Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan (born November 10 1968) is an American actor and comedian, perhaps best known for his role on the sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live. Morgan currently stars as Tracy Jordan in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock.

Biography

Early life & career

Morgan was born in The Bronx, New York, the son of Jimmy Morgan, a musician. After attending De Witt Clinton High School in the Bronx, He was discovered in 1984 while doing stand-up at The Apollo. Tracy Morgan began his career on Martin, where he played Hustle Man. The character sold random items he had from the 'hood, always greeting people with his trademark "What's happ'n, chief?" In the 2003 movie Head of State, starring Chris Rock, Morgan appears several times as a man watching television, often questioning why they aren't watching Martin.

Tracy was also a regular cast member on "Uptown Comedy Club", a sketch comedy show filmed in Harlem, New York City which aired from 1992 to 1994 on various channels. It had a predominantly African-American cast, but there were a couple of white performers, notably Jim Breuer. He was also on the HBO show Snaps.

Saturday Night Live

Morgan joined the cast of comedy show Saturday Night Live in 1996, where he performed as a regular until 2003. Morgan performed a variety of characters on the program, including Brian Fellows, Dominican Lou, Bishop Don "Mack" Donald (from Pimp Chat), Astronaut Jones, African Andy, Benny the Bengal, and Woodrow. Morgan is also credited with impressions of Aretha Franklin, Harry Belafonte, Maya Angelou, Samuel L. Jackson, Mike Tyson, Judge Greg Mathis, Lou Bega, Oprah Winfrey, and Star Jones.

Other work

Morgan had his own show, The Tracy Morgan Show, in 2003, which was cancelled after one season.

Morgan also had a stand-up special entitled "One Mic," that was shown on Comedy Central. Morgan was the host of the first Spike Guys' Choice Awards, which aired on June 13 2007. In 2003, he was on an episode of Punk'd in which his car was towed from the valet parking. He can be heard as "Spoonie Luv" on the Comedy Central program Crank Yankers and as Woof in the MTV2 Animated Series Where My Dogs At?.

Morgan acted in commercials for ESPN NFL 2K, ESPN NBA 2K, and ESPN NHL 2K where he co-starred with Warren Sapp, Ben Wallace and Jeremy Roenick. He appeared in the movie The Longest Yard, starring Adam Sandler, as a transvestite inmate. Morgan is currently a cast member of the NBC television show 30 Rock, playing the character "Tracy Jordan", a caricature of himself.

Morgan has hosted the "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" for 4 consecutive years.

Morgan hosts the third season of Scare Tactics, the Sci-Fi Channel's gruesome hidden camera show that "punks" people by using their worst fears against them.

Alcohol abuse

On December 2 2005, Morgan was arrested in Hollywood on impaired driving charges. He later pled no contest to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge stemming from the incident. On November 28, 2006, Morgan was again arrested and charged with DWI, this time in Manhattan.

On May 10, 2007, a female disc jockey in Miami filed a misdemeanor battery complaint against Morgan, saying he groped her in a radio station studio. Morgan's shows for that night and the next night at the Improv Comedy Club in Coconut Grove were cancelled. As of May 10, 2007, police have not yet decided whether to file charges. According to reports from the scene Morgan smelled of alcohol, a potential violation of his probation for a DUI charge. Morgan had already been scheduled to be fitted with a Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM) ankle bracelet on May 25 in Los Angeles, to test his skin for alcohol vapors every 30 minutes for 90 days. On September 19, 2007 Morgan has been ordered to wear the monitoring bracelet for another 80 days as a result of the comedian admitting that he had violated a prior agreement to abstain from alcohol. Repeat violations can result in a jail sentence.

Morgan has been a resident of Riverdale, Bronx.

Filmography

• Little Man
• The Longest Yard
• Are We There Yet?
• Head of State
• 30 Years to Life
• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
• Half Baked
• VH1's Totally Awesome
• Farce of the Penguins
• How High
• First Sunday
• Superhero Movie
• G-Force
• Nailed
• Scare Tactics

References

External links

• Tracy Morgan at the Internet Movie Database
• Tracy Morgan fan site