Dean Edwards
Encyclopedia
Dean Edwards is an American stand-up comedian, actor, singer, writer, voice artist, comedian, and musician whose trademark is a voice similar to Eddie Murphy
.
Edwards' work as a voice actor includes Scottie Pippen
and Spike Lee
in Celebrity Deathmatch
, a robot in Robotomy
, and Donkey
in Scared Shrekless
after Eddie Murphy
refused to reprise his role (which Edwards is also known for, and impersonated Murphy while providing the voice of Donkey). He also appeared in Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Halftime Special as Savion Glover
and Don Cheadle
, Tony N' Tina's Wedding
as Father Mark, and The Sopranos
.
On YouTube
, Edwards currently has his own channel known as "deanedwardscomedy".
comedy technique.
, having done voice work for Celebrity Deathmatch
and Robotomy
. He also did voice work for the audiobook version of Max Brooks
' World War Z
: An Oral History of the Zombie War.
In the 2010 Halloween special Scared Shrekless
, he did the voice of Donkey
after Eddie Murphy
declined; as Donkey, Edwards had the ability to impersonate Murphy. Soon, Edwards got replaced himself when Eddie Murphy returned to play Donkey in the 2010 Christmas special Donkey's Christmas Shrektacular.
in 2001. He developed several impressions
, including Michael Jackson
, Wayne Brady
, Chris Tucker
(Edwards' first impression; coincidentally, also an impression done by Jay Pharoah on his first SNL episode on September 25, 2010), Don Cheadle
, Colin Powell
, Serena Williams
, Nipsey Russell
, Grace Jones
, Randy Jackson
, Redman, Denzel Washington
, and Billy Ocean
. Despite his penchant for impressions, Edwards didn't get much screen time in his brief tenure on the show. He left after the show's 28th season, citing creative differences.
In Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Halftime Special, he did impressions of Savion Glover
and Don Cheadle.
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
.
Edwards' work as a voice actor includes Scottie Pippen
Scottie Pippen
Scottie Maurice Pippen is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association . He is most remembered for his time with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he was instrumental in six NBA Championships and their record 1995–96 season of 72 wins...
and Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
in Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch is a claymation television show that depicts celebrities against each other in a wrestling ring, almost always ending in the loser's gruesome death. It was known for its excessive amount of blood used in every match and exaggerated physical injuries...
, a robot in Robotomy
Robotomy
Robotomy is a Cartoon Network American animated television series created by Michael Buckley and Joe Deasy, directed by Christy Karacas , voice directed by Michael Sinterniklaas, and produced by World Leaders Entertainment. The series was developed after a long series of unaccepted ideas, and...
, and Donkey
Donkey (Shrek)
Donkey is a fictional talking donkey from the Shrek series of films and he serves as the deuteragonist of the films, voiced by Eddie Murphy. The character has also featured in the original story Shrek!...
in Scared Shrekless
Scared Shrekless
Scared Shrekless is a 21-minute Halloween television special, set shortly after the events of Shrek Forever After, that premiered on the American television network NBC on Thursday, October 28, 2010....
after Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
refused to reprise his role (which Edwards is also known for, and impersonated Murphy while providing the voice of Donkey). He also appeared in Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Halftime Special as Savion Glover
Savion Glover
Savion Glover is an American tap dancer, actor, and choreographer. As a learning prodigy, he was taught by notable dancers from previous generations. Glover is currently interested in restoring African roots to tap...
and Don Cheadle
Don Cheadle
Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...
, Tony N' Tina's Wedding
Tony n' Tina's Wedding
-Film adaptation:The play was "freely" adapted for film by writer-director Roger Paradiso— "filmed primarily from the point of view of a lisping videographer"—with Joey McIntyre and Mila Kunis playing the title characters...
as Father Mark, and The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
.
On YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, Edwards currently has his own channel known as "deanedwardscomedy".
Stand-up comedy
Edwards developed a reputation for working clean and taught classes in stand-upStand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
comedy technique.
