Don Reed (comedian) facts for kids

Donald Gene Reed (born November 23, 1959) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, and comedian. He is known for his funny stand-up comedy and his many roles in TV shows and movies. Don Reed has also lent his voice to popular cartoons.

Early Life

Don Reed grew up in Oakland, California. He went to Fremont High School. After high school, he attended Chabot Junior College in Hayward, California. He was then asked to join the speech and debate team at the UCLA. There, he became a national champion in different speaking events. These included funny speeches, poetry readings, and dramatic performances.

Career Highlights

Starting in Comedy

In 1988, Don Reed was performing stand-up comedy. He was so good that another comedian, Sinbad, helped him get a big break. Don Reed got a role on the TV show A Different World. This show was a spin-off of The Cosby Show. He played a character named "Chip St. Charles." This was Don Reed's first time on television. He left the show in 1989.

TV and Movie Roles

After A Different World, Don Reed acted in a movie called Dance to Win. It came out in 1989. He also appeared on the HBO show Dream On in 1990. Later, he worked with actor and director Robert Townsend. He was in Townsend's HBO special Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime (1991). He also appeared in the movie The Meteor Man (1993).

Don Reed was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. These nominations were for his work on Dream On, The Cosby Show, and Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime in 1989.

Famous Impressions

Don Reed is very good at doing impressions of famous people. Here are some of the people he can imitate:

• Sherman Hemsley (as George Jefferson)
• Mario Lopez
• Todd Bridges
• Ernest Lee Thomas
• Michael Jordan
• Chris Rock
• Bill Cosby
• Richard Pryor
• David Alan Grier
• Sean "Diddy" Combs
• Bobby Brown
• Michael Jackson
• Mike Tyson
• Luther Vandross

Voice Acting Fun

For two years, Don Reed worked at NBC in advertising. After that, he started doing voice-over work for cartoons. You might have heard his voice in shows like Disney's Gargoyles, Spider-Man, and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.

Don Reed also appeared in movies like Fear of a Black Hat and Once Upon a Forest. He joined the cast of NBC's The Rerun Show. On this show, he showed off his many impressions. These included Mike Tyson, Sherman Hemsley, and Chris Rock.

Solo Shows and Awards

In 2008, Don Reed created his first solo show. It was called East 14th: True Tales of a Reluctant Player. A solo show is where one person performs many different characters or tells a story by themselves. He has performed five solo shows in total.

In 2009, he became the warm-up comedian for The Jay Leno Show. A warm-up comedian performs before a TV show starts. They get the audience excited and ready for the show. Don Reed was the first African American warm-up comedian for a major late-night show. He performed for over 1,000 episodes of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

In 2016, Don Reed won an award from Snap Judgment. This was for his performance on NPR/WNYC. Later that year, his show East 14th won the 2016 TBA award for Outstanding Solo Show. Also in 2016, Don Reed co-starred in the Amazon Prime comedy series Bartlett. He acted alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, who created the famous musical Hamilton. In 2019, Robert Townsend asked Don Reed to help produce his one-man show called "Living the Shuffle."