Sinbad

David Adkins (born November 10, 1956), He has five siblings: Donna, Dorothea, Mark, Michael, and Donald Jr. His paternal grandmother was of Irish descent. Sinbad attended Benton Harbor High School and graduated in 1974. He attended college from 1974 to 1978 at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado, where he lettered two seasons for the Denver Pioneers men's basketball team.

Military service Sinbad served in the United States Air Force as a boom operator aboard KC-135 Stratotankers. While assigned to the 384th Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, he would often travel downtown to perform stand-up comedy. He competed as a comedian/MC in the Air Force's Talent Contest in 1981. Sinbad was almost dismissed with a dishonorable discharge for various misbehaviors, including going AWOL.

I didn't make the Air Force basketball team and went into denial. So, I kept going AWOL. My mother kept begging me to go back. I told her, "No, I'm not going back. I'll just grow a beard. They won't recognize me. I'll just be another black man with a beard." I was going to Georgia Tech to learn about computers. I'd go AWOL all the time. I'd just leave. I'd come back, hoping they'd throw me out.

Career In an attempt to stand out in the entertainment industry, Adkins worked under the professional name Sinbad, which he chose out of admiration for Sinbad the Sailor. and made it to the finals before losing to John Kassir.

He soon was cast on The Redd Foxx Show, a short-lived sitcom, playing Byron Lightfoot.

A Different World In 1987, Sinbad landed a role in A Different World, a spin-off of The Cosby Show built around Lisa Bonet's character Denise Huxtable. Previously, Sinbad appeared in a one-off role on The Cosby Show as car salesman Davis Sarrette. While Bonet only stayed with the program for a season, Sinbad stayed with the cast from 1988 until 1991 as Coach Walter Oakes.

Walter began to fall in love with a girl named Jaleesa Vinson, played by Dawnn Lewis. They dated, and eventually became engaged but decided to cancel the wedding due to differing outlooks on life.

The Sinbad Show By the early 1990s, his popularity had grown enough for Fox to greenlight The Sinbad Show, which premiered September 16, 1993. In it, Sinbad played 35-year-old David Bryan, a bachelor who decides to become a foster parent to two children after becoming emotionally attached to them.

Around that time, Sinbad had received joint custody of his two children: Royce, age 4; and Paige, age 7, and told the press that these experiences informed him of single parenting.

Films and other projects

In 1990, Sinbad did his first stand-up comedy special for HBO called Sinbad: Brain Damaged. The special was recorded at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1993, Sinbad did his next stand up special in New York City's Paramount Theater at Madison Square Garden called Sinbad: Afros and Bellbottoms for which he won a 1995 Image Award. He was brought back in 1996 for Sinbad: Son of a Preacher Man, recorded at the Paramount Theatre in Denver, Colorado, and again in 1997 for Sinbad: Nothin' but the Funk. All of these shows have been released on VHS and DVD.

Sinbad again won an NAACP Image Award in 1998 for his role in Sinbad's Summer Jam III: '70s Soul Music Festival. By 1995, Sinbad created a company called "David & Goliath Productions", that was located in Studio City.

During the 1990s, Sinbad guest starred on an episode of Nickelodeon's All That. In one sketch, he played the father of recurring character Ishboo, dubbed "Sinboo". He also made a cameo appearance in the comedy movie Good Burger, starring Kenan & Kel, as "Mr. Wheat", a short-tempered teacher. His character was modeled after Gough Wheat, a past teacher of the movie's producer, Dan Schneider, at White Station High School in Memphis, Tennessee.

He and Phil Hartman co-starred in the comedy film Houseguest, where he plays Kevin Franklin, a Pittsburgh resident who owes $50,000 to the mob. Hartman, as Gary Young, comments to his children that they are waiting to pick up his old college friend, who is black and he has not seen for twenty years. Taking who they think to be a well-known dentist home, Young's family is stabilized by Franklin's own unstable nature. Released January 6, 1995, the film grossed $26 million in North America.

