Martin Lawrence
Highest Rated: 96% House Party (1990)
Lowest Rated: 5% Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (2011)
Birthday: Apr 16, 1965
Birthplace: Frankfurt, Germany
Actor/comedian Martin Lawrence started the 21st century off with a bang, starring and executive producing Big Momma's House, the story of an FBI agent posing as a corpulent Southern matriarch, which went on to gross more than 100 million dollars, despite universally negative reviews. The success of this film pushed Lawrence ever closer to joining the much-coveted 20-million-dollar club, cementing his reputation as one of the biggest comic stars for years to come.Lawrence was born in Frankfurt, Germany, on April 16, 1965, and eventually settled with his family in suburban Maryland around his sixth birthday. Soon after, his father left the family; Lawrence claims he got his start as a comedian by cheering up his mother, who was forced to support her six children by cashiering in various department stores. He attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Landover, MD, dabbling in sports and sticking with comedy, even agreeing to stop acting up in an art class in return for performing his stand-up routine in front of the other students.Soon after graduating, the bug-eyed performer earned a chance to perform on Star Search, which led to a role in 1985's What's Happening Now! Lawrence kept honing his frenetic schtick and by 1989, won two big breaks -- a supporting role in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and MCing HBO's Def Comedy Jam. Lawrence continued to rack up scene-stealing roles throughout the early '90s, including parts in House Party, House Party 2, and Boomerang, eventually landing his own series on Fox in 1992, appropriately named Martin. The show became a huge success, its risqué humor making it a ratings stalwart for more than five years and winning two NAACP Image Awards in the process, although some detractors criticized Lawrence for promoting the image of an oversexed, insensitive black man.Two years after Martin's successful launch, Lawrence released You So Crazy!, a raunchy, vulgarity-laced comedy that originally received the NC-17 rating and was later released unrated. Its crudeness, however, didn't matter much to audiences, as You So Crazy! went on to become one of the highest-grossing concert films of its time.Lawrence appeared to have it all, professionally and privately; in 1995 he married former beauty queen Patricia Southall in a lavish ceremony and the pair had a daughter, Jasmine. Around this time, however, Lawrence's success story began to slip away, his off-camera behavior setting up what should someday be a fascinating E! True Hollywood Story.On the set of his directorial debut, A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Lawrence erupted in a violent outburst and began taking psychotropic drugs. A few months later, he was arrested for another disturbance, where he reportedly brandished a pistol and screamed at tourists and others on Ventura Boulevard. Over the next two years, his behavior became even more erratic as he racked up a series of gun-related arrests. He landed in drug rehab and filed for divorce from Southall after she got a temporary restraining order against him for yet another vicious eruption.But the most bizarre and unsettling charges were yet to come. Tisha Campbell, Lawrence's co-star on Martin and the House Party films, filed suit against the star and the show's producers, HBO Studios, claiming Lawrence sexually harassed her to the point that she feared for her safety. The studio brokered a settlement that allowed Campbell to finish the show's final season, although she and Lawrence would never be on the soundstage together again.Despite all the trauma, Lawrence seemed as popular as ever. He starred in four hugely commercial successes between 1995 and 1999, including Bad Boys with Will Smith, Nothing to Lose with Tim Robbins, Life with Eddie Murphy, and on his own in Blue Streak. These films made Lawrence extremely bankable -- his salary broke the ten-million-dollar mark for Big Momma's House and it seemed as if his previous troubles were behind him.Then in 1999, while jogging to lose an extra few

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Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

MOVIES

CREDIT
No Score Yet Bad Boys for Life Actor — 2020
53% The Beach Bum Captain Wack — 2019
No Score Yet Def Comedy Jam 25 Actor — 2017
No Score Yet Martin Lawrence: Doin' Time: Uncut Actor — 2016
No Score Yet The Skank Robbers Producer Wanda — 2013
5% Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son Executive Producer $38M 2011
42% Death at a Funeral Ryan $16.1M 2010
12% College Road Trip James Porter $45.6M 2008
23% Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Roscoe Jenkins $42.2M 2008
14% Wild Hogs Bobby Davis $168.3M 2007
No Score Yet The Robin Harris Story: We Don't Die, We Multiply Actor — 2006
48% Open Season Boog $84.4M 2006
6% Big Momma's House 2 Executive Producer Malcolm Turner $70.2M 2006
14% Rebound Roy McCormick/Preacher Don Executive Producer $16.8M 2005
No Score Yet Before They Were Kings Vol 2 Actor — 2005
22% Bad Boys II Det. Marcus Burnett $138.4M 2003
11% National Security Earl Montgomery Executive Producer $35.8M 2003
39% Martin Lawrence Live - Runteldat Actor Executive Producer $19.1M 2002
13% Black Knight Executive Producer Jamal Walker $33.4M 2001
10% What's the Worst That Could Happen? Kevin Caffrey Executive Producer $31.1M 2001
30% Big Momma's House Executive Producer Malcolm $0.5M 2000
36% Blue Streak Miles Logan — 1999
50% Life Claude Banks — 1999
28% Nothing to Lose T. Paul — 1997
12% A Thin Line Between Love and Hate Director Executive Producer Darnell Wright Screenwriter — 1996
No Score Yet Nueba Yol Producer — 1996
42% Bad Boys Marcus Burnett — 1995
50% Martin Lawrence: You So Crazy Executive Producer Himself — 1994
44% Boomerang Tyler — 1992
21% House Party 2 Bilal — 1991
No Score Yet Talkin' Dirty After Dark Terry — 1991
96% House Party Bilal — 1990
90% Do the Right Thing Cee — 1989
No Score Yet Il fiume del grande caimano (The Big Alligator River) (The Great Alligator) Producer — 1979
No Score Yet L'Isola degli Uomini Pesce Producer — 1979

TV

CREDIT
No Score Yet Jimmy Kimmel Live
2003
Guest
  • 2018
  • 2016
25% Partners
2014
Producer Executive Producer Marcus Jackson
  • 2014
No Score Yet The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
Guest
  • 2014
No Score Yet Conan
2010
Guest
  • 2014
  • 2011
No Score Yet The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
Guest
  • 2010
  • 2008
  • 2006
No Score Yet The Tonight Show With Jay Leno
1992-2014
Guest
  • 2003
  • 2002
  • 2001
No Score Yet Martin
1992-1997
Momma/Martin Payne Martin/Roscoe Martin Payne/Otis Martin/Dr. Drillgood Martin Martin Payne Martin Payne/Sheneneh Jenkins
  • 1997
  • 1996
  • 1995
  • 1994
  • 1993
  • 1992
No Score Yet Saturday Night Live
1975
Host Guest
  • 1994

QUOTES FROM Martin Lawrence CHARACTERS