Cedric the Entertainer

Cedric the Entertainer
Cedric at the Johnson Family Vacation premiere, April 7, 2004
Birth name	Cedric Antonio Kyles
Born	(1964-04-24) April 24, 1964 Jefferson City, Missouri, U.S.
Medium	Film, television, stand-up
Years active	1981-present
Genres	Comedy
Spouse	Lorna Wells (m. 1999)
Children	3
Website	www.iamcedric.com

Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), better known by the stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American actor, comedian, director, and game show host. He was originally the host on It's Showtime at the Apollo. He also hosted BET's ComicView during the 1993-1994 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 and starring as Eddie in Barbershop. He hosted the twelfth season of daytime version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in the 2013-2014 television season.

Early life

Cedric was born on April 24, 1964 in Jefferson City, Missouri, and is the son of Rosetta (née Boyce), a school teacher, and Kittrell Kyles, an employee of a railroad company. His only sibling is his younger sister Sharita Kyles Wilson, an adjunct communications instructor at the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. He was raised in Caruthersville, Missouri, but after junior high school he moved to Berkeley, Missouri. Cedric is a graduate of Berkeley High School in the northern suburbs of St. Louis. While Cedric was attending Berkeley High, he developed a very severe rash on the top of his head, forcing him to wear a hat for the rest of his career. In 2005, Cedric came out publicly on CNN and explained that he no longer cares about his rash and he is actually proud of it. 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. Mr. Kyles recently (May 2015) was awarded the Honorary Doctorate Degree in Fine Arts and Humanities from Lincoln University of Missouri (his parents' alma mater).

In 1996, Cedric moved into acting, playing Steve Harvey's friend, Cedric Jackie Robinson, on the sitcom, The Steve Harvey Show. His acting career grew and he began appearing in movies, including Dr. Dolittle 2, 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 and Be Cool. Cedric was the subject of controversy when his Barbershop character made unpopular remarks regarding 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 called The Original Kings of Comedy. Cedric briefly had his own sketch comedy show called Cedric the Entertainer Presents, but it never caught on and was canceled after one season. The show had been renewed for a second season, but Fox canceled it before the season began. He then appeared in the 2003 PlayStation 2 video game Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004. His most recent HBO Comedy Special was titled 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 Black Album (2003).

Cedric appeared in the 2007 film Code Name: The Cleaner, a comedy in which he 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.

Cedric at the June 2008 premiere of Get Smart

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, whom he said, was very funny.

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

Cedric the Entertainer 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 with 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 was recently seen 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 2003, Cedric was featured in the Korean rap artists Drunken Tiger on their album 'Foundation' on the 17th track '뉘우침' (repentance).

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, however, the start date was delayed by one week to July 19, 2011. Since 2012, Cedric has played the main character in a new TV Land original series, The Soul Man, featuring Niecy Nash. The sitcom returns for its fourth season in 2015.

Cedric was the host of the 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 successful 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 will be leaving Who Wants to Be a Millionaire after the 2013-2014 season to focus on his busy schedule. Actor Terry Crews took over as host on September 8, 2014.

Personal life

He is married to Lorna Wells. He has two children with Lorna, Croix (born 2000) and Lucky Rose (born 2003).

Filmography

Cedric in May 2013

List of film performances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Ride	Bo
2000	Big Momma's House	The Reverend
2000	The Original Kings of Comedy	Himself
2001	Kingdom Come	Rev. Beverly H. Hooker
2002	Serving Sara	Ray Harris
2002	Barbershop	Eddie
2002	Ice Age	Carl (voice)
2003	Intolerable Cruelty	Gus Petch
2004	Barbershop 2: Back in Business	Eddie
2004	Johnson Family Vacation	Nate Johnson
2004	Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events	Constable
2005	Be Cool	Sin LaSalle
2005	Madagascar	Maurice (voice)
2005	Man of the House	Percy Stevens
2005	The Honeymooners	Ralph Kramden
2006	Charlotte's Web	Golly the Goose (voice)
2007	Code Name: The Cleaner	Jake Rogers
2007	Talk to Me	"Nighthawk" Bob Terry
2008	Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins	Clyde Stubbs
2008	Street Kings	"Scribble" (Winston)
2008	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	Maurice (voice)
2008	Cadillac Records	Willie Dixon
2009	Merry Madagascar	Maurice (voice)	TV film
2011	Dance Fu	Detective
2011	Larry Crowne	Lamar
2012	Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted	Maurice (voice)
2013	A Haunted House	Father Doug Williams
2009	Un-broke: What You Need To Know About Money	Himself	TV film
2013	Madly Madagascar	Maurice (voice)
2013	Planes	Leadbottom (voice)
2014	Wild Card	Pinchus	Completed
2014	A Haunted House 2	Father Doug Williams
2014	Planes: Fire & Rescue	Leadbottom (voice)
2014	Top Five	Jazzy Dee
2015	A Fall from Grace	Coroner Jake Miles
2016	Barbershop: The Next Cut	Eddie

List of television performances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	It's Showtime at the Apollo	Himself
1993–1994	ComicView	Himself	Host
1995	Def Comedy Jam	Himself	1 episode
1996–2002	The Steve Harvey Show	Cedric Jackie Robinson	Main role
2001–2005	The Proud Family	Bobby Proud (voice)	Semi-regular, 14 episodes
2002–2003	Cedric the Entertainer Presents	Himself	Main role
2006	Wild 'n Out	Himself	Episode: "Cedric the Entertainer"
2007	The Boondocks	Cousin Jericho Freeman (voice)	Episode: "Invasion of the Katrinians"
2009	WWE Raw	Himself	Special guest host, 1 episode
2011	It's Worth What?	Himself	Host
2011	Take Two with Phineas and Ferb	Himself	Episode: "Cedric the Entertainer"
2011	Hot in Cleveland	Reverend Boyce	Episode: "Bridezelka"
2012–present	The Soul Man	Reverend Boyce Ballentine	Main role
2012	2 Broke Girls	Darius	Episode: "And the Pre-Approved Credit Card"
2013	Real Husbands of Hollywood	Himself	Episode: "Blackstabbers"
2013–2014	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	Himself	Host
2014	Hot in Cleveland	Reverend Boyce	Episode: "Stayin' Alive"
2015	Whose Line is It Anyway?	Himself	Season 11 Episode 1

See also

• All Jokes Aside Documentary

External links

• Cedric the Entertainer Official Website
• Cedric the Entertainer at the Internet Movie Database
• 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

Preceded by Brad Garrett

Host of TV Land Awards 2005

Succeeded by Megan Mullally