Franklyn Ajaye: Difference between revisions

{{short description|American comedian and actor}}

|birth_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.

|occupation = {{csv|Actor|comedian}}

'''Franklyn Ajaye''' (born May 13, 1949) is an American [[stand-up comedian]], actor, and writer. He released a series of comedy albums starting in 1973 and has acted in film and television shows from the 1970s through the present, includingas a primary character in the 1976 ensemble comedy ''[[Car Wash (film)|Car Wash]]'' and a supporting role in [[Sam Peckinpah]]'s ''[[Convoy (1978 film)|Convoy]]'' (1978).

Franklyn Ajaye Jr. was born in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]], but raised in [[Los Angeles]] by a [[Sierra Leone]]an father (Franklin Ajaye Sr.) and an American mother (Quetta Curtis). This makes Ajaye, as he likes to joke, a "true African-American". He has a brother. Ajaye attended [[Susan Miller Dorsey High School|Dorsey High School]] in [[Crenshaw, Los Angeles|Crenshaw]].<ref name="LA Times 1991.07.14">{{cite news |last=Braxton |first=Greg |date=July 14, 1991 |title=To Him, Rap's No Laughing Matter |work=Los Angeles Times |quote=Comedian Franklyn Ajaye feels the heat after accusing hard-core music groups and others of glorifying ghetto life}}</ref>

He has released five comedy albums to date: ''Franklyn Ajaye, Comedian'' (1973), ''I'm a Comedian, Seriously'' (1974), ''Don't Smoke Dope, Fry Your Hair'' (1977), ''Plaid Pants and Psychopaths'' (1986), and ''Vagabond Jazz & the Abstract Truth'' (2004). The last two were recorded in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.{{cn|date=December 2023}}

He made his network debut on ''[[The Flip Wilson Show]]'' in 1973 and made his first appearance on ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' a year later. Ajaye emigrated to [[Melbourne, Australia]], in 1997 but returns to the United States periodically to do work on television. His last American television appearance was on [[Paul Provenza]]'s ''The Greenroom'' on Showtime in 2011. He is known in Australia for his appearances on ''[[The Panel (Australian TV series)|The Panel]]'' and ''[[Thank God You're Here]]'' and for his popular one-man shows "Nothing But The Truth", "Talkin' Vagabond Jazz", and "Vagabond Jazz & The Abstract Truth" at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

He has worked as an actor, appearing in films such as ''[[Sweet Revenge (1976 film)|Sweet Revenge]]'' (1976), ''[[Car Wash (film)|Car Wash]]'' (1976), ''[[Convoy (1978 film)|Convoy]]'' (1978), ''[[Stir Crazy (film)|Stir Crazy]]'' (1980), the 1980 version of ''[[The Jazz Singer (1980 film)|The Jazz Singer]]'', ''[[Hysterical (1983 film)|Hysterical]]'' (1982), ''[[Get Crazy]]'' (1983), ''[[Fraternity Vacation]]'' (1985), ''[[Hollywood Shuffle]]'' (1987), ''[[The Wrong Guys]]'' (1988), ''[[The 'Burbs]]'' (1989), and ''[[American Yakuza]]'' (1993). He also appeared on an episode of ''[[Barney Miller]]'' as police-car thief Wendell Frasier in 1976. He has been seen more recently in the TV show ''[[Deadwood (TV series)|Deadwood]]'' as [[Samuel Fields]] and reprised that role in 2019's ''[[Deadwood: The Movie]]''. In 2011, Ajaye had a small but memorable role in the box office hit ''[[Bridesmaids (2011 film)|Bridesmaids]]'', playing the father of Lillian (played by [[Maya Rudolph]]), and in 2013 he played management guru Marvin Hudsfield in the Australian ABC sitcom [[Utopia (Australian TV series)|''Utopia'']]. He has been nominated twice for [[Emmy Award]]s for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program for ''[[In Living Color]]'' (1990) and ''[[Politically Incorrect]]'' (1997).<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0014977/awards "Awards for Franklyn Ajaye"], imdb.com; accessed February 15, 2015.</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=February 2021}} He worked on the hit family comedy series created and executive-produced by Robert Townsend, ''[[The Parent 'Hood]]'' (January 1995 - July 1999); some of his credits on the show include acting as "executive consultant" with Barry "Berry" Douglas in season 1 episode 9 ("Trial by Jerri") and episode 11 ("Nice Guys Finish Last") and as a co-producer with Douglas for season 2 episode 2 ("A Kiss is Just a Kiss").

Ajaye is the author of ''Comic Insights: The Art of Standup Comedy'' ({{ISBN|978-1-879505-54-4}}), which contains interviews with Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Bill Maher, Ellen DeGeneres, and other famous stand up comedians offering valuable advice for aspiring comedians.