Sinbad's film roles also include First Kid, which he starred in, and Jingle All the Way (1996) opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rita Wilson and the late Phil Hartman. For Jingle All the Way, Sinbad won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for "Favorite Supporting Actor – Family"; it was also his third and final collaboration with Hartman following the latter's death in May 1998.

In March 1996, Sinbad joined First Lady Hillary Clinton and musician Sheryl Crow, in a USO tour in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The NAACP Image Awards recognized his role in Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1996), nominating him in the "Outstanding Performance in an Animated/Live-Action/Dramatic Youth or Children's Series/Special" category. He lent his voice to Riley, an animal character, in Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996), and later voiced the horse "Hollywood Shuffle" in Ready to Run.

In 1997, Sinbad released Sinbad's Guide to Life: Because I Know Everything, a book of comedic short essays. It was co written with David Ritz.

In August 1997, Vibe magazine started its own syndicated late night talk show, which aired on UPN, hosted by actor Chris Spencer. Spencer was fired in October, and replaced by Sinbad; the series lasted until the summer of 1998. At that same time, Sinbad performed his HBO comedy special "Nothin' But the Funk" in Aruba's Guillermo P. Trinidad Memorial Stadium.

In 1998 and 1999, Sinbad reunited with Bill Cosby and Carsey-Werner Productions, and appeared in three episodes of Cosby. In February 1999, he was featured in an infomercial for Tae Bo, where he stated that he was successfully using the Tae Bo system to become an action star.

In 2002, he appeared in three episodes of the Showtime series Resurrection Blvd. In 2004, he was named the No. 78 Greatest Stand Up Comic of All Time on "Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time". In 2006, Maxim magazine ranked Sinbad as the "Worst Comic of All Time."

In February 2007, actor Mark Curry credited Sinbad and Bill Cosby for helping convince him not to commit suicide. Sinbad was responsible for discovering R&B trio 702, convincing their parents to let him take them to a music convention/competition under the name "Sweeta than Suga"; the group eventually being heard by music producer Michael Bivins.

Sinbad also made a cameo appearance on the television show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as himself in a rehab center in the episode "Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life", which originally aired October 23, 2008. His cameo was met with positive acclaim from fans of both him and the series.

Sinbad was the host of Thou Shalt Laugh 3. The DVD was released on November 11, 2008.

He performed his Comedy Central television special Where U Been? at Club Nokia, which was later released on DVD to even greater success. On March 14, 2010, he debuted on the Celebrity Apprentice and was fired on the second episode (March 21, 2010) after losing in the Kodak challenge as project manager, placing 13th.

Sinbad starred in a reality show on WE tv called Sinbad: It's Just Family that aired on Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m.; the show was canceled in 2011.

In 2013, Sinbad voiced Roper in the animated film Planes. The same year he had a guest role on the adult animated series American Dad!, voicing an animated version of himself in the episode "Lost in Space", then returning for the 2014 episode "The Longest Distance Relationship", and again in 2015's "Holy Shit, Jeff's Back!"

In April 2015, Sinbad appeared in a USO show at Bagram and Kandahar Air Bases in Afghanistan.

In 2017, he appeared on two episodes of Disney Junior's The Lion Guard, as the voice of Uroho the baboon. The same year, he appeared in a CollegeHumor April Fool's video consisting of newly created footage supposedly taken from a 1990s genie movie called Shazaam which never existed. The comedy drew from an Internet rumor confusing Shazaam with the real genie film titled Kazaam (1996), starring Shaquille O'Neal. The false memories of Shazaam have been explained as a confabulation of memories of the comedian wearing a genie-like costume during a TV presentation of Sinbad the Sailor movies in 1994. In addition, in the 1960s, Hanna-Barbera had an animated series about a genie called Shazzan.

In 2018 to 2019 he starred on Fox show Rel.

Sinbad returned to performing on stage with performances on April 29 and May 10, 2026, at the Comedy Ice House in Pasadena, California.

