Faizon Love
Faizon Love | |
---|---|
Born | Langston Faizon Santisima June 14, 1968 Santiago de Cuba, Cuba |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Actor, comedian |
Years active | 1992–present |
Langston Faizon Santisima (born June 14, 1968), professionally known as Faizon Love, is a Cuban American actor and comedian. He is best known for roles in the films The Meteor Man, Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, Friday, B*A*P*S, Torque, Elf, The Replacements, Made, and Couples Retreat. Also, he is known for his role as Wendell Wilcox on The Parent 'Hood from 1995 to 1998. He also played Maurice Starr on BET's The New Edition Story.
Life and career[]
Love was born Langston Faizon Santisima[1] in Santiago de Cuba and grew up as a "military brat"; he was raised in Southeast San Diego, California and Newark, New Jersey because of his father's career in the United States Navy.[1] Love got his start as a stand-up comedian at age 15 and made his acting debut in an off-Broadway at the age of 19 shortly after graduating from Morse High School.[2] His motion-picture debut, Bebe's Kids, had him providing the voice of comedian Robin Harris, who died before production began on the film; Love offered a close vocal impression of Harris. He then had a role in The Meteor Man, starring Robert Townsend. Townsend then cast Love in a co-starring role on his sitcom The Parent 'Hood.
He followed up this role with a breakout performance as the drug supplier Big Worm in the 1995 film Friday. Follow-up films have included 3 Strikes, Elf, Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, Money Talks, Wonderland, The Fighting Temptations, and Idlewild.[3][4][5][6] In 2001, Love guest-starred in the Ludacris single "Freaky Thangs" from the album Word of Mouf. The same year, he made a cameo appearance as a bus driver, in the music video for Lil Jon & The East Side Boys' single "Put Yo Hood Up". In 2004, Love appeared in the action video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as the voice of Sean "Sweet" Johnson, the leader of the Grove Street Families and the older brother of the game's protagonist, Carl Johnson.
Love co-starred in Couples Retreat (2009), a comedy film chronicling four couples who partake in therapy sessions at a tropical island resort.[7] In 2011 Love starred in a theatrical production of Our Town by Thornton Wilder, alongside Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Etan Thomas.[8]
In 2012, he played the role of Stringer Bell in the satirical trailer for The Wire: The Musical. In June of that year, Love started to appear in a series of commercials for the pre-paid wireless provider Boost Mobile, promoting its new 4G phones.
Controversy and legal issues[]
In 2014, Love made a series of controversial Twitter comments in the wake of the sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby. Defending Cosby against the charges, Love used profanity and racial slurs against Cosby's accusers as well as comedian Hannibal Buress, who had alluded to the allegations in a stand-up routine.[9][10] In 2015, Love once again took to Twitter to defend Cosby, dismissing those African Americans who believed the allegations as "spineless monkeys".[11]
On March 7, 2017, Love was arrested in Columbus, Ohio, on a charge of misdemeanor assault. An altercation with a valet occurred at John Glenn Columbus International Airport, whereby video showed him grabbing the valet behind the neck in the baggage claim area and throwing him onto the ground and into a desk. Love filed a plea of not guilty.[12] He pled no-contest to the assault charge and received a $500 fine and a 180 day suspended jail sentence.[13]
Filmography[]
Film[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | Bébé's Kids | Robin Harris | Voice |
1993 | The Meteor Man | Maurice, Screaming Woman's Husband | |
1994 | Fear of a Black Hat | Jam Boy | |
1995 | Friday | Big Worm | |
1996 | Don't be a Menace | Rufus | |
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate | Manny | ||
1997 | B*A*P*S | Tiger J | |
Money Talks | Cellmate | ||
1998 | The Players Club | Officer Peters | |
2000 | 3 Strikes | Tone | |
The Replacements | Jahmal Abdul Jackson | ||
2001 | Made | Horrace | |
Mr Bones | Fats Pudbedder | ||
2002 | Play'd: A Hip Hop Story | Domino Breed | TV movie |
Blue Crush | Leslie | ||
2003 | Wonderland | Greg Diles | |
The Fighting Temptations | Luther Washington | ||
Elf | Wanda, Gimbel's Manager | ||
Ride or Die | David Rabinawitz | Video | |
2004 | Torque | Sonny | |
2005 | The Luau | Hustle | |
Animal | Double T | Video | |
2006 | Just My Luck | Damon Phillips | |
All You've Got | Coach Harlan | TV movie | |
Idlewild | Sunshine Ace | ||
2007 | Who's Your Caddy? | Big Large | |
The Perfect Holiday | Jamal | ||
2008 | Of Boys and Men | Roman | |
Days of Wrath | Cash Flow | ||
