Eddie Murphy

Name	Eddie Murphy
Caption	Murphy at the Tribeca Film Festival for Shrek Forever After in 2010.
Birth name	Edward Regan Murphy
Birth date	April 03, 1961
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York
Occupation	Actor, Comedian, Director, Producer and Singer
Years active	1976-present
Spouse	Nicole Mitchell (1993-2006) (divorced)Tracey Edmonds (2008) (Annulled)
Domesticpartner	Melanie Brown (2006-2007) 1 child

Name	Stevie Wonder
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Stevland Hardaway Judkins
Alias	Stevland Hardaway Morris, Little Stevie Wonder, Eivets Rednow
Born	May 13, 1950Saginaw, Michigan, United States
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Instrument	Vocals, synthesizer, piano, keyboards, guitar, harmonica, drums, bass guitar, congas, bongos, clavinet, melodica, keytar, accordion
Genre	R&B;, pop, soul, jazz, funk
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, activist
Years active	1961–present
Label	Tamla, Motown
Url

Name	Rick James
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	James Ambrose Johnson, Jr.
Alias	Big Jimmy; Ricky James Matthews (early career)
Born	February 01, 1948Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Died	August 06, 2004Burbank, California, U.S.
Genre	R&B;, soul, funk, punk-funk
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, dancer, bandleader, record producer
Instrument	\|Instrument = Vocal, bass, guitar, keyboards, drums and other percussion instruments
Years active	1964–2004
Label	Gordy Records Motown Records Reprise Records Mercury Records
Associated acts	The Mynah BirdsStone City BandHeaven and EarthMary Jane GirlsProcess and the Doo RagsVal Young Eddie Murphy Teena Marie
Notable instruments	Rickenbacker 4001 Gibson Les Paul
Url	}}

Name	Richard Pryor
Caption	Richard Pryor, February 1986
Birth name	Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III
Birth date	December 01, 1940
Birth place	Peoria, Illinois, United States
Death date	December 10, 2005
Death place	Encino, California, United States
Medium	Stand-up, film, television
Active	1958–1999
Genre	Satire, observational comedy, black comedy, Improvisational comedy, character comedy
Subject	Racism, race relations, United States politics, African-American culture, human sexuality, self-deprecation, everyday life, recreational drug use
Influences	Lenny Bruce, Jack Benny, Jonathan Winters, Bill Cosby, Dick Gregory, Redd Foxx, Paul Mooney
Influenced	George Carlin, Martin Lawrence, George Lopez, Denis Leary, Eddie Izzard, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Bill Hicks, Robin Williams, Colin Quinn, Bernie Mac, Patton Oswalt Artie Lange, and Jim Norton
Notable work	That Nigger's Crazy Bicentennial Nigger Himself in and Zeke Brown in Blue Collar
Spouse	Patricia Price (1960–1961) Shelley R. Bonus (1968–1969) Deborah McGuire (1977–1978) Jennifer Lee (1979–1982) Flynn Belaine (1986–1987) Flynn Belaine (1990–1991) Jennifer Lee (2001–2005)
Website	RichardPryor.com

Name	Mike Tyson
Realname	Michael Gerard Tyson
Nationality	American
Nickname	Iron MikeThe Baddest Man on the Planet
Weight	Heavyweight
Reach
Birth date	June 30, 1966
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York
Style	Orthodox
Total	58
Wins	50
Ko	44
Losses	6(5KO)
Draws	0
No contests	2

Bill Cosby

Name Bill Cosby
Caption Cosby speaking at Riverside Church, New York City, in 2010
Birth name William Henry Cosby, Jr.
Birth date July 12, 1937
Birth place Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation Actor, comedian, author, producer, musician, activist
Years active 1962–present
Spouse Camille Hanks(1964–present)Five children
Website http://www.billcosby.com/
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. (born July 12, 1937) is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the situation comedy The Bill Cosby Show, in 1969. He was one of the major characters on the children's television series The Electric Company for its first two seasons, and created the educational cartoon comedy series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, about a group of young friends growing up in the city. Cosby has also acted in a number of films.
During the 1980s, Cosby produced and starred in what is considered to be one of the decade's defining sitcoms, The Cosby Show, which aired eight seasons from 1984 to 1992. The sitcom highlighted the experiences and growth of an upper-middle-class African-American family. He also produced the spin-off sitcom A Different World, which became second to The Cosby Show in ratings. He starred in the sitcom Cosby from 1996 to 2000 and hosted Kids Say the Darndest Things for two seasons.