Voiceover work
Edwards is also a voice artistVoice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
, having done voice work for Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch is a claymation television show that depicts celebrities against each other in a wrestling ring, almost always ending in the loser's gruesome death. It was known for its excessive amount of blood used in every match and exaggerated physical injuries...
and Robotomy
Robotomy
Robotomy is a Cartoon Network American animated television series created by Michael Buckley and Joe Deasy, directed by Christy Karacas , voice directed by Michael Sinterniklaas, and produced by World Leaders Entertainment. The series was developed after a long series of unaccepted ideas, and...
. He also did voice work for the audiobook version of Max Brooks
Max Brooks
Maximillian Michael "Max" Brooks is an American author and screenwriter, with a particular interest in zombies. Brooks is also a television and voice-over actor.- Early life and education :...
' World War Z
World War Z
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is a 2006 post-apocalyptic horror novel by Max Brooks. It is a follow-up to his 2003 book The Zombie Survival Guide. Rather than a grand overview or narrative, World War Z is a collection of individual accounts in the form of first-person anecdote...
: An Oral History of the Zombie War.
In the 2010 Halloween special Scared Shrekless
Scared Shrekless
Scared Shrekless is a 21-minute Halloween television special, set shortly after the events of Shrek Forever After, that premiered on the American television network NBC on Thursday, October 28, 2010....
, he did the voice of Donkey
Donkey (Shrek)
Donkey is a fictional talking donkey from the Shrek series of films and he serves as the deuteragonist of the films, voiced by Eddie Murphy. The character has also featured in the original story Shrek!...
after Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
declined; as Donkey, Edwards had the ability to impersonate Murphy. Soon, Edwards got replaced himself when Eddie Murphy returned to play Donkey in the 2010 Christmas special Donkey's Christmas Shrektacular.
Writing career
Edwards was hired as a staff writer for Daily Comedy, a website where professional and amateur stand-up comedians post new jokes frequently.Saturday Night Live
Edwards joined the cast of Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
in 2001. He developed several impressions
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
, including Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady
Wayne Alphonso Brady is an actor, singer, comedian and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and as the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show...
, Chris Tucker
Chris Tucker
Christopher "Chris" Tucker is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing the role of Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour film series.-Early life:...
(Edwards' first impression; coincidentally, also an impression done by Jay Pharoah on his first SNL episode on September 25, 2010), Don Cheadle
Don Cheadle
Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...
, Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
, Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
, Nipsey Russell
Nipsey Russell
Julius "Nipsey" Russell was an American comedian, best known today for his appearances as a guest panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s, especially Match Game, Password, Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth and Pyramid...
, Grace Jones
Grace Jones
Grace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and...
, Randy Jackson
Randy Jackson
Randall Darius "Randy" Jackson is an American bassist, singer, record producer, music manager, A&R executive, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is best known as a judge on American Idol and executive producer for MTV's America's Best Dance Crew...
, Redman, Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
, and Billy Ocean
Billy Ocean
Billy Ocean is a Trinidad-born English Grammy Award winning popular music performer who had a string of rhythm and blues international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British-based R&B singer / songwriter of the early to mid-1980s...
. Despite his penchant for impressions, Edwards didn't get much screen time in his brief tenure on the show. He left after the show's 28th season, citing creative differences.
In Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Halftime Special, he did impressions of Savion Glover
Savion Glover
Savion Glover is an American tap dancer, actor, and choreographer. As a learning prodigy, he was taught by notable dancers from previous generations. Glover is currently interested in restoring African roots to tap...