On his stand-up television show ''[[Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle]]'' the [[Stewart Lee|British comedian]] used Ajaye's LP ''I'm a Comedian, Seriously'' as the basis of a routine.<ref name="stewartlee.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.stewartlee.co.uk/press/scrambledegg/2008-july31-dooyoo.htm |title=Stewart Lee: Scrambled Egg |access-date=May 8, 2009 |work=stewartlee.co.uk |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225063256/http://www.stewartlee.co.uk/press/scrambledegg/2008-july31-dooyoo.htm |archive-date=February 25, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/aug/08/edinburgh.stewart.lee.review|work=The Guardian|location=London, UK|title=Edinburgh festival: Stewart Lee|first=Brian|last=Logan|date=8 August 2008|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>

== Filmography ==

=== Film ===

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!Year

!Title

!Role

!Notes

|-

|1976

|''[[Sweet Revenge (1976 film)|Sweet Revenge]]''

|Edmund

|

|-

|1976

|''[[Car Wash (film)|Car Wash]]''

|The Fly

|

|-

|1978

|''[[Convoy (1978 film)|Convoy]]''

|Spider Mike

|

|-

|1980

|''[[Stir Crazy (film)|Stir Crazy]]''

|Young Man in Hospital

|

|-

|1980

|''[[The Jazz Singer (1980 film)|The Jazz Singer]]''

|Bubba

|

|-

|1980

|''Hysterical''

|Leroy

|

|-

|1983

|''[[Get Crazy]]''

|Cool

|

|-

|1985

|''[[Fraternity Vacation]]''

|Harry

|

|-

|1987

|''[[Hollywood Shuffle]]''

|Body Guard #1

|

|-

|1988

|''[[The Wrong Guys]]''

|Franklyn

|

|-

|1989

|''[[The 'Burbs]]''

|Detective

|

|-

|1993

|''[[American Yakuza]]''

|Sam

|

|-

|2001

|''Brown Shoe Polish''

|Viennese Cake Shop Owner

|Short film

|-

|2002

|''[[Queen of the Damned]]''

|French Dealer

|

|-

|2011

|''[[Bridesmaids (2011 film)|Bridesmaids]]''

|Lillian's Dad

|

|-

|2015

|''Too Hip for the Room''

|Joe Papy

|

|}

=== Television ===

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!Year

!Title

!Role

!Notes

|-

|1975

|''[[Barney Miller]]''

|Wendell Frazier

|Episode: "You Dirty Rat"

|-

|1977

|''[[Saturday Night Live]]''

|Himself

|Host: ''[[Ray Charles]]''

|-

|1978

|''[[The Bionic Woman]]''

|Benny

|Episode: "All for One"

|-

|1978

|''[[Chico and the Man]]''

|Tony Rogers

|Episode: "Della and Son"

|-

|1980

|''The Cheap Detective''

|Elvis

|TV movie

|-

|1983

|''[[The New Odd Couple]]''

|Henry

|Episode: "The Night Stalker"

|-

|1984

|''Hot Flashes''

|Walter Conkrite

|5 episodes

|-

|1987

|''Glory Years''

|Wilson

|TV movie

|-

|1989

|''[[227 (TV series)|227]]''

|Painter

|Episode: "Tenants, Anyone?"

|-

|1992

|''[[The New WKRP in Cincinnati]]''

|Reggie

|Episode: "Spies Like Us"

|-

|1992

|''[[Goof Troop|Disney's Goof Troop]]''

|(voice)

|Episode: "Cabana Fever"; credited as Frankin Ajaye

|-

|1997

|''[[Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child]]''

|Sporty the Cat (voice)

|Episode: "Pinocchio"

|-

|1997

|''[[Frontline (Australian TV series)|Frontline]]''

|Franklyn Ajaye

|Episode: "The Code"

|-

|2003

|''[[Pirate Islands]]''

|Five Spice

|26 episodes

|-

|2005–2006

|''[[Deadwood (TV series)|Deadwood]]''

|[[Samuel Fields]]

|11 episodes

|-

|2014

|''[[Utopia (Australian TV series)|Utopia]]''

|Marvin Hudfield

|Episode: "Then We Can Build It"

|-

|2019

|''[[Deadwood: The Movie]]''

|Samuel Fields

|TV movie

|}

[[Category:Male actors from Brooklyn]]

[[Category:20th-century African-American male actors]]

[[Category:Comedians from Brooklyn]]

[[Category:20th-century African-American writers]]

[[Category:21st-century African-American writers]]

[[Category:Susan Miller Dorsey High School alumni]]