Mike Epps facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mike Epps
Epps in 2013
Birth name	Michael Elliot Epps
Born	(1970-11-18) November 18, 1970 (age 54) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up film television
Years active	1994–present
Genres	Observational comedy satire
Spouse	Mechelle McCain ​ ​ (m. 2006; div. 2017)​ Kyra Robinson ​ (m. 2019)​
Children	7

Michael Elliot Epps (born November 18, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Day-Day Jones in Next Friday and its sequel, Friday After Next, and also appeared in The ... and The ... Part III as "Black Doug". He was the voice of main character Boog in Open Season 2, replacing Martin Lawrence, with whom he starred in the comedy Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, playing "Reggie", cousin of Roscoe (played by Lawrence). He played Lloyd Jefferson "L.J." Wayne in the films Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007). He has had starring roles in the sitcoms Uncle Buck and The Upshaws.

Early life

Epps was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Mary Reed and (the late) Tommie Epps. In his adulthood, Epps moved to Brooklyn to star in Def Comedy Jam in 1994.

Career

Stand-up comedy

Epps began his professional career by joining the Def Comedy Jam tour in 1995 and starred in two of HBO's Def Comedy Jam broadcasts.

Acting

Epps' first on-screen appearance came in Vin Diesel's second directorial film, Strays in 1997. In 1999, Epps was then cast as Ice Cube's co-star in the sequel, Next Friday. This followed weeks of auditions, after Ice Cube attended a stand-up set Epps did, and then asked Epps to try out for the role of Day-Day Jones. Later that year, Epps had a cameo in 3 Strikes, and supported Jamie Foxx in Bait.

..... Epps reunited with Ice Cube in 2002 as the bumbling thief to Ice Cube's bounty hunter in All About the Benjamins, and again re-teamed with Cube in Friday's second sequel Friday After Next. He played Lloyd Jefferson "L.J." Wayne in the films Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007). Epps also voiced another bear character (Boog) in the 2008 film Open Season 2 after Martin Lawrence declined the role; he previously worked with Lawrence in the comedy Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008), playing "Reggie", cousin of Roscoe (played by Lawrence). He played "Black Doug" ..... In 2010, Epps also released a stand-up comedy special, Under Rated & Never Faded, and hosted the 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards.

..... Epps' performance was well received by critics and audiences. In 2014, Epps landed the coveted role of Richard Pryor in a planned Pryor biopic to be directed by Lee Daniels; however, the project has remained in development hell. Epps did portray Pryor in the 2016 Nina Simone biopic Nina and in an episode of the HBO drama series Winning Time about the L.A. Lakers.

Epps had a starring role in the 2016 comedy horror film Meet the Blacks and its 2021 sequel The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2. He also starred as the title character in the single-season 2016 sitcom Uncle Buck. Since 2021, he has been a main cast member on the Netflix sitcom The Upshaws.

Music

Epps "hosted" the Jim Jones and Skull Gang album Jim Jones & Skull Gang Present A Tribute To Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps. Epps has also made a song called "Trying to Be a Gangsta" with Pooh Bear.

Epps also hosted G Unit's 2008 mixtape Elephant In The Sand, appearing on the track "Hollow Thru Him". Epps also has a song called "Big Girls", which came out in 2008. It was originally recorded by Bow Wow featuring Yung Joc. The song is currently on iTunes and can be found on his album, Funny Bidness: Da Album, which was released October 27, 2009. Epps also has featured in rapper French Montana's Mac Wit Da Cheese mixtape, which was released on April 19, 2009. Epps has also featured on the Dom Kennedy song "Intro/Hard Work" on his FutureStreet/DrugSounds mixtape.

Part of his stand-up comedy in Under Rated & Never Faded was sampled for the song "I'm On Everything" by Bad Meets Evil on their first EP, Hell: The Sequel and on the track "Runaway", from J. Cole's second album Born Sinner. Mike Epps was also known in his hometown of Indianapolis as the CEO of Naptown Records. In 2006 he signed local artist Philthyphil. ..... The record deal which was reportedly worth $175,000 was later terminated after Phillip "Philthyphil" White was charged with first-degree murder in Oakland, CA in 2007.

Epps has made cameo appearances in many music videos, mostly by hip hop artists, including "Gangsta Nation" (2003) by Westside Connection, "A Bay Bay" (2007) by Hurricane Chris, "No Effort" (2017) by Tee Grizzley, and "Bank Account" (2017) by 21 Savage.

Super Bowl XLVI

Epps served as the "Super Bowl ambassador" in his native Indianapolis for the 2012 Super Bowl. He was featured in commercials promoting the Super Bowl Village and he made special appearances in the Village during the week of the Super Bowl.

Personal life

Epps married OWN Network executive and Iyanla: Fix My Life producer Kyra Robinson, in Newport Beach, California, in June 2019. He was previously married to Mechelle McCain, whom he wed in July 2006. The pair lived in Beverly Hills, California together until they divorced in September 2017.

Filmography

Film

Television

Comedy specials

Music videos

Documentaries

Discography

Albums

• A Tribute to Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps (with Jim Jones and Skull Gang, 2008)
• Funny Bidness: Da Album (2009)
• Omar Ray Life & Timez of Suge Gotti, Vol. 1 (2012)

Singles

• "Big Girls" (2008)
• "Trying to Be a Gangsta" (2009)
• "Aint Chu You?" (2009)

Guest appearances

• 2009: "I'm a Go and Get My..." with (Busta Rhymes) on Back on My B.S.
• 2011: “I’m on Everything” with (Bad Meets Evil) on Hell: The Sequel
• 2016: "2011 BET Cypha" with (Termanology, French Montana, Wais P, Rico Staxx, & Cross) on Cameo King III

See also

In Spanish: Mike Epps para niños