Tracy Morgan facts for kids

Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy TV show Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2003. He also played Tracy Jordan in the NBC comedy show 30 Rock from 2006 to 2013. Both roles earned him a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award. He also starred as Tray Barker in the TBS comedy The Last O.G.

Quick facts for kids Tracy Morgan
Morgan in 2009
Born	(1968-11-10) November 10, 1968 (age 56) Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Years active	1988–present
Genres	Musical comedy character comedy
Subject(s)	African-American culture race relations racism marriage family self-deprecation current events
Spouse	Sabina Morgan ​ ​ (m. 1987; div. 2009)​ Megan Wollover ​ ​ (m. 2015; div. 2020)​
Children	4

Early Life and Start in Comedy

Tracy Morgan was born on November 10, 1968, in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in the Marlboro Houses and Tompkins Houses in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood. He is the second of five children. His mother, Alicia, was a homemaker, and his father, Jimmy Morgan, was a musician. His father left the family when Tracy was six years old.

Tracy's father named him Tracy to honor a friend who went to Vietnam with him and sadly died there.

When Tracy was a child, he was sometimes picked on by bullies. He went to DeWitt Clinton High School. In 1985, when he was 17, his father became very sick. His father passed away in January 1987 at age 38.

Tracy married his girlfriend Sabina that same year. He left high school just before finishing to help care for his father. While living on welfare, Tracy began to earn money by performing comedy on the streets. He became successful enough that he moved to a nicer area in Riverdale, away from a run-down apartment near Yankee Stadium.

Tracy Morgan's Career

Tracy Morgan first appeared on TV in the show Martin. He played a character called Hustle Man. This character sold different things and always said, "What's happ'n, chief?" He even had a pet dog dressed like a rapper! Later, in the 2003 movie Head of State, Tracy played a man watching TV who kept asking why they weren't watching Martin.

Tracy was also a regular on Uptown Comedy Club. This was a sketch-comedy show filmed in Harlem that aired for two seasons from 1992 to 1994.

Saturday Night Live

Tracy joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) in 1996 and was a regular until 2003. The show's producer, Lorne Michaels, chose him over Stephen Colbert after the final auditions.

Tracy played many popular characters on SNL, including:

• Woodrow, a kind but confused homeless man.
• Dominican Lou, an outspoken apartment maintenance man.
• Astronaut Jones, a space explorer.
• Brian Fellow, the host of Safari Planet, who was excited but didn't know much about animals.

Tracy also did funny impressions of famous people like Della Reese, Harry Belafonte, Maya Angelou, and Little Richard. He returned to host SNL on March 14, 2009, and played Brian Fellow and Astronaut Jones again. He also made a guest appearance in 2011 and hosted again on October 17, 2015.

Other TV Shows and Movies

Tracy had his own TV show, The Tracy Morgan Show, in 2003, but it only lasted one season. Also in 2003, he was on an episode of Punk'd, where his car was towed from valet parking.

From 2006 to 2013, Tracy was a cast member of the TV show 30 Rock. He played a character named Tracy Jordan, who was a funny version of himself. His acting on 30 Rock was very popular, and he was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2009. He returned to play Tracy Jordan again in July 2020 for a special reunion episode during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2018, Tracy started starring in the TBS show The Last O.G.. This show ran for four seasons until 2021.

Tracy Morgan on stage during a comedy tour in 2006

Tracy Morgan performing stand-up in 2008.

Tracy also had a stand-up comedy special called One Mic on Comedy Central. He hosted the first Spike Guys' Choice Awards in 2007. You can hear his voice as Spoonie Luv on the Comedy Central show Crank Yankers and as Woof in the animated series Where My Dogs At?. He was also the voice of Luis in the animated movie Rio.

Tracy appeared in commercials for video games like NFL 2K, NBA 2K, and NHL 2K. He was in Adam Sandler's movie The Longest Yard as a character named Ms. Tucker.

