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| Birth Name(s) : Martin Lawrence |
Date of Birth: April 16, 1965 |
| Status:
N/A
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Martin Lawrence Biography
Martin Lawrence was encouraged to pursue a comedy career as a teenager by a School Teacher who gave him the last few minutes of every class to entertain his fellow students.
Several years later, Hollywood talent scouts noticed Martin on Star Search. They asked him if he would be interested in acting. This led to his first regular television role, as the smart-mouthed busboy on the syndicated series "What's Happening Now!"
By 1986 Martin had his own cable show called One Night Stand, which paved the way for him to host Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam for two seasons.
Martin made his movie debut playing a minor role? in Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing. This led to another minor role in House Party, and then a more prominent role in Eddie Murphy's Boomerang.
Finally, in 1991, Martin got his first starring role in a cinema project called Talking Dirty After Dark, a fun movie that all Martin fans will enjoy watching.
This is about the time that "Martin," the FOX TV Sitcom started. Martin ran from 1992 to 1997, and is now in syndication on many UPN stations across the United States, in Europe, and worldwide.
For the film entitled A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Martin starred, directed, co-wrote, and was also executive Producer. "Thin Line" was filmed around the "Martin" TV sitcom production schedule; a difficult and arduous task to say the least.
In the movie Life, Martin and Eddie Murphy co-star as two New York City moonshine whiskey smugglers who are falsely charged with murder. Then end up wrongfully imprisoned for life in a Mississippi state prison starting in 1933.
In Blue Streak Martin plays a jewel thief on the run from the cops. Blue Streak has a sequel in the works. Martin also co-stars with Danny DeVito in What's The Worst That Could Happen. To learn more about Martin's current and upcoming movies, visit the href="up.html">Upcoming Projects Page.
Born April 16, 1965 in what was then West Germany, Martin was an Air Force "Brat." After his Dad got out of the service they moved to Queens, New York. And then to Landover, Maryland.
Martin was married to Patricia Southall, a former Miss Virginia. But Martin's life has not been trouble free, as one discovers after reading these astonishing news stories.
Martin has cleaned up his life, and is now drug, weapons, and alcohol free. He owns property in Leesburg, Virginia and has set up a vacation home and office there. |
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Additional Martin Lawrence Biography
Lawrence was given his first name after Martin Luther King, Jr. and his middle name after that of John F. Kennedy. He was born in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, where his father, John Lawrence, served in the US military. He has three siblings, Robert, Rae and Ursula. When Lawrence was seven, his father left the military and the family moved from Germany back to the United States, settling in Landover, Maryland, in the Washington, D.C., area. After his parents divorced in 1973, Lawrence rarely saw his father, who worked as a police officer. His mother, Chlora, worked several jobs, including as a sales representative and cashier at various department stores, to support her family. During his teen years, Lawrence excelled at boxing. While living in Maryland, he attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School and also Friendly High School, and lived in Apple Grove, becoming a Mid-Atlantic Golden Gloves boxing contender.
Around the same time he was cast in the Def Comedy Jam role, Lawrence appeared in his own sitcom, the hit series Martin, which aired on Fox. The show ran from 1992 to 1997 and was considered a success. He also hosted Saturday Night Live on February 19, 1994, where he made crude remarks on women's genitalia and personal hygiene. The monologue was later completely edited out of reruns and syndicated versions. As a result, Lawrence was banned from the show for life. After Martin ended its run, Lawrence worked on many film projects. He starred or co-starred in many movies alongside Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, and Tim Robbins. Many of his films were blockbusters (including Bad Boys (1995) and Big Momma's House (2000), and his salary increased dramatically to over $10 million per role. He continues to work in film, with his recent films including Big Momma's House 2, which opened #1 at the North American box office and grossed almost $28 million its first weekend, and Wild Hogs (2007), where he played a bored suburbanite looking for adventure on the open road in a biker comedy alongside John Travolta, Tim Allen and William H. Macy.
In 2006, Lawrence appeared on a talk show where he was requested, by the studio audience, to act out his famous characters he played on his Martin television show. To a great deal of excitement and cheering from the studio audience, Lawrence performed most of his characters again, out of wardrobe and with no lines. The audience became particularly excited when Lawrence acted out his Momma Payne, Sheneneh Jenkins, and Jerome characters. During the interview, when yet another character was named off for him to act out, Lawrence mentioned how he was surprised at how many characters he used to perform on the show. There were a couple more funny characters of Lawrence's that he didn't act out, such as the abrasive security guard, Otis. Once his Martin show ended, Lawrence never brought back any of his characters for another TV series or movie.
Lawrence was once engaged to actress Lark Voorhies. He married Patricia Southall, a former Miss Virginia winner in January of 1995. They divorced in September 1997. Lawrence has a daughter named Jasmine Page with Patricia who was born on January 15, 1996. Lawrence also has two other daughters born in 2001 and 2003.
While filming A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Lawrence had a violent outburst on the set and began taking drugs. He became increasingly erratic and was arrested after he reportedly brandished a pistol and screamed at tourists on Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles. He was also arrested at Burbank Airport for carrying a loaded gun in his suitcase. In March of 1997, Lawrence was arrested again after allegedly assaulting a man in a Hollywood nightclub. After racking up several other arrests, he checked into drug rehab and divorced his wife.
In late 1996, Lawrence's Martin co-star Tisha Campbell filed a lawsuit against Lawrence and the show's producers, claiming that Lawrence sexually harassed her to the point where she feared for her life. HBO Studios eventually settled the case with Campbell so that they could complete what would be the show's final season.
In August 1999, Lawrence went into a three-day coma after collapsing from heat exhaustion while jogging in 100-degree heat with several layers of heavy clothing. He recovered in the hospital from near death and running a body temperature of a seemingly impossible 107 °F (41.7 °C), his breathing assisted by a respirator. |
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