Cedric the Entertainer

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**Cedric Antonio Kyles** (born April 24, 1964), better known by his stage name **Cedric the Entertainer**, is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and game show host. He hosted BET's *ComicView* during the 1993–94 season and *Def Comedy Jam* in 1995. He is best known for co-starring with Steve Harvey on The WB sitcom *The Steve Harvey Show*, as one of *The Original Kings of Comedy*, and for starring as Eddie Walker in *Barbershop*. He can also be seen starring on the CBS show “The Neighborhood”. He hosted the 12th season of the daytime version of *Who Wants to Be a Millionaire* in 2013–14 and starred in the TV Land original series *The Soul Man*, which aired from 2012 until 2016. He has also done voice work for *Ice Age*, the *Madagascar* film series, *Charlotte's Web* and the *Planes* franchise. In 2019, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

## Early life

Cedric Antonio Kyles was born on April 24, 1964 in Jefferson City, Missouri, the son of Rosetta (née Boyce), a schoolteacher, and Kittrell Kyles, an employee of The Missouri Pacific Railroad. His only sibling is his younger sister, Sharita Kyles Wilson, a communications professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

Cedric was raised in Caruthersville, Missouri, but after junior high school he moved to Berkeley, Missouri. He is a graduate of Berkeley High School in St. Louis's northern suburbs.

Cedric earned a degree in communications from Southeast Missouri State University.

## Career

In 1995, Cedric moved into acting, auditioning and receiving his first-ever role as The Cowardly Lion in the 1995 Apollo Theater Revival of The Wiz. He then expanded his career by aptly playing Steve Harvey's friend Cedric Jackie Robinson on the sitcom *The Steve Harvey Show*. He then began appearing in films, including *Barbershop*, *Barbershop 2: Back in Business*, *Ride*, *Serving Sara*, *Johnson Family Vacation*, *Intolerable Cruelty*, *Man of the House*, *Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events*, *Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted* and *Be Cool*. Cedric was the subject of controversy when his *Barbershop* character made unpopular remarks about Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. These comments were spoken in character, were part of the script, and he has never apologized for them. In the 2005 animated film *Madagascar*, Cedric voiced Maurice the aye aye. In October 2005, Cedric joined the Champ Car auto racing series as a part owner. Cedric appeared in the movie *Charlotte's Web* as the voice of Golly the gander. While his acting career grew, Cedric continued stand-up and traveled the country as one of the *Kings of Comedy* headliners, with Steve Harvey, D. L. Hughley and Bernie Mac. The act was later made into a film by Spike Lee, *The Original Kings of Comedy*. Cedric briefly had his own sketch comedy show, *Cedric the Entertainer Presents*, but it was canceled after one season. The show had been renewed for a second season, but Fox canceled it before the season began. He took time to pen his book, *Grown-A$$ Man.* He then appeared in the 2003 PlayStation 2 video game *Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004*. His most recent HBO Comedy Special was *Cedric The Entertainer: Taking You Higher*. Two of the background dancers from the special were Kamilah Barrett and Sandra Colton, who were also finalists in Fox's *So You Think You Can Dance*. He also recorded comedic interludes on two multi-platinum selling albums, Nelly's *Country Grammar* (2000) and Jay-Z's *The Black Album* (2003).

In the 2007 comedy film *Code Name: The Cleaner*, Cedric plays Jake, a janitor with amnesia who may be a secret undercover government agent involved in an illegal arms conspiracy. He then starred in the 2008 films *Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins* and *Street Kings*.

 File:CedrictheEntertainerGetSmartJun08.jpg
Cedric appeared as the lead comedian at the White House Correspondents Dinner but jokingly remarked that he was unprepared because he thought that he would follow a humorous speech by President George W. Bush but instead followed First Lady Laura Bush, who said he was "hilarious" and "probably the funniest person" she had ever met.

Cedric has won many awards throughout his career beginning with early victories in winning $500 in the Johnny Walker National Comedy Contest in 1990 and coming in first place in the Miller Genuine Draft Comedy
Contest in 1993. BET named him Richard Pryor Comic of the Year.
 He has also won four NAACP awards.

Cedric was inducted to the St. Louis Walk of Fame on June 7, 2008. His star is at 6166 Delmar.

Cedric was the special guest host for *WWE Raw* on September 21, 2009, in Little Rock, Arkansas. During the show, he participated in a wrestling match, defeating Chavo Guerrero by pinfall. The match also featured Santino Marella as a guest referee. Cedric also got help from an unknown wrestler dubbed The Sledge Hammer (played by Imani Lee) and Hornswoggle.

In March 2010, Cedric made his directorial debut with *Dance Fu*, produced and funded independently by his company Bird and a Bear Entertainment with producer Eric C. Rhone. The film starred comedian Kel Mitchell. Cedric made a cameo appearance in the film as a Homicide detective. It was released straight-to-DVD on October 4, 2011.

Cedric appeared in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's "American Buffalo," the story of three small-time crooks who come to blows during a plot to steal a valuable coin collection.

In a June 21, 2011 interview, Cedric confirmed that his latest reality game show, *It's Worth What?*, was going to air on July 12, 2011 on NBC, but the start date was delayed by one week to July 19. Starting in 2012, Cedric played the main character in the TV Land original series, *The Soul Man*, featuring Niecy Nash. The series ran for five seasons and ended in 2016.

