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Donald Faison

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Donald Faison
Faison in 2013
Born
Donald Adeosun Faison

(1974-06-22) June 22, 1974 (age 50)
New York City, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
Years active1989–present
Spouses
  • Lisa Askey
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2001; div. 2005)​
  • CaCee Cobb
    ​
    (m. 2012)​
Children6
RelativesOlamide Faison (brother)

Donald Adeosun Faison (/ˈfeɪzɒn/; born June 22, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his leading role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC/NBC comedy-drama Scrubs (2001–2010), and a supporting role as Murray in both the film Clueless (1995) and the subsequent television series of the same name. He also starred as Phil Chase in the TV Land sitcom The Exes (2011–2015). Faison has also co-starred in the films Waiting to Exhale (1995), Remember the Titans (2000), Uptown Girls (2003), Something New (2006), Next Day Air (2009), Skyline (2010), and Kick-Ass 2 (2013).

Early life and education

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Donald Adeosun Faison was born on June 22, 1974,[1] in Harlem, New York City, to talent agent Shirley and building manager Donald Faison.[2] His parents were active with the National Black Theatre in Harlem.[3] They divorced in 1992.[2] He is the older brother of singer/musician Olamide Faison.[citation needed]

Faison attended the Professional Children's School in Manhattan with his best friend, actor Dash Mihok.[3]

Career

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Faison first appeared in a 1989 commercial for Folgers coffee at the age of 15, in which he played the younger brother of a soldier returning from war.[4] In 1992, he appeared with Malik Yoba in the ABC News special Prejudice: Answering Children's Questions, hosted by Peter Jennings. He also had a small role in Sugar Hill starring Wesley Snipes. He then became famous for his role as Murray Duvall in the 1995 film Clueless and the subsequent television series, which ran from 1996 to 1999. In 1995, he also appeared in Waiting to Exhale as Tarik, the son of Loretta Devine's character, Gloria. He was featured in New Jersey Drive. He also starred in Big Fat Liar alongside Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti, and Amanda Bynes. He had a recurring role as Tracy on Felicity, appeared in Remember the Titans as the running back turned safety Petey Jones, and provided voice work for various characters in the MTV animated series Clone High. He had minor roles in the sitcoms Sister, Sister and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and in the film Josie and the Pussycats. In 2005, Faison produced one episode of MTV's Punk'd involving his Scrubs co-star Zach Braff.[5] He also appeared in the music videos for Brandy's "Sittin' Up in My Room," Fall Out Boy's cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It," and Gavin Degraw's "Chariot."

In 2008, Faison voiced Gary the Stormtrooper in Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II. Afterwards, he interned on the Robot Chicken show to learn more about stop motion animation, and started a Star Wars-themed Lego stop-motion show, BlackStormTrooper, on his YouTube channel, shundigga.[6][7]

On February 13, 2009, Faison participated in the NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game. Other celebrities participating included NBA Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins, NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens, actor Chris Tucker, and four Harlem Globetrotters.[8]

In 2010, Faison starred alongside Scottie Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Eric Balfour, Laz Alonso, and Crystal Reed in the Brothers Strause science fiction thriller Skyline.[9]

Faison was in the 2010 CBS comedy pilot The Odds.[10]

Faison in 2023

As of March 2011, Faison appeared in commercials for The Sims Medieval. In 2012, he made a cameo appearance in the movie Pitch Perfect.[11][12] In 2013, Faison hosted the short-lived TBS comedy sketch show Who Gets the Last Laugh?.[13] From 2016 to 2018, he hosted the GSN game show Winsanity.[14]

From 2018 until 2020, Faison voiced pilot Hype Fazon, a character written and named for him by Dave Filoni, in Star Wars Resistance. Faison had caught Filoni's attention via his stop motion Star Wars cartoons.[15]

Faison and Scrubs co-star Zach Braff co-host the rewatch podcast Fake Doctors, Real Friends, which launched in March 2020, sharing their stories and experiences of shooting the show. The podcast is distributed by iHeartRadio.[16]

Faison created the web series Alabama Jackson for Adult Swim's YouTube channel, which premiered in 2022. Faison stars as the title character.[17]

Personal life

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Faison with second wife CaCee Cobb at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival

He had his first son, Sean Faison-Ince (born 1996), with ex-girlfriend Audrey Ince.

In 1997, Faison started dating Lisa Askey, a nursing student. The two were married from 2001 to 2005, and had three children, twins Kaya and Dade (born 1999), and Kobe (born 2001).

Faison married his second wife, CaCee Cobb, on December 15, 2012, after six years of dating. They have two children, Rocco (born 2013) and Wilder Francis (born 2015).[18] The wedding was held at the home of Faison's best friend, and former Scrubs co-star, Zach Braff, who also served as a groomsman. Serving as a bridesmaid was singer Jessica Simpson, for whom Cobb formerly worked as a personal assistant.[19][20][21]

When Askey, Faison's first wife, died in 2017,[22] their children moved in with Faison and Cobb.[23][24]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1992 Juice Student
1994 Sugar Hill Kymie Daniels
1995 New Jersey Drive 'Tiny Dime' Credited as Donald Adeosun Faison
1995 Clueless Murray Duvall
1995 Waiting to Exhale Tarik Matthews Credited as Donald Adeosun Faison
1996 The Quest Robber Uncredited
1997 Academy Boyz Glen Lewis
1998 Butter Khaleed
1998 Can't Hardly Wait Dan
1999 Trippin' June Nelson
2000 Remember the Titans Petey Jones
2001 Double Whammy Cletis
2001 Josie and the Pussycats D.J. Uncredited
2002 Big Fat Liar Frank Jackson
2003 Ravedactyl: Project Evolution Gunner Short film
2003 Uptown Girls Huey
2003 Good Boy! Wilson Voice only
2005 King's Ransom Andre
2006 Something New Nelson McQueen
2006 Bachelor Party Vegas Ash
2006 Homie Spumoni Renato Molina / Leroy
2007 Venus & Vegas Stu
2009 Next Day Air Leo
2010 Skyline Terry
2012 Pitch Perfect Older Acapella Man
2013 Kick-Ass 2 Samuel Keers / Doctor Gravity
2013 A Snow Globe Christmas Ted
2013 Stag Ken
2014 Wish I Was Here Anthony
2014 Let's Kill Ward's Wife Ward
2014 Wonderland Ted
2016 The Perfect Match Rick
2016 Hot Bot Mr. Huffington
2017 Little Evil Larry
2018 Game Over, Man! Himself
2019 The Wave Jeff
2020 Embattled Mr. Dan Stewart

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1992 Sesame Street Duane 9 episodes
1996 New York Undercover James Episode: "Sympathy for the Devil"
1996–2000 Sabrina, the Teenage Witch Justin Episode: "Magic Joel"
Dashiell Calzone 3 episodes
1996–1999 Clueless Murray Duvall Main role
1998 Sister, Sister Darryl Episode: "Greek to Me"
1999 Supreme Sanction Marcus Television film
2000–2002 Felicity Tracy 23 episodes
2002–2003 Clone High Toots / Various Characters Voice only; 13 episodes
2001–2010 Scrubs Christopher Turk Main role
2004–2005 Higglytown Heroes Firefighter Hero Voice only; 2 episodes
2005–present Robot Chicken Various voices 10 episodes
2006 The Playbook Host 3 episodes
2007 Saturday Night Live Christopher Turk Episode: "Zach Braff/Maroon 5"
2007 Robot Chicken: Star Wars Dr. Cornelius Evazan / Mace Windu Voice only; television special
2007 Kim Possible Ricky Rotiffle Voice only; episode: "Homecoming Upset"
2008 The Boondocks Catcher Freeman / Tobias / Wedgie Rudlin Voice only; 3 episodes
2008 Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II Gary / Darth Maul / Imperial Pilot Voice only; television special
2009 Scrubs: Interns Christopher Turk Episode: "Our Meeting with Turk and Todd"
2009 American Dad! Christopher Turk Voice only; episode: "G-String Circus"
2009 Titan Maximum Martian Fleet Commander Episode: "Pilot"
2010 Fact Checkers Unit Donald 9 episodes
2010 Cubed Himself Episode: "2.12"
2010 Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III Gary Voice only; television special
2010 The Odds Tyler Television film
2011 Love Bites Ricky 2 episodes
2011–2015 The Exes Phil Chase 64 episodes
2012 Tron: Uprising Bartik Voice only; 5 episodes
2012 Adventure Time Princess Cookie Voice only; episode: "Princess Cookie"
2013 Wedding Band Moses Episode: "99 Problems"
2013 Who Gets the Last Laugh? Host 9 episodes
2013 A Snow Globe Christmas Ted Television film
2014 Hollywood Game Night Himself 3 episodes
2014 Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Wizard Episode: "Head's Up"
2015 Undateable Donald 2 episodes
2015–2018 Supermansion Quiplash Voice only; 4 episodes
2015–2018 Drunk History Joe Louis / Mansa Musa 2 episodes
2016 Winsanity Host
2016 House of Lies Donald 2 episodes
2017 Bill Nye Saves the World Himself
2017–2019 Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television Himself 2 episodes
2017–2018 Ray Donovan Antoine A'Shawn Anderson 7 episodes
2018 Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. Jacques Agnant 2 episodes
2018–2020 Star Wars Resistance Hype Fazon/TIE Pilot #1 Voice only; 18 episodes
2019 Timeline Principal Anderson Main role
2019–2020 Emergence Alex Evans Main role
2020 Star Wars The Clone Wars Tactical Droid Voice only; episode: "Old Friends Not Forgotten"
2021 The L Word: Generation Q Tom Maultsby 5 episodes
2022–2024 Alice's Wonderland Bakery Harry the March Hare Voice only[25]
2022 Legends of Tomorrow Mike Carter / Booster Gold Episode: "Knocked Down, Knocked Up"[26]
Reindeer in Here Bucky (voice) Television special[27]
2022 Alabama Jackson Alabama Jackson Main role; also creator, executive producer and writer
2023 The Wonder Years Terrence Episode: "Blockbusting"
2023–2024 Extended Family Trey Lead role

Music videos

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Year Title Artist
1995 "Sittin' Up in My Room" Brandy
1996 "Kissin' You ("Oh, Honey" Remix)" Total, Puff Daddy & Notorious B.I.G
1999 "No Doubt" Imajin
1999 "Flava" Imajin
1999 "Da Bomb" DJ Fury and RX Lord
2003 "Chariot" Gavin DeGraw
2008 "Beat It" Fall Out Boy featuring John Mayer
2013 "More Champagne" DJ Whoo Kid featuring A$AP Ferg, Problem and Wiz Khalifa
2015 "Time Machine"[28] Ingrid Michaelson

Video games

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A dance that Faison performs during an episode of Scrubs is featured in the video game Fortnite. Faison's permission was not sought before including the dance, and he did not receive royalties for it.[29]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2002 6th OFTA Television Awards Best Actor in a New Comedy Series
Scrubs
 Nominated
2004 6th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick Nominated
1st BET Comedy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Won
2005 36th NAACP Image Awards Nominated
7th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick Nominated
9th Prism Awards Performance in a Comedy Series Nominated
2nd BET Comedy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Won
2006 37th NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
8th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick Nominated
2007 38th NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
9th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick Nominated
2008 39th NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
2009 40th NAACP Image Awards Nominated
2010 41st NAACP Image Awards Nominated
2013 44th NAACP Image Awards
The Exes
 Nominated
6th L.A. Comedy Film Festival and Screenplay Competition Awards Best Actor in a Feature Film
Stag
 Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Donald Faison: Biography". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on May 3, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "What's Up, Doc?". People. June 17, 2002. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Tanber, George J. (February 22, 2007). "Q&A: 'Scrubs' star as pro team owner?". ESPN. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
  4. ^ "Folgers ad (1989)". June 17, 2011. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ "Zach Braff Busted Beating Up Teen on 'Punk'd'". Hollywood.com. September 14, 2006. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  6. ^ Opam, Kwame (December 1, 2014). "'Scrubs' actor Donald Faison has been a Black Stormtrooper for years". The Verge. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  7. ^ Graham, Jefferson (January 21, 2014). "Talking Your Tech: Donald Faison gets animated over stop-motion". USA Today. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  8. ^ "NBA.com: Wilkins, Drexler, Owens among Celebrity Game notables". NBA.com. February 10, 2009. Archived from the original on March 18, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  9. ^ Kay, Jeremy (February 11, 2010). "IM Global want buyers to see the light on Skyline". Screen Daily.
  10. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 18, 2010). "Five pilots beef up casts". Associated Press via The Hollywood Reporter.
  11. ^ Klassen, Anna (April 16, 2015). "13 Things 'Pitch Perfect' Has Ruined Forever". Bustle. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  12. ^ Bell, Amanda June (March 15, 2017). "What Donald Faison has been doing since Scrubs". Looper.com. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  13. ^ Berenz, Ryan (April 4, 2013). "Who Gets the Last Laugh?: Donald Faison hosts TBS hidden-camera comedy". Channel Guide Magazine. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  14. ^ Pedersen, Erik (November 18, 2015). "GSN Will Play 'Winsanity' With Host Donald Faison". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  15. ^ Asarch, Steven (October 4, 2018). "'STAR WARS' RESISTANCE' ISN'T THE MYTHICAL SPACE OPERA YOU'RE USED TO". Newsweek. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  16. ^ Lee, Emily (March 31, 2020). "Zach Braff & Donald Faison Launch 'Fake Doctors, Real Friends' Podcast". iHeartRadio. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  17. ^ Hipes, Patrick (May 19, 2021). "Adult Swim To Produce Digital Short Series Based On Its Hit Shows Including 'Rick And Morty'". Deadline. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  18. ^ Messer, Lesley (December 15, 2012). "Donald Faison Marries Cacee Cobb". People. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  19. ^ Johnson, Zach (December 15, 2012). "Donald Faison Marries CaCee Cobb!". Us Weekly. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  20. ^ Webber, Stephanie (August 24, 2013). "CaCee Cobb And Donald Faison Named Their Son Rocco!". Us Weekly. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  21. ^ Webber, Stephanie (April 24, 2015). "CaCee Cobb Welcomes Baby Girl Wilder Frances With Donald Faison: First Photo!". Us Weekly. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  22. ^ Stone, Natalie (March 2, 2017). "Donald Faison and Ex-Wife Lisa Askey: A Look Back at Their Relationship Before Her Passing". People. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  23. ^ Chestang, Raphael (March 8, 2017). "Donald Faison Spends Time With His Kids Following the Death of Ex-Wife Lisa Askey". ET Online. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  24. ^ Braff, Zach; Faison, Donald (December 22, 2020). "315: My Tormented Mentor". Fake Doctors, Real Friends (Podcast). iHeartRadio. Event occurs at 1:03:35. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  25. ^ Carras, Christi (January 5, 2022). "Disney sets 'Alice in Wonderland' series with Craig Ferguson". Los Angeles Times.
  26. ^ Agard, Chancellor (February 2, 2022). "'Legends of Tomorrow' casts Donald Faison in season 7 finale role". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  27. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (November 3, 2022). "'Reindeer in Here' Announces Sledful of Stars for Voice Cast". Animation Magazine. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  28. ^ Ingrid Michaelson - "Time Machine" OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO. YouTube. February 19, 2015. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021.
  29. ^ Crucchiola, Jordan (November 18, 2018). "Yes, That Is The Scrubs 'Poison' Dance In Fortnite, and No, Donald Faison Is Not Getting Royalties". Vulture. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
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