He has been a sought-after spokesman, and has endorsed a number of products, including Jell-O, Kodak film, Ford, Texas Instruments, and Coca-Cola, including New Coke. In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante included him in his book, the 100 Greatest African Americans.

In 1976, Cosby earned a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Massachusetts. For his doctoral research, he wrote a dissertation entitled, "An Integration of the Visual Media Via 'Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids' Into the Elementary School Curriculum as a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning".

Early life
Cosby was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is one of four sons born to Anna Pearl (née Hite), a maid, and William Henry Cosby, Sr., who served as a sailor in the U.S. Navy. During much of his early childhood, Cosby's father was away in the U.S. armed forces and spent several years fighting in World War II. As a student, he described himself as a class clown. Cosby was the captain of the baseball and track and field teams at Mary Channing Wister Elementary School in Philadelphia, as well as the class president. Early on, though, teachers noted his propensity for clowning around rather than studying. At Fitz Simmons Junior High, Cosby began acting in plays as well as continuing his devotion to playing sports. He went on to Central High School, an academically challenging magnet school, but his full schedule of playing football, basketball, baseball, and running track made it hard for him. Instead of repeating, he got a job as an apprentice at a shoe repair shop, which he liked, but could not see himself doing the rest of his life.

While serving in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman for four years, Cosby worked in physical therapy with some seriously injured Korean War casualties, He then won a track and field scholarship to Philadelphia's Temple University in 1961–62, and studied physical education while running track and playing fullback on the football team. Cosby also joined the school's chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

Cosby loved humor, and he called himself the class clown. Even as he progressed through his undergraduate studies, Cosby had continued to hone his talent for humor, joking with fellow enlistees in the service and then with college friends. When he began bar tending at the Cellar, a club in Philadelphia, to earn money, he became fully aware of his ability to make people laugh. He worked his customers and saw his tips increase, then ventured on to the stage.

Cosby left Temple to pursue a career in comedy, though he would return to collegiate studies in the 1970s. He lined up gigs at clubs in Philadelphia and soon was off to New York City, where he appeared at The Gaslight Cafe starting in 1962.

Carl Reiner, at the awarding to Cosby of the Mark Twain Prize in 2009, described a step in Cosby's career. Reiner's son Rob Reiner, then in his early teens, delivered what the father regards as a word-for-word rendition of Cosby's performance on The Ed Sullivan Show of the "Right!" routine, from his "Noah" series that also appears on the 1963 album Bill Cosby Is A Very Funny Fellow...Right!. The father's interest led him first to obtain the video-taped performance, and then to propose Cosby as a guest for The Dick Van Dyke Show. Asked about whether the comic could act, he asserted anyone who could pull off the role of The Lord in the "Right!" routine must be a skilled actor. Cosby's official agency biography differs, saying Carl Reiner had caught Cosby's act in Pittsburgh "and introduced Cosby to producer Sheldon Leonard, who signed him to star in the I Spy series." Subsequently, Temple University, where Cosby had begun but never finished his undergraduate studies, would grant him his bachelor's degree on the basis of "life experience".

Also during the 1970s, Cosby and other African-American actors, including Sidney Poitier, joined forces to make some successful comedy films that countered the violent "blaxploitation" films of the era. Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and Let's Do It Again (1975) were generally praised, but much of Cosby's film work has fallen flat. Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976) costarring Raquel Welch and Harvey Keitel; A Piece of the Action, with Poitier; and California Suite, a compilation of four Neil Simon plays, were all panned. In addition, Cos (1976) an hour-long variety show featuring puppets, sketches, and musical numbers, was canceled within the year. Cosby was also a regular on children's public television programs starting in the 1970s, hosting the "Picture Pages" segments that lasted into the early 1980s.