Cedric was the host of the classic American TV show *Who Wants to Be a Millionaire* beginning with its 12th season in national syndication, which premiered on September 2, 2013. "With his deep roots as a legendary stand-up comedian and actor, Cedric will bring his fresh approach and unpredictable fun to the show," said Janice Marinelli, president, Disney-ABC Domestic Television. On April 30, 2014, Cedric announced that he was leaving *Who Wants to Be a Millionaire* after the 2013–14 season to focus on his busy schedule. Terry Crews took over as host on September 8, 2014.

## Personal life

Cedric is married to Lorna Wells. They have two children, Croix (born 2000) and Lucky Rose (born 2003); Cedric also has a daughter Tiara from a previous relationship.

He continues his involvement with his high school by awarding a scholarship each year to a graduating senior through his Cedric the Entertainer Charitable Foundation Inc. The foundation's motto is, "Reaching Out...Giving Back." Cedric majored in Mass Communication at Southeast Missouri State University and worked as a State Farm insurance claims adjuster, and substitute high school teacher before becoming a full-time comedian. He is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi. In May 2015, he was awarded the Honorary Doctorate Degree in Fine Arts and Humanities from Lincoln University of Missouri (his parents' alma mater). In 2018, St. Louis honored him by renaming the street in front of the Kappa Alpha Psi Alumni House as **Cedric The Entertainer Way**.
In 2020, Cedric suggested that Bill Gates may have been responsible for causing the COVID-19 epidemic, based his interpretation of a video of Gates' 2015 TED Talk, where Gates actually warned of the risks of a global pandemic.

## See also

* *All Jokes Aside* – documentary about the All Jokes Aside comedy club

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Template:Cite book
2. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (28 July 2015). "‘The Soul Man’ Picked Up For Fifth & Final Season By TV Land". http://deadline.com/2015/07/the-soul-man-renewed-final-season-5-tv-land-1201486316/. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
3. ↑ "Cedric The Entertainer Biography (1964?-)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/62/Cedric-The-Entertainer.html. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
4. ↑ [1]Template:Dead link
5. ↑ "Cedric 'The Entertainer' Scores in Commercials, TV and Film with Down-Home Comedy", *Jet*, March 12, 2001. Accessed on December 29, 2009.
6. ↑ "Local News: Cedric "The Entertainer," to be pararde marshal (10/19/07)". seMissourian.com. 2007-10-19. Archived from the original on 2014-11-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20141110041658/http://www.semissourian.com/story/1285451.html. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
7. ↑ "Cedric the Entertainer : Biography". IMDb.com. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0147825/bio. Retrieved 2014-06-14.
8. ↑ Munoz, Lorenza; Braxton, Greg. "Black Leaders Angered by Scene Say 'Barbershop' Needs a Trim". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2002/sep/25/local/me-barber25/2. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
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10. ↑  Template:Cite journal
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13. ↑ St. Louis Walk of Fame. "St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees". stlouiswalkoffame.org. http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/?view=achievement. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
14. ↑ [2] Template:Webarchive
15. ↑ "The Masked Man from Cedric’s RAW Revealed, WrestleMania in Atlanta?". Wrestlescoop. http://www.wrestlescoop.com/2009/10/01/the-masked-man-from-cedric%E2%80%99s-raw-revealed-wrestlemania-in-atlanta/. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
16. ↑ "Revival of Mamet's American Buffalo Finds a Broadway Home". Playbill.com. 2008-08-19. Archived from the original on 2009-05-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20090512182834/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/120558.html. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
17. ↑ Cedric the Entertainer prepares for Nashville and NBC The Tennessean. Retrieved on July 5, 2011.
18. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (2015-07-28). "‘The Soul Man’ Picked Up For Fifth & Final Season By TV Land". http://deadline.com/2015/07/the-soul-man-renewed-final-season-5-tv-land-1201486316/. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
19. ↑ "Cedric 'The Entertainer' to host 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'". WABC TV. http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/entertainment&id=9034473. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
20. ↑ "Cedric the Entertainer to leave 'Millionaire'". Usatoday.com. 2014-04-30. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/04/30/cedric-the-entertainer-to-leave-as-host-of-who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire/8533797/. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
21. ↑ "Terry Crews Named New 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' Host". hollywoodreporter.com. 2014-05-07. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/terry-crews-named-new-who-702015. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
22. ↑ Hoskins, Kelley (2018-12-15). "Cedric the Entertainer has a street named in his honor in north St. Louis" (in en). Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. which owns KTVI. https://fox2now.com/2018/12/15/cedric-the-entertainer-has-a-street-named-in-his-honor-in-north-st-louis/. "The unveiling ceremony of Cedric The Entertainer Way was held Saturday morning at the corner of Olive Street and Vandeventer Avenue in front of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Alumni House [[[:Template:Coord]]] as Mayor Lyda Krewson proclaimed it Cedric The Entertainer Day!"
23. ↑ Template:Citation
24. ↑ Swift, Andy (February 27, 2020). "The Proud Family Revival Ordered at Disney+ With Original Cast — First Look". https://tvline.com/2020/02/27/proud-family-revival-original-cast-new-episodes-disney-plus/.

## External links

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* Cedric the Entertainer Official Website
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* Cedric the Entertainer interview on the Tavis Smiley show
* Cedric the Entertainer profile on *Living St. Louis*.
* Bill Bellamy and Cedric The Entertainer Headline Ccgi 2009

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