Larry Wilmore

Elister Larry Wilmore III (born October 30, 1961) is an American comedian, writer, producer, and actor. He served as the "Senior Black Correspondent" on The Daily Show from 2006 to 2014, and hosted The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore in 2015 and 2016. He is also the creator of the sitcom The Bernie Mac Show. He was an executive producer for the ABC television series Black-ish, and co-created the HBO television series Insecure with Issa Rae. From 2017 to 2025, he hosted a podcast, Black on the Air, where he discussed current events and interviews guests. He was also the host of the talk show Wilmore.

Early life and education Wilmore was born October 30, 1961, in Los Angeles He grew up Catholic in suburban Pomona and his family is from Evanston, Illinois. He is the third of six children and his late younger brother Marc was also a television writer, actor, and producer.

As a child, Wilmore found interest in topics including science, magic, science-fiction and fantasy, all of which have shaped the evolution of his performance. In an NPR interview, he said he was a nerd. "It used to be that the black comic figure had to have this bravado and always showed strength... now there's a comic figure where it's ok to just be a nerd and be black." Wilmore graduated from Damien High School in La Verne, California, in 1979. He studied theater at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in Pomona, but dropped out to pursue acting and stand-up comedy. with Eddie Murphy and was the executive producer until its conclusion in 2001. He then created The Bernie Mac Show, and won an Emmy for writing the pilot episode. He created and produced Whoopi, with Whoopi Goldberg. From 2005 to 2007 he was a consulting producer for The Office, and appeared in the "Diversity Day" episode as Mr. Brown, a diversity consultant. In January 2009, Hyperion published Wilmore's I'd Rather We Got Casinos: And Other Black Thoughts, a political humor book described by Booklist as being "a faux collection of articles, essays, radio transcripts, and letters exploring the more ludicrous angles on race."

Wilmore has continued occasional acting appearances, including a role as a minister in I Love You, Man (2009) and a supporting role in Dinner for Schmucks (2010). In 2011, He began a recurring role on the ABC comedy Happy Endings, where he played Mr. Forristal, Brad (Damon Wayans Jr.)'s uptight boss. In 2012, he starred in the Showtime special Race, Religion and Sex, shot in Salt Lake City, Utah.

On April 30, 2016, Wilmore was the headliner at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. He came under fire for using the word "nigga" to refer to President Barack Obama saying "Barry, you did it my nigga." Wilmore defended his actions telling Al Sharpton, "I wanted to make a statement more than a joke... I really wanted to explain the historical implications of the Obama presidency from my point of view." In May 2017, Wilmore began hosting the podcast Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air as part of The Ringer podcast network, headed by Bill Simmons. Time ranked it in the top five of its list of 10 Best podcast of 2017.

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore

On January 19, 2015, Wilmore began hosting The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, a late night panel talk show which aired on Comedy Central. It was a spin-off of The Daily Show, and replaced The Colbert Report in the network's 11:30pm timeslot. It was produced by Jon Stewart's production company Busboy Productions. On August 15, 2016, Comedy Central announced that Wilmore's show had been canceled, and the show ended August 18, 2016, with a total of 259 episodes.

Wilmore He briefly hosted his own limited series late-night talk show on Peacock titled Wilmore.

Influences Wilmore has cited Johnny Carson, Eddie Murphy and Jon Stewart as being comedy influences. Wilmore said that when he needs inspiration, he "observe people. I ride the subway, sit in a coffee shop. There's nothing funnier than real human behavior."

Personal life Wilmore and actress Leilani Jones were married for 20 years; they have two children, John and Lauren. He lived in San Marino, California, with his family until moving to New York City to work on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.

Filmography Year Title RoleNotes 1983 Good-bye, Cruel World Sergeant, Thug 1990 The Ghost Writer The Paramedic TV movie 2005; 2006 The Office Al Brown 2 episodes: "Diversity Day", "Gay Witch Hunt" 2009 I Love You, Man Minister 2010 Dinner for Schmucks Williams 2012 Vamps Professor Quincy 2014 Date and Switch Mr. Vernon 2019 The Laundromat Jeff 2022 Jerry & Marge Go Large Steve TBA TBA Filming

Television

As showrunner Year TitleNotes 1999–2001 The PJs 43 episodes; co-creator, writer, executive producer 2001–2003 The Bernie Mac Show creator 44 episodes; writer, director, executive producer 2016 Insecure co-creator 8 episodes; writer, executive producer

As performer Year Title RoleNotes 1983 The Facts of Life Officer Ziaukus 2 episodes 1986 Sledge Hammer! Mail Man, Terrorist #3 2 episodes 1990 Star Search Self 1 episode 1992 In Living Color Various 2 episodes 1994 Sister, Sister Bus Driver 2 episodes 1999 The PJs Various voices 2 episodes 2005–2007 The Office Mr. Brown 2 episodes 2006–2014 The Daily Show Himself (senior black correspondent) 78 episodes 2006–2007 Help Me Help You Larry, Jimmy 2 episodes 2008 How I Met Your Mother Dr. Greer Episode: "Everything Must Go" 2009–2010 Accidentally on Purpose Dr. Roland 5 episodes 2011 Traffic Light Harvey 2 episodes 2011 Love Bites The Boss Episode: "Firsts" 2011–2012 Happy Endings Mr. Forristal 2 episodes 2012 Bullet in the Face Racken's Mafiosi #1 Episode: "The World Stage" 2012 Race, Religion and Sex Himself Stand-up special 2013 Malibu Country Mr. Clark 2 episodes 2013 NTSF:SD:SUV:: Historian Episode: "A Hard Drive to Swallow" 2013 Instant Mom Franklin Turner Episode: "The Gift of the Maggies" 2014 Playing House Dr. Ullman Episode: "37 Weeks" 2014–2017 Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero Principal Larry (voice) Main role 2015–2016 The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore Himself (host) 259 episodes; also writer, executive producer 2016 White House Correspondents' Dinner Himself (host) TV special 2017 Difficult People Larry Wilmore Episode: "Passover Bump" 2017 The Mayor Vern Episode: "The Filibuster" 2020 Upload Mr. Whitbridge 2 episodes 2020 Wilmore Himself (host) 2026 Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness Barney Episode: "Farewell"

As crew member Year TitleNotes 1990–1991 Into the Night 6 episodes; writer 1991–1993 In Living Color 58 episodes; writer 1994–1995 Sister, Sister 5 episodes; writer 1995–1996 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 24 episodes; co-producer, writer 1996–1997 The Jamie Foxx Show 21 episodes; writer, supervising producer 1997–1998 Teen Angel 17 episodes; writer, consulting producer 2003–2004 Whoopi 22 episodes; writer, executive producer 2005–2007 The Office 50 episodes; writer, consulting producer 2011 Love Bites 8 episodes; writer, consulting producer 2014–2015 Black-ish 24 episodes; executive producer 2018–2024 Grown-ish 105 episodes; writer, co-creator

Published works

Awards and nominations