The Cosby Show and the 1980s
Cosby's greatest television success came in September 1984 with the debut of The Cosby Show. The program aired weekly on NBC and went on to become the highest ranking sitcom of all time. For Cosby, the new situation comedy was a response to the increasingly violent and vulgar fare the networks usually offered. Cosby is an advocate for humor that is family-oriented. He insisted on and received total creative control of the series, and he was involved in every aspect of the series. The show had parallels to Cosby's actual family life: like the characters Cliff and Claire Huxtable, Cosby and his wife Camille were college educated, financially successful, and had five children. Essentially a throwback to the wholesome family situation comedy, The Cosby Show was unprecedented in its portrayal of an intelligent, affluent, African-American family.

Much of the material from the pilot and first season of The Cosby Show was taken from his then popular video , released in 1983. The series was an immediate success, debuting near the top of the ratings and staying there for most of its long run. The Cosby Show is one of only three American programs that have been #1 in the Nielsen ratings for at least five consecutive seasons, along with All in the Family and American Idol. Idol is the only program to be ranked #1 for six consecutive seasons. People magazine called the show "revolutionary", and Newsday concurred that it was a "real breakthrough."

In 1987, Cosby attempted to return to the big screen with the spy spoof Leonard Part 6. Although Cosby himself was producer and wrote the story, he realized during production that the film was not going to be what he wanted and publicly denounced it, warning audiences to stay away.

In the 1990s and 2000s
.]] After The Cosby Show went off the air in 1992, Cosby embarked on a number of other projects, including a revival of the classic Groucho Marx game show You Bet Your Life (1992–93) along with the TV-movie I Spy Returns (1994) and The Cosby Mysteries (1994). In the mid-1990s, he appeared as a detective in black-and-white film noir-themed commercials for Turner Classic Movies. He also made appearances in three more films, Ghost Dad (1990), The Meteor Man (1993); and Jack (1996); in addition to being interviewed in Spike Lee's 4 Little Girls (1997), a documentary about the racist bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama, church in 1963. Also in 1996, he started up a new show for CBS, Cosby, again co-starring Phylicia Rashād, his onscreen wife on The Cosby Show. Cosby co-produced the show for Carsey-Werner Productions. The show was based on the British program One Foot in the Grave. It centered on Cosby as Hilton Lucas, an iconoclastic senior citizen who tries to find a new job after being "downsized", and in the meantime, gets on his wife's nerves. Madeline Kahn costarred as Rashād's goofy business partner. Cosby was hired by CBS to be the official "spokesman" for the WWJ-TV during an advertising campaign from 1995 to 1998. In addition, Cosby in 1998 became the host of Kids Say the Darndest Things. After four seasons, Cosby was canceled. The last episode aired April 28, 2000. Kids Say the Darndest Things was also canceled the same year. Cosby continued to work with CBS through a development deal and other projects.

A series for preschoolers, Little Bill, made its debut on Nickelodeon in 1999. The network renewed the popular program in November 2000. In 2001, at an age when many give serious consideration to retirement, Cosby's agenda included the publication of a new book, as well as delivering the commencement addresses at Morris Brown College, Ohio State University, and at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Also that year, he signed a deal with 20th Century Fox to develop a live-action feature film centering on the popular Fat Albert character from his 1970s cartoon series. Fat Albert was released in theaters in December 2004. In May 2007 he spoke at the Commencement of High Point University.

In the summer of 2009, Cosby hosted a comedy gala at Montreal's Just for Laughs comedy festival, the world's largest.

Personal life
in Los Angeles]]

Cosby met his wife Camille Hanks while he was performing stand-up in Washington, D.C., in the early 1960s, and she was a student at the University of Maryland. They married on January 25, 1964, and had five children: daughters Erika Ranee (b. 1965), Erinn Chalene (b. 1966), Ensa Camille (b. 1973), and Evin Harrah (b. 1976), and son Ennis William (1969–1997). His son Ennis was shot dead while changing a flat tire on the side of the Interstate 405 in Los Angeles on January 16, 1997.