Apple Sinbad has a long history of using and promoting Apple products, working with Apple and appearing at Apple events. Examples include numerous appearances at Macworld shows.

On January 25, 2011, he was the celebrity speaker of MacWorld Expo 2011.

Music Sinbad also plays percussion and drums which he most often displays after every show appearance. He has played with numerous artists and musicians under the moniker of "Memphis Red"; such as Dawnn Lewis and Adult-Urban instrumentalist (saxophonist) Journell Henry "p/k/a. J. Henry".

Personal life Sinbad married Meredith Fuller in 1985. They have two children together. The couple divorced in 1992, but remarried in 2002.

In November 2020, his family announced to the press that Sinbad was recovering from a recent stroke. In March 2024, Sinbad announced on social media that he was still recovering but that he was attempting a comeback.

Tax issues In April 2009, Sinbad was listed as one of the ten worst tax debtors in the state of California, owing the state $2.5 million in personal income tax. On December 11, 2009, Sinbad filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. On February 5, 2010, it was reported that Sinbad put his hilltop home up for sale in order to alleviate his tax burdens.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1986 Club Med Himself TV movie 1989 That's Adequate Stand-Up Comic 1991 Necessary Roughness Andre Krimm 1992 Time Out: The Truth About HIV, AIDS, and You Condom Video short 1993 Coneheads Otto The Meteor Man Malik 1994 Aliens for Breakfast Areck TV movie 1995 Houseguest Kevin Franklin 1996 Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco Riley (voice) First Kid Secret Service Agent Sam Simms Jingle All the Way Myron Larabee The Cherokee Kid Isaiah Turner / The Cherokee Kid TV movie 1997 Good Burger Mr. Wheat 2000 Ready to Run Hollywood Shuffle (voice) TV movie Blue Shirts 2002 Crazy as Hell Orderly Hansel and Gretel Raven (voice) Treading Water The Security Guard 2006 Leila Leila's Uncle Short 2007 Stompin'''

Television

Year Title Role Notes 1986 The Redd Foxx Show Bryon Lightfoot Main cast 1987 The Cosby Show Davis Sarrette Episode: "Say Hello to a Good Buy" 1987–1991 A Different World Coach Walter Oakes Recurring cast: season 1, main cast: season 2–4 1992 Roc Ruben Stiles Episode: "Roc and the Actor" Saturday Night Live Himself / Host Episode: Sinbad/Sade 1993–1994 The Sinbad Show David Bryan Main cast 1994 Sesame Street Himself Episode: 3266 1995 The Puzzle Place Himself Episode: "Bully for Jody" All That Himself Episode: "Sinbad/Coolio" 1995–1999 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Frog Prince / Simpleton / Wolfgang (voice) 3 episodes 1997–1998 Vibe Himself Host 1998–1999 Cosby Del Recurring cast: season 3 2000 Moesha Professor LeCount Episode: "The Nutty Moesha" 2001 Girlfriends Himself Episode: "Jamaic-Up?" 2002 Resurrection Blvd. Odell Mason Supporting cast: season 3 2007–2009 Slacker Cats Eddie (voice) Main cast 2008 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Himself Episode: "Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life" Family Guy Himself (voice) Episode: "Tales of a Third Grade Nothing" 2011 Are We There Yet? Judge Oakes Episode: "The Whose Card Is It Anyway Episode" 2012 The Eric Andre Show Himself Episode: "Sinbad" 2013–2015 American Dad Himself (voice) 3 episodes 2013–2014 Steven Universe Mr. Smiley (voice) Recurring cast: season 1 2015 Comedy Bang! Bang! Noel DeSoil Holyfield Episode: "Colin Hanks Wears a Denim Button Down and Black Sneakers" 2017 CollegeHumor Originals Shazaam Episode: "We Found Sinbad's SHAZAAM Genie Movie!" The Lion Guard Uroho (voice) 2 episodes 2018–2019 Rel Milton Main cast 2022 Atlanta Himself Episode: "The Goof Who Sat By the Door "