Jump to content

Donnell Rawlings

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Donnell Rawlings
Rawlings in 2017
Birth nameDonnell M. Rawlings
Born (1968-12-06) December 6, 1968 (age 55)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
MediumComedy, film, television personality
Years active1991–present
GenresComedy
ChildrenAusten Rawlings
Notable works and rolesChappelle's Show
Guy Code
Guy Court
The Wire
Websitedonnellrawlings.com

Donnell M. Rawlings (born December 6, 1968) is an American comedian, actor, and radio host.[1] He is best known as a cast member on the Comedy Central sketch comedy TV series Chappelle's Show and the HBO drama The Wire.

Early life

[edit]

Donnell Rawlings was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, with his mother.[2] He attended T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria.

Rawlings served in the United States Air Force. He was stationed in South Korea and at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[3]

Career

[edit]

Chappelle's Show

[edit]

Rawlings is most notable for frequently appearing in sketches on Chappelle's Show and hosting the third season along with Charlie Murphy. His catchphrase on the show was "I'm rich, biaaaaatch!" (which is played at the end of every episode as part of Dave Chappelle's vanity card) as well as frequently adding "Son!" at the end of each sentence.

He demonstrates his knowledge of broken Korean he learned in the Air Force in the sketches "Player Hater's Ball" and "The Time Haters", the latter of which was featured in the "Failures" episode. Rawlings reprises his role as the hater "Beautiful", known for wearing a Jheri curl and a suit similar to ones that Little Richard has worn. In the sketches, he responds to the comments of Korean hater "Mr. Roboto" with insults in Korean. He reprised the role of Beautiful on Chappelle's episode of Saturday Night Live.[4]

On Heavy.com, Rawlings stars in a series of sketch comedy clips portraying his character Ashy Larry, from Chappelle's Show, called "From Ashy to Classy". Ashy Larry dreams of how his life would be if he were classy and dreams up a character who he calls Ashford Lawrence, a supposed reporter for heavy.com. Ashy Larry goes to different high-class establishments posing as a reporter, where eventually his girl comes and pulls him out at the end of each clip.

Other work

[edit]

Rawlings also made appearances on HBO drama series The Corner, playing Bread the dope fiend next to Fat Curt and The Wire, playing Damien Lavelle 'Day-Day' Price, an ex-convict who is hired as a legislative aide and driver for corrupt state senator Clay Davis. Price's character appears unrefined on several occasions, contemplating heists in public and stating things in court such as "Y'all tryin' to 'criminate me" while on the stand. Davis is played by fellow Chappelle's Show co-star Isiah Whitlock, Jr.

Rawlings appears in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 and in a cameo appearance in the music video for Jim Jones' "We Fly High" (Ballin' Remix). He was a regular on The Ricki Lake Show mostly as a judge on various challenge episodes.

In the summer of 2007, Rawlings was featured on the cover of the one-year anniversary issue of Beyond Race magazine. Rawlings was removed from his morning show post at Power 105's Ed Lover Show with Egypt and Ashy for a controversial comment he made during the aftermath of the Don Imus controversy, responding to Ed Lover's comment "That's a cheap black man, Nickel-Black" with "that's a Jewish black guy."[5][6]

Rawlings was also a contestant in the Comedy Central show Reality Bites Back. He appeared in sketches on D.L. Hughley Breaks the News and in Howard Stern's Howard TV On Demand original series, Show in the Hallway.[7]

In July 2009, Rawlings recorded a clip imitating Stephon Marbury crying on his live webcast.[citation needed] Rawlings was a co-host on the Big Tigger Morning Show on Washington, D.C.'s radio station WPGC 95.5 from April 2010 to January 2011.

In 2011, Rawlings appeared on the MTV2 show Guy Code which he has done two seasons, as well as the show Hip Hop Squares. He is also the judge for a Guy Code spin-off, Guy Court.

Rawlings provided the voice of A Cat Named Rollo's brother in the Adult Swim show based on the 2009 R-rated movie Black Dynamite.