Bill Cosby is an active alumnus supporter of his alma mater, Temple University, and in particular its men's basketball team, whose games Cosby frequently attends.

Cosby is a devoted fan of the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2002, when both the Eagles' starting and backup quarterbacks were injured, Cosby sent a letter to head coach Andy Reid, joking that he was ready to play if needed.

Cosby also attends many public events, such as the 100th Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York on February 2, 2007. His love for track and field athletics has also been shown with his long time sponsorship, and on-track work with the Penn Relays. For many years, Cosby has been known to work the finish line at Franklin Field and congratulate athletes. in Atlanta, October 3, 2006]]

Cosby maintains homes in Shelburne, Massachusetts, and Cheltenham, Pennsylvania.

During the 2009 NFL Draft, he celebrated the draft with former Texas Longhorns' wide receiver Quan Cosby as a means of support, though the two are not related. He even wore a Temple University helmet and jersey.

Bill Cosby has hosted the Los Angeles Playboy Jazz Festival since 1979. An avid musician, he's best known as a jazz drummer although he can be seen playing bass guitar with Jerry Lewis and Sammy Davis, Jr. on Hugh Hefner's 1970s talk show. His story "The Regular Way" was featured in Playboy's December 1968 issue.

Humanitarian causes
Cosby has become an active member of The Jazz Foundation of America. Cosby became involved with the foundation in 2004. For several years, he has been a featured host for its annual benefit, A Great Night in Harlem, at the Apollo Theater in New York City.

Awards and honors

On October 27, 2009 Cosby was presented with the 12th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

In a British 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted among the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
He received Kennedy Center Honors in 1998.
He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 for his contributions to television.

He won the 2003 Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.

In 1969, he received his third "Man of the Year" award from Harvard University's performance group, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

Emmys

Grammys

Honorary degrees
Cosby has received honorary degrees from more than a dozen colleges and universities:

Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, December 5, 2008. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Carnegie Mellon University, May 20, 2007; he was also the keynote speaker for the commencement ceremony. Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, May 8, 2004. Cosby was also the host of the school's 60th Anniversary Concert in January 2006. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Baylor University, September 4, 2003, at the "Spirit Rally" for the Baylor and Central Texas communities. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Yale University, May 26, 2003.
Cosby received an Honorary Degree in 2003 presented by President William Harjo LoneFight from the Sisseton Wahpeton College on the Lake Traverse Reservation for his contributions to minority education.

Cosby received an Honorary Doctorate from West Chester University of Pennsylvania during the 2003 graduation ceremony.
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Haverford College, May 2002. Cosby received Honorary Degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute He also served as the commencement speaker in May 1997.

Views on morality and socioeconomic issues
In May 2004 after receiving an award at the celebration of the 50th Anniversary commemoration of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that outlawed school racial segregation, Cosby made public remarks critical of African Americans who put higher priorities on sports, fashion, and "acting hard" than on education, self-respect, and self-improvement, pleading for African-American families to educate their children on the many different aspects of American culture.

In "Pound Cake," Cosby, who holds a doctorate in education, asked that African American parents begin teaching their children better morals at a younger age. Cosby told the Washington Times, "Parenting needs to come to the forefront. If you need help and you don't know how to parent, we want to be able to reach out and touch" (DeBose, Brian). Richard Leiby of The Washington Post reported, "Bill Cosby was anything but politically correct in his remarks Monday night at a Constitution Hall bash commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision."

Cosby again came under sharp criticism, and again he was largely unapologetic for his stance when he made similar remarks during a speech in a July 1 meeting commemorating the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. During that speech, he admonished blacks for not assisting or concerning themselves with the individuals who are involved with crime or have counter-productive aspirations. He further described those who needed attention as "blacks [who] had forgotten the sacrifices of those in the Civil Rights Movement." The speech was featured in the documentary 500 Years Later which set the speech to cartoon visuals.