and Don Cheadle.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Halftime Special | Savion Glover Savion Glover Savion Glover is an American tap dancer, actor, and choreographer. As a learning prodigy, he was taught by notable dancers from previous generations. Glover is currently interested in restoring African roots to tap... / Don Cheadle Don Cheadle Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven... |
|
| 2003 | Marci X Marci X Marci X is a 2003 romantic comedy film, directed by Richard Benjamin and written by Paul Rudnick. It stars Lisa Kudrow as Jewish-American Princess Marci Feld, who has to take control of a hip-hop record label, as well as the controversial rapper Dr S, played by Damon Wayans.The film also featured... |
Audience Member | |
| 2004 | Tony N' Tina's Wedding Tony n' Tina's Wedding -Film adaptation:The play was "freely" adapted for film by writer-director Roger Paradiso— "filmed primarily from the point of view of a lisping videographer"—with Joey McIntyre and Mila Kunis playing the title characters... |
Father Mark | |
| 2006 | A New Wave A New Wave -Plot:A would-be artist is working in a dead end job as a bank teller. At the urging of his movie-obsessed slacker roommate , he agrees to be the inside man for a bank heist. While the heist plans are coordinated, the artist’s girlfriend arranges for him to have his first gallery exhibition... |
Rupert | |
| 2007 | Universal Remote | Serious Black Man | |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man... |
Newsstand Patron | Cameo |
| 2008 | Goyband Goyband Goyband is a 2008 American comedy film from directed by Christopher Grimm, starring Adam Pascal. Called a "gefilte fish out of water tale", this independent film is described as Dirty Dancing meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding with a touch of a hip hop Fiddler on the Roof... |
Ty | |
| 2010 | April's Fools | Now Later |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Melrose Place | Process Server | |
| 1998 | Celebrity Deathmatch Celebrity Deathmatch Celebrity Deathmatch is a claymation television show that depicts celebrities against each other in a wrestling ring, almost always ending in the loser's gruesome death. It was known for its excessive amount of blood used in every match and exaggerated physical injuries... |
Scottie Pippen Scottie Pippen Scottie Maurice Pippen is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association . He is most remembered for his time with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he was instrumental in six NBA Championships and their record 1995–96 season of 72 wins... / Spike Lee Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983.... |
Voice only |
| 2001–2003 | Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture... |
Various | |
| 2004 | The Sopranos The Sopranos The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads... |
Charles | |
| 2005 | Weekends at the DL | Sweetmouth | |
| 2006 | Where My Dogs At? Where My Dogs At? Where My Dogs At? was an animated program created by Aaron Matthew Lee and Jeffrey Ross that aired on MTV2 as part of its Sic'emation lineup.-Plot:... |
Various Celebrities | |
| 2010 | Robotomy Robotomy Robotomy is a Cartoon Network American animated television series created by Michael Buckley and Joe Deasy, directed by Christy Karacas , voice directed by Michael Sinterniklaas, and produced by World Leaders Entertainment. The series was developed after a long series of unaccepted ideas, and... |
Robot | Voice only |
| 2010 | Scared Shrekless Scared Shrekless Scared Shrekless is a 21-minute Halloween television special, set shortly after the events of Shrek Forever After, that premiered on the American television network NBC on Thursday, October 28, 2010.... |
Donkey Donkey (Shrek) Donkey is a fictional talking donkey from the Shrek series of films and he serves as the deuteragonist of the films, voiced by Eddie Murphy. The character has also featured in the original story Shrek!... |
TV special Voice only Replacing Eddie Murphy Eddie Murphy Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician.... |
As himself
| Himself | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2003 | Heroes of Comedy: Women on Top | Himself | |
| 2007 | Comedy Colosseum Comedy Colosseum Comedy Colosseum is an American reality competition television series in which comedians go head-to-head for $10,000 by earning the most laughs from randomly selected audience members. It is produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System and Vin Di Bona Productions, and is slated to air on NBC... |
Himself - Host | |
| 2007 | P. Diddy Presents the Bad Boys of Comedy | Himself - Comedian | Also writer |
| 2007 | The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup... |
Himself / Himself - Guest | |
| 2008 | Clean Mic: Laughing Until It Hurts | Himself | |
| 2008 | The Movie Preview Awards | Himself - Presenter | |
| 