Eddie Griffin

Early life

Griffin was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and was raised by his single mother, Doris Thomas, a phone company operator. In 1984, at 15 years old, he moved to Compton, California to live with his cousins. in 1986, after graduating from Compton High, Griffin enrolled as a biological engineering major at University of Miami, but later left in 1988 and moved to New York City to pursue a career in comedy. Griffin did not see his mother for four years, after Griffin and his mother got into an argument at his 20th birthday party, where Griffin's mother accused him of stealing jewelry from her, which Griffin denied doing. Griffin later moved back to Los Angeles, California in March 1992, to be closer with his family when his mother was injured in a car accident.

Career

Griffin has starred in films such as The Meteor Man (1993), The Walking Dead (1995) Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), Double Take (2001), Undercover Brother (2002), John Q (2002), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005) and Norbit (2007). In 2007, he starred in Urban Justice, a thriller set in New Mexico. He also starred in the UPN television series Malcolm & Eddie (1996–2000).

Griffin was ranked at number 62 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. In 2011 Comedy Central released You Can Tell 'Em I Said It on DVD. It was 82 minutes of unedited and uncensored content.

Griffin performed on two tracks from Dr. Dre's 1999 album, 2001, and the intro track from The D.O.C.'s 1996 album Helter Skelter. He also has appeared on commercials for Miller Beer's Man Laws. He is well known for his comedic routine of imitating Michael Jackson on crack cocaine. He also made an appearance on Chappelle's Show in the skit "World Series of Dice" as Grits n' Gravy.

Personal life

Griffin has been married three times. He married his first wife, Carla, in 1984; he was 16 years old. They were together for 13 years before divorcing. He married his second wife, Rochelle, in 2002, but they have since divorced. On September 8, 2011, he married Nia Rivers. However, they filed for divorce after one month of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. They were officially divorced six months later. He has nine children.

In March 2007, Griffin participated in a charity race at Irwindale Speedway to promote the film Redline, using a Ferrari Enzo owned by Daniel Sadek. During a practice run, Griffin accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and lost control of the Enzo, crashing hard into a concrete barrier. He walked away unscathed, but the $1.5 million supercar was badly damaged. Griffin later lashed out at reporters who claimed the crash was a publicity stunt.

During the sexual assault allegations on Bill Cosby, Griffin suggested that Cosby was the victim of a conspiracy to destroy his image and that several other prominent African-American men had been victims of similar conspiracies.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

Discography

Live albums

Soundtrack albums

Album appearances

• 1996 "Intro" (from The D.O.C. album Helter Skelter)
• 1998 "DP Gangsta" (from Snoop Dogg & C-Murder) album Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told)
• 1999 "Bar One" (with Traci Nelson and Ms. Roq) (from Dr. Dre album 2001)
• 1999 "Ed-ucation" (from Dr. Dre album 2001)
• 2002 "Bitch Ass Niggaz" (from Xzibit album Man vs. Machine)
• 2003 "I Thought U Knew" (with Crooked I, Eastwood & The Dramatics) album Dysfunktional Family) (Various artists)
• 2003 "Dys-Funk-Tional" (from Spider Loc & Eddie Griffin) album Dysfunktional Family) (Various artists)
• 2008 "Take A Ride Skit" & "Feed The Lions Skit" (from T-Pain album Thr33 Ringz)

Music video appearances

• 1997 "Honey" (from Mariah Carey "Butterfly")
• 1997 "The Roof" (from Mariah Carey "Butterfly")
• 1997 "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" (from Puff Daddy album No Way Out)
• 2001 "Take Ya Home" (from Bow Wow album Doggy Bag)