Georgetown University sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson wrote a book in 2005 entitled Is Bill Cosby Right or Is the Black Middle Class Out of Touch? In the book, Dyson wrote that Cosby was overlooking larger social factors that reinforce poverty and associated crime; factors such as deteriorating schools, stagnating wages, dramatic shifts in the economy, offshoring and downsizing, chronic underemployment, and job and capital flight. Dyson suggested Cosby's comments "betray classist, elitist viewpoints rooted in generational warfare."

In a 2008 interview, Cosby mentioned Chicago; Atlanta; Philadelphia; Oakland; Detroit; and Springfield, Massachusetts among the cities where crime was high and young African-American men were being murdered and jailed in disproportionate numbers. Cosby stood his ground against criticism and affirmed that African-American parents were continuing to fail to inculcate proper standards of moral behavior. Cosby still lectures to black communities (usually at churches) about his frustrations with certain problems prevalent in underprivileged urban communities such as taking part in illegal drugs, teenage pregnancy, Black Entertainment Television, high school dropouts, anti-intellectualism, gangsta rap, vulgarity, thievery, offensive clothing, vanity, parental alienation, single-parenting and failing to live up to the ideals of Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the African-American ancestors that preceded Generation X. Cosby criticizes those African Americans who associate his ideals with race treachery.

Works

Discography

Singles

Books

See also

List of African-American writers

List of comedians

List of Omega Psi Phi brothers

List of Temple University people

List of University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni

References

;General References:
Leiby, Richard. "Publications with a Cannes-Do Attitude." Washington Post. May 19, 2004: 3.

Morano, Marc. "Bill Cosby was hounded by President Nixon." World Entertainment News Network. May 1, 2000. 2 Mar 2006. www.imdb.com

"Segregated Expectations" USA Today. May 15, 2003: 12.

Wu, Frank H. "Brown at 50: Keeping Promises." Black Issues in Higher Education. May 20, 2004: 49

External links

Official Bill Cosby Site

Interview with Cosby from 1990 (24 minutes)

Interview transcript from interview after the Pound Cake speech

You Bet Your Life home page

Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:African American comedians Category:African American television actors Category:American activists Category:American film actors Category:American game show hosts Category:American football running backs Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American voice actors Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Pennsylvania Democrats Category:Writers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Temple Owls football players Category:Temple University alumni Category:United States Navy sailors Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Category:Spingarn Medal winners

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Name	Bill Cosby
Caption	Cosby speaking at Riverside Church, New York City, in 2010
Birth name	William Henry Cosby, Jr.
Birth date	July 12, 1937
Birth place	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, comedian, author, producer, musician, activist
Years active	1962–present
Spouse	Camille Hanks(1964–present)Five children
Website	http://www.billcosby.com/

Eddie Murphy

Early life

Personal life

Charitable work

Filmography

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Awards/nominations

References

External links

Stevie Wonder

Early life

Discovery and early Motown recordings

Classic period: 1972–1976

Current career: 2002–present

Accomplishments

Impact

Songs sampled by other musicians

Personal life

U.S. and UK albums

Awards and recognition

Grammy Awards

Other awards and recognition

See also

References

External links

Rick James

Childhood

Early career

Solo career

1990s-2004

Death

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links

Richard Pryor

Life and career

Early life

Early career

Mainstream success

Illness

The freebasing incident

Marriages

Later life

Death

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Filmography

References

External links

Mike Tyson

Early years

Career

Amateur career

Rise to stardom

Controversy and upset

After Douglas

Rape conviction, prison, and conversion

Comeback

Tyson-Holyfield fights

Tyson vs. Holyfield I

Tyson vs. Holyfield II and aftermath

1999 to 2005

After Holyfield

Lewis vs. Tyson

Exhibition tour

Legacy

After professional boxing

Personal life

Popular culture

Professional boxing record

Boxing championships and accomplishments

See also

References

External links

Bill Cosby