He also appeared on the April 23, 2014 episode of the Dr. Zoe Today show discussing his recent appearances with MTV and his comedy work.[8]

In 2015, he guest starred as an angel that took Jesus' divinity during his time of doubt in the "A Very Special Christmas in Compton" episode of Black Jesus.

Rawlings voices the barber Dez in the 2020 Pixar movie Soul.

Filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1999 Fever Cop
2000 Knights of the Heights Oscar Thorpe Short
2003 Kings County Winston
Brotherly Love Emmitt Diallo Video
2004 ¡Capicu! Comedian Narrator Short
Spider-Man 2 Pizza 'Heist' Witness
2005 Blood of a Champion Decaf Video
2006 Fifty Pills C-Low
Car Babes Julius Jefferson
2007 Goodbye Baby Comic #4
Twisted Fortune Costello
Why Not Wysean Himself Short
2008 Legacy Det. Sams Video
2009 Last Day of Summer Cop #1
2010 The Rise and Fall of John Tesoro Travis Smildon Short
Something Like a Business Avery
2011 Laughing to the Bank with Brian Hooks Various
Black Jack Malcolm T Jerome TV movie
2013 TubbyMan TubbyMan's Dad Short
2014 Percentage Petey
The 30 Year Old Bris Jamesy Jones
2015 American Dirtbags Smalls' Dad
T-Robe: Based on a True Story Himself
2016 The Last Film Festival Jermaine Johnson
All Def Digital's Roast of America Himself TV movie
2018 Hollyweed Nips TV movie
2019 Inside the Rain Sammy
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Captain
2020 Mo'Nique & Friends: Live from Atlanta Himself
Soul Dez (voice)
2022 Clerks III Auditioner 8
2024 Switch Up Marcel
He Looked like a Postcard Al

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1996 Def Comedy Jam Himself Episode: "Episode #4.3"
1998 Law & Order Etienne Episode: "True North"
2000 The Corner Bread Recurring Cast
It's Showtime at the Apollo Himself Episode: "Jagged Edge/RZA/Donnell Rawlings"
2001 ComicView Himself Episode: "Episode #9.37"
2002–08 The Wire Damien 'Day-Day' Price Recurring Cast: Season 1 & 5
2003 Third Watch Tony Episode: "10-13"
Law & Order: Criminal Intent Don Episode: "Cold Comfort"
I Love the '80s Strikes Back Himself TV series
2003–04 Chappelle's Show Various Characters Main Cast
2004 Super Secret Movie Rules Himself Episode: "Sports Underdogs"
Premium Blend Himself Episode: "Comedy Central's Premium Blend"
2006 BET's Top 25 Countdown Himself Episode: "Moments in Black History"
It's Showtime at the Apollo Himself Episode: "Shareefa"
2007 1st Amendment Stand Up Himself Episode: "Donnell Rawlings/Ian Edwards/Sheryl Underwood"
The Bad Boys of Comedy Himself Episode: "Episode #2.3"
2008 I Love the New Millennium Himself Episode: "2007"
Reality Bites Back Himself/Contestant Main Cast
ComicView Himself Episode: "ComicView: One Mic Stand"
The World Stands Up Himself Episode: "Episode #5.8" & "#5.20"
2009 Black to the Future Himself Episode: "Hour 3: The 90s" & "Hour 4: The 00s"
2010–12 Laugh Factory Himself Recurring Guest
2011 In the Flow with Affion Crockett Ashy Larry Episode: "Pass the Torch"
2011–12 Guy Code Himself Main Cast: Season 1-2
2012 Hip Hop Squares Himself Episode: "Episode #1.2"
2012–14 Black Dynamite A Cat Named Rallo (voice) Guest Cast: Season 1-2
2013 Guy Court Judge Donnell Rawlings Main Cast
2013–14 StaannDUP! Himself/Host Main Host
2014 Step 9 Donnell Main Cast
Comics Unleashed Himself Episode: "July 1, 2014"
2015 Black Jesus Himself Episode: "A Very Special Christmas in Compton"
2016 Unsung Hollywood Himself Episode: "Charlie Murphy"
The 5th Quarter Brian Adele Episode: "The Processor"
Saturday Night Live Beautiful Episode: "Dave Chappelle/A Tribe Called Quest"
2016–17 Project Dad Himself Main Cast
2017 Jeff & Some Aliens Comedian (voice) Episode: "Jeff & Some Laughs"
Face Value Himself/Team Captain Episode: "Kym Whitley vs Donnell Rawlings"
2018 Rich Africans GioVanni Main Cast
Black Card Revoked Himself Episode: "Big Boy, Donnell Rawlings, Rotimi"
2019 The New Negroes Himself Episode: "Criminality"
Beyond the Arc Himself Episode: "Montreal"
Laff Mobb's Laff Tracks Himself Recurring Guest
The Degenerates Himself Episode: "Donnell Rawlings"
The Last O.G. Duke Episode: "Keep Their Heads Ringing"
It's Bruno! Crackhead Carl Main Cast
Historical Roasts Aspy Larry Episode: "Cleopatra"
2020 The Cabin with Bert Kreischer Himself Episode: "Release"
All the Way Black Himself Episode: "It's My House!"
2021 Dark Humor Himself Main Guest
Sex Sells Himself Episode: "BDSM"
Twenties Dwayne Recurring Cast: Season 2
2021–23 BMF Alvin Guest: Season 1, Recurring Cast: Season 2
2022 Phat Tuesdays: The Era Of Hip Hop Comedy Himself Main Guest
Celebrity Game Face Himself Episode: "A Bunch of Ask Holes"
Saturday Night Live Himself Episode: "Dave Chappelle/Black Star"
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty Mr. Earl Recurring Cast: Season 1

Documentary

[edit]
Year Title
2005 The Funniest Man Dead or Alive
2009 The Tragic Side of Comedy
2010 I Am Comic
2021 Patrice O'Neal: Killing Is Easy
Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James

Comedy releases

[edit]
Year Title Notes
2010 From Ashy to Classy special[9]
2017 Ain't Worried About... album[10]
2021 Ya'll Need to Chill album[11]

Stand-up appearances

[edit]
Year Show Episode
2019 The Degenerates "Donnell Rawlings"[12]

Podcasts

[edit]
Year(s) Title
2019–2020 The Donnell Rawlings Show[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Leahy, Dana (July 11, 2006). "Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Attack of the Show. G4
  2. ^ Maron, Marc (June 14, 2012). Episode 288: Donnell Rawlings. WTF with Marc Maron
  3. ^ "Joe Rogan Experience # #1249 - Donnell Rawlings". The Joe Rogan Experience. February 20, 2019.
  4. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Walking Dead Chappelle's Show - SNL". YouTube. 13 November 2016.
  5. ^ "'Dog' gone! CBS axes radio show after prank". NYDailyNews.com. 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  6. ^ "Transcripts". CNN.com. 2007-05-22. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  7. ^ "Welcome poprockcandymountain.com - BlueHost.com". Poprockcandymountain.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  8. ^ "Donnell Rawlings: 'I Know Fans Would Love a Chappelle Show Tour'". BET.
  9. ^ Lucas, Mark; Parr, Russ. "Donnell Rawlings: From Ashy to Classy on Apple TV". Apple TV. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  10. ^ "Ain't Worried About... by Donnell Rawlings". Apple Music. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  11. ^ "Ya'll Need to Chill by Donnell Rawlings". Apple Music. 20 August 2021.
  12. ^ Staff, Interrobang (2019-08-23). "The Degenerates is Returning to Netflix With a KILLER Lineup". The Interrobang. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  13. ^ "The Donnell Rawlings Show on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/w/index.php?title=Donnell_Rawlings&oldid=1249802171"