In July 2019, he hosted the ESPYs, a sports awards show, in Los Angeles.

In 2022, the New York Friars Club gave Tracy Morgan the Entertainment Icon Award. He is only the ninth person to receive this important comedy award and the first Black person to get it.

Comedy Influences

Tracy Morgan has said that comedians like Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy, and Richard Pryor have greatly influenced his comedy style.

Personal Life

Family Life

In 1987, Tracy married his high school girlfriend, Sabina. They have three sons together: Gitrid (born 1986), Malcolm (born 1988), and Tracy Jr. (born 1992). Tracy filed for divorce in August 2009 after they had been separated for about eight years.

Tracy later dated Tanisha Hall. She generously donated one of her kidneys to Tracy in December 2010.

In September 2011, Tracy announced that he was engaged to model Megan Wollover. Their daughter, Maven, was born on July 2, 2013. Tracy and Megan got married on August 23, 2015. Tracy filed for divorce in July 2020.

In 2023, on a TV show called Finding Your Roots, Tracy discovered that he is third cousins with American rapper Nas.

Health and Recovery

In 1996, Tracy was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. He has said that some of his own health challenges were included in 30 Rock episodes. In December 2010, Tracy had a kidney transplant because of his diabetes. He admitted that he didn't take his diabetes seriously at first, but later realized it was a matter of life and death.

In August 2023, Tracy mentioned that he was using a medicine called semaglutide to help with his health. In March 2024, he joked about it on a talk show, but later clarified that the medicine had helped him a lot.

Autobiography

On October 20, 2009, Tracy Morgan's autobiography, I Am the New Black, was released. The book shares stories about his life, from growing up in the Tompkins Projects in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, to becoming a cast member on Saturday Night Live.

2014 Traffic Accident

On June 7, 2014, Tracy Morgan was a passenger in a minibus that was in a six-vehicle crash in New Jersey. The vehicle was hit from behind by a Walmart truck, causing a chain reaction crash. Tracy and three other comedians were returning from a comedy show. Sadly, Tracy's friend and fellow comedian, 62-year-old James McNair, died in the crash.

Tracy was taken to the hospital by helicopter. He had a broken leg, broken nose, a traumatic brain injury, and several broken ribs. He had surgery on his leg. On June 20, 2014, Tracy was released from the hospital and went to a rehabilitation center to continue recovering. He left the rehab center on July 12, 2014.

The driver of the Walmart truck, Kevin Roper, pleaded not guilty to charges related to the crash. A first investigation showed that the driver had been working for a long time and was close to the legal limit for driving hours.

On July 10, 2014, Tracy sued Walmart for being careless. The lawsuit claimed that Walmart should have known that the driver had not slept for more than 24 hours. In September 2014, Walmart claimed that Tracy and the other victims were partly to blame for not wearing seat belts. Tracy and his lawyers denied this, pointing out that the truck driver had been charged with serious offenses.

By October 2014, Tracy was still in rehab and needed a wheelchair for longer distances. On May 27, 2015, Walmart settled the lawsuit for a large amount of money.

On June 1, 2015, Tracy made his first public appearance since the crash in an interview. He seemed clear-headed but said he had good days and bad days where he forgot things, and that he also had headaches. He said he didn't remember the crash. Tracy made a surprise appearance at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 20, and everyone gave him a standing ovation. He then hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live on October 17, 2015. On November 3, 2016, Tracy said on a talk show that he was no longer angry about the crash and had forgiven the driver. The truck driver accepted a plea deal and did not go to jail. Tracy's 2017 Netflix stand-up special Staying Alive joked about Walmart and the lawsuit, and talked about his time in the hospital and his recovery.

Awards and Nominations

• Emmy Awards
  • 2009, Nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, 30 Rock
  • 2016, Nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, Saturday Night Live
• Image Awards
  • 2007, Nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, 30 Rock
  • 2008, Nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, 30 Rock

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Tracy Morgan para niños