2009 | Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy | Himself | Documentary |
G.E.D. | Bro. Hakeem | ||
A Day in the Life | "Black" Ike Smith | ||
Steppin: The Movie | |||
Couples Retreat | Shane | ||
2010 | Life as We Know It | Cab Driver | |
2011 | Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son | Kurtis Kool | |
King of the Underground | Faizon | ||
Zookeeper | Bruce the Bear (voice) | ||
The Cookout 2 | David Turner | TV movie | |
Budz House | Big Shitty | ||
Shredd | Nate | TV movie | |
2012 | The Paperboy | Comedian | |
2013 | White T | Anthony | |
2014 | Matthew 18 | Lifton Tyler | |
Tell | Dwight Johnson | ||
2015 | November Rule | Theo | |
Brotherly Love | Uncle Ron | ||
2016 | She's Got a Plan | Dr. Funkman | |
2017 | Grow House | Rollin Reg | |
Ripped | Reeves | ||
2018 | Dogstar: High School 2 | Voice (English version) | |
2020 | Bulletproof 2 | Jack Carter | |
The War with Grandpa | David | ||
2021 | Fuck Child Support the Animated Movie | Mr. Mack | Short |
Television[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1989–1990 | L.A. Friday | Comedian | TV series |
1992 | An Evening at the Improv | Himself | Episode: "#10.14" |
1993 | Def Comedy Jam | Himself | TV series |
Comic Justice | Himself | TV series | |
1995 | What a Cartoon! | Sledgehammer O' Possum | Episode: "Sledgehammer O'Possum: Out and About" |
1995–1998 | The Parent 'Hood | Wendell Wilcox | Season 1: recurring cast; seasons 2–4: main cast |
1996 | The Wayans Bros. | Nigel Lovejoy | Episode: "Mama, I Wanna Act" |
2000 | Step to the Mic | Himself | TV series |
2004 | The Big House | Warren Cleveland | Main cast |
That's So Raven | Cyrus | Episode: "Radio Heads" | |
2007 | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Coach | Episode: "The Gang Gets Invincible" |
2009 | My Name Is Earl | Reverend Greene | Episode: "Gospel" |
Black to the Future | Himself | TV series | |
2013 | Mr. Box Office | Big Whane | Episode: "There Goes the Neighborhood" |
2013–2016 | Real Husbands of Hollywood | Himself | 9 episodes |
2015–2017 | Black-ish | Sha | 2 episodes |
2017 | The New Edition Story | Maurice Starr | TV mini-series |
Wild 'N Out | Himself/Team Captain | Episode: "Faizon Love/2 Milly" | |
Hip Hop Squares | Himself/Panelist | 3 episodes | |
2018 | Detroiters | Farmer Zack | Episode: "Farmer Zack" |
2018–2019 | Step Up: High Water | Al Baker | Main cast |
Video game[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | Sean "Sweet" Johnson (voice) | Video game |
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Williams, Kam (October 7, 2009). "Interview: After Playing on the New York Giants for two years, Faizon Love". DallasBlack.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2009. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
- ^ "Hope full of Love tonight". Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ "The Cast". The Replacements. Warner Bros. 2000. Retrieved January 13, 2007.
- ^ "Just My Luck" (PDF). Regency Entertainment. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 14, 2006. Retrieved January 13, 2007.
- ^ "Family Tree". The Big House. ABC. April 2004. Archived from the original on March 18, 2004. Retrieved January 13, 2007.
- ^ Ryan, Tim (January 28, 2002). "Big screen wave riders". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved January 13, 2007.
- ^ Trio of Ladies Going on Couples Retreat at TV Guide. October 15, 2008. Retrieved on October 15, 2008.
- ^ "Boost Mobile Ad Pimps WiMax 4G". CNET. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
- ^ Callahan, Yesha (November 24, 2014). "Faizon Love Had a Profanity Laced Twitter Meltdown as He Showed Support for Bill Cosby". The Root. Archived from the original on January 4, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
- ^ "Faizon Love supports Bill Cosby, calls Hannibal Buress a house N***a". The Grio. November 22, 2014.
- ^ Rogers, Jazmine Denise (July 7, 2015). "Faizon Love Slams Blacks Over Bill Cosby Outrage". Madame Noire.
- ^ Associated Press (March 8, 2017). "Faizon Love arrested in Ohio after airport altercation". Fox News Entertainment.
- ^ https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-actor-faizon-love-gets-suspended-sentence-in-assault-case-2017-7
External links[]
- Faizon Love at IMDb
- Faizon Love on Twitter
- 1968 births
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- Male actors from Newark, New Jersey
- Male actors from San Diego
- African-American male actors
- American stand-up comedians
- American entertainers of Cuban descent
- American male film actors
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- American male video game actors
- American male voice actors
- Living people
- People from Santiago de Cuba
- Cuban emigrants to the United States
- Comedians from California
- 20th-century American comedians
- 21st-century American comedians