Robert Townsend

Robert Townsend (born February 6, 1957) is an American actor, director, comedian, and writer. During the 1980s and early-1990s, Townsend gained national exposure through his stand-up comedy routines and appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Townsend is best known for directing and starring in the feature films Hollywood Shuffle (1987) and The Five Heartbeats (1991). He is well recognized for his leading role Robert Peterson in The WB's sitcom The Parent 'Hood, the series he created and directed select episodes of ran from 1995 to 1999.

Early life, family and education Townsend was born in Chicago, Illinois, the second of four children to Shirley (née Jenkins), who was of Puerto Rican descent, and Robert Townsend. His mother raised the children as a single parent on the city's west side. Townsend attended Austin High School, graduating in 1975. He became interested in acting as a teenager. During a reading of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex in high school, Townsend captured the attention of Chicago's X-Bag Theatre, The Experimental Black Actors Guild. He performed and studied at the Second City comedy workshop for improvisation in 1974.

After high school, Townsend studied for a year at Illinois State University. Although Townsend's mother believed that he should complete his college education, he felt that college took time away from his passion for acting, so he left school to pursue his acting career full-time. He relocated to New York City to study at the Negro Ensemble Company.

Career As a teenager, Townsend auditioned for parts at Chicago's Experimental Black Actors' Guild and performed in local plays. Townsend had a brief uncredited role in the 1975 movie Cooley High. He has stated that the film "changed his life" for what he perceived as its true-to-life portrayal of people like him.

Townsend auditioned to be part of Saturday Night Lives 1980–1981 cast, but he lost the slot to Eddie Murphy. In 1982, Townsend appeared as one of the main characters in the PBS series Another Page, produced by Kentucky Educational Television that taught literacy to adults through serialized stories. Townsend later appeared in small parts in films like A Soldier's Story (1984), directed by Norman Jewison, and after its success garnered much more substantial parts in films like The Mighty Quinn (1989) with Denzel Washington. In 1985, Townsend appeared in a significant supporting role in the cycling drama American Flyers, starring alongside Kevin Costner and Rae Dawn Chong. He portrayed Jerome, a close friend and teammate to the lead characters.

In 1987, Townsend wrote, directed and produced Hollywood Shuffle, a satire based on the hardships and obstacles that African-American actors undergo in the film industry. The success of his first project helped him establish himself in the industry. He directed the very popular stand-up comedy performance Eddie Murphy Raw (1987) which was released in theaters. Another of his films, The Five Heartbeats, was based on 1960s R&B male groups and the tribulations of the music industry. (He later wrote, directed and produced Making the Five Heartbeats (2018), a documentary film about the production and behind-the-scenes insight into creating the film.) Townsend's production company Townsend Entertainment has produced films Playin' for Love, In the Hive and more.

Townsend created and produced two television variety shows—the CableACE award–winning Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime for HBO, and the Fox Television variety show Townsend Television (1993). He also created and starred in the WB Network's sitcom The Parent 'Hood which originally ran from January 1995 to July 1999. In 2018, Townsend also directed two episodes for the BET Series American Soul which began airing in 2019. The show is about Don Cornelius and Soul Train. Townsend was programming director for the Black Family Channel, but the network folded in 2007. Townsend created The Robert Townsend Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to introduce and help new unsigned filmmakers. Townsend directed the 2001 TV movie, Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story, for which Cole won the NAACP Image Award as Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special. Townsend also directed two television movies in 2001 and 2002 respectively, Carmen: A Hip Hopera and 10,000 Black Men Named George.

Awards and other credits In 2013, Townsend was nominated for an Ovation Award in the category of "Lead Actor in a Musical" for his role as Dan in the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts production of Next to Normal. Townsend won Indie Soap Awards in 2010 and 2011 as executive producer of the webseries Diary of a Single Mom, which was named Indie Soap of the Year two consecutive years.

Personal life Townsend was married to Cheri Jones from September 15, 1990, to August 9, 2001. They have three children, including singer/actress Skye Townsend.

Filmography Film Year Title Director Producer Writer1987 Hollywood Shuffle Eddie Murphy Raw 1991 The Five Heartbeats 1993 The Meteor Man 1997 B*A*P*S 2008 Of Boys and Men 2009 Phantom Punch 2012 In the Hive 2015 Playin' for Love Direct-to-video Black Listed (2003) (Also writer)

Television Year Title Role Notes 1978 Watch Your Mouth Prince Otoma Episodes "The Outcast" and "The Student Prince" 1979 Women at West Point Russell BakerTV movie 1981 Senior Trip Randy1982 In Love with an Older Woman James M*A*S*H Patient Episode "Bombshells" 1995–1999 The Parent 'Hood Robert Peterson 90 episodes 2002 I Was a Teenage Faust Mr. Five TV movie 2023–2026 The Bear Emmanuel Adamu 12 episodes