John Witherspoon
About
Biography
Biography
John Witherspoon is an American stand-up comedian and actor who has appeared in supporting roles in numerous comedy films and TV shows. Witherspoon was one of 11 children, pursuing music as a young man with his brother William, who would go on to success as a songwriter and producer at Motown. Witherspoon made his start as a stand-up in the early '70s, soon appearing in small parts in popular sitcoms like "Good Times" and "What's Happening!!" as well as dramatic shows like the crime drama "Barnaby Jones" and the comic book hit "The Incredible Hulk." In the late '80s Witherspoon made inroads with many of the African-American members of Hollywood, appearing in Robert Townsend's 1987 comedy "Hollywood Shuffle," Keenen Ivory Wayans's comedy "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" in 1988, and Reginald Hudlin's teen comedy "House Party" in 1990. In 1995, Witherspoon appeared as the irritable Mr. Jones in the hit comedy "Friday" with Ice Cube and returned in both sequels. In 1995 he was cast as John 'Pops' Williams in the WB sitcom "The Wayans Brothers," which lasted for five seasons. Witherspoon played the part of Spoon on NBC's comedy "The Tracy Morgan Show" in 2003. In 2005 he began lending his voice to the character Robert 'Granddad' Freeman on the animated program "The Boondocks." Witherspoon is also a close friend of talk show host David Letterman, who is the godfather to his son. In 2011, Witherspoon starred in the comedy "A Thousand Words" with comedy great Eddie Murphy.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1977
Cast as a regular on "The Richard Pryor Show"
1980
Portrayed a M.C in the musical feature "The Jazz Singer"
1986
Cast in the thriller feature "Kidnapped"
1987
Featured in the Robert Townsend comedy "Hollywood Shuffle"
1988
Portrayed Sid in the feature about the life and times of the great jazz player Charlie Bird, in the drama "Bird, " which was directed by Clint Eastwood.
1990
Breakout role in the hit comedy "House Party"
1991
Featured in the musical drama "The Five Heartbeats"
1992
Portrayed the father of David Alan Grier's character in "Boomerang"
1993
Reunited with director Robert Townsend for the comedy superhero spoof "Meteor Man"
1995
Co-starred as Pops in the Wayan's comedy series "The Wayan's Bros
1995
Co-starred in the summer blockbuster hit feature "Friday"
1997
Portrayed a detective in the comedy feature "Sprung"
1998
Co-starred as Roscoe in the feature "Ride"
2000
Reunited with the "Friday" cast for the sequel "Next Friday"
2001
Voiced the zoo bear in "Dr. Dolittle 2"
2002
Portayed the character Mr. Jones in "Friday After Next"
2004
Starred in "Soul Plane," a comedy about the maiden flight of a black-owned airline
2006
Co-starred with Shawn and Marlon Wayans in the comedy, "The Little Man"; directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans
Family
