Skye Townsend.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer |
| 1987 | Hollywood Shuffle | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1987 | Eddie Murphy Raw | Yes | No | No |
| 1991 | The Five Heartbeats | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1993 | The Meteor Man | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1997 | B*A*P*S | Yes | No | No |
| 2008 | Of Boys and Men | No | Yes | No |
| 2009 | Phantom Punch | Yes | No | No |
| 2012 | In the Hive | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2015 | Playin' for Love | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Direct-to-video
* Black Listed (2003) (Also writer)
* Bill Cosby 77 (2014) (Unreleased)
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1975 | Cooley High | Basketball player seen in the gym room | Uncredited |
| 1975 | Mahogany | Extra | Uncredited |
| 1976 | The Monkey Hustle | Musician | |
| 1979 | The Warriors | Baseball Fury | Uncredited |
| 1980 | Willie & Phil | Thin Boy | |
| 1984 | Streets of Fire | Lester - The Sorels | |
| 1984 | A Soldier's Story | Cpl. Ellis | |
| 1985 | American Flyers | Jerome | |
| 1986 | Ratboy | Manny | |
| 1986 | Odd Jobs | Dwight | |
| 1987 | Hollywood Shuffle | Bobby Taylor | |
| 1989 | The Mighty Quinn | Maubee | |
| 1991 | The Five Heartbeats | Donald "Duck" Matthews | |
| 1993 | The Meteor Man | Jefferson Reed/Meteor Man | |
| 1999 | Joseph's Gift | James Saunders | |
| 2000 | Up, Up and Away | Jim Marshall/Bronze Eagle | |
| 2003 | Black Listed | Alan Chambers | Direct-to-video |
| 2008 | Of Boys and Men | Holden Cole | |
| 2012 | Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire | Vampire Actor #1 | Voice role |
| 2015 | Playin' for Love | Coach Banks | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Creator | Notes |
| 1987 | The Late Show | No | Yes | No | No | 1 episode |
| 1993 | Townsend Television | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1995–1999 | The Parent 'Hood | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directed 17 episodes |
| 2002 | Soul Food | Yes | No | No | No | Episode "Tonight at Noon" |
| 2005–2006 | South of Nowhere | Yes | No | No | No | 4 episodes |
| 2007 | Unfabulous | Yes | No | No | No | Episode "The Quest" |
| 2009 | Diary of a Single Mom | Yes | No | Yes | No | All 26 episodes |
| 2018 | Love Is | Yes | No | No | No | Episode "First Date" |
| 2019 | American Soul | Yes | No | No | No | Episodes "Lost and Found" and Just Us |
| 2019 | Black Lightning | Yes | No | No | No | Episodes "Pillar of Fire" and "Requiem for Tavon" |
| 2020 | The Last O.G. | Yes | No | No | No | Episodes "Family Feud" and "Come Clean" |
| 2021 | The Wonder Years | Yes | No | No | No | Episode "Independence Day" |
| 2023 | Power Book IV: Force | Yes | No | No | No | Episode "Here There Be Monsters" |
| 2024 | Poppa's House | Yes | No | No | No | Episode "Podcast" |
TV special
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Notes |
| 1987 | Uptown Comedy Express | No | Yes | No | |
| 1991 | The Best of Robert Townsend & His Partners in Crime | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1991 | A Party for Richard Pryor | No | Yes | No | |
| 1991 | A Comedy Salute to Michael Jordan | No | Yes | No | Event from Comic Relief USA |
| 1992 | Comic Relief V | No | Yes | No | Event from Comic Relief USA |
| 2013 | Bill Cosby: Far from Finished | Yes | No | No | |
| 2022 | Ms. Pat: Y'all Wanna Hear Something Crazy? | Yes | No | No | |
TV movies
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer |
| 1991 | Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1999 | Jackie's Back | Yes | No | No |
| 2000 | Up, Up and Away | Yes | No | No |
| 2000 | Little Richard | Yes | No | No |
| 2000 | Holiday Heart | Yes | No | No |
| 2001 | Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story | Yes | No | No |
| 2001 | Carmen: A Hip Hopera | Yes | No | No |
| 2002 | 10,000 Black Men Named George | Yes | No | No |
| 2009 | Musical Theater of Hope | Yes | Yes | No |
Miniseries
| Year | Title | Episodes |
| 2021 | Colin in Black & White | "Road Trip" |
| 2021 | Colin in Black & White | "The Decision" |
| 2022 | The Best Man: The Final Chapters | "Brown Girl Dreaming" |
| 2022 | The Best Man: The Final Chapters | "An American Marriage" |
| 2023 | Kaleidoscope | "Green: 7 Years Before the Heist" |
| 2023 | Kaleidoscope | "Violet: 24 Years Before the Heist" |
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1978 | Watch Your Mouth | Prince Otoma | Episodes "The Outcast" and "The Student Prince" |
| 1979 | Women at West Point | Russell Baker | TV movie |
| 1981 | Senior Trip | Randy | TV movie |
| 1982 | In Love with an Older Woman | James | TV movie |
| 1982 | M*A*S*H | Patient | Episode "Bombshells" |
| 1995–1999 | The Parent 'Hood | Robert Peterson | 90 episodes |
| 2002 | I Was a Teenage Faust | Mr. Five | TV movie |
| 2023 | The Bear | Emmanuel Adamu | 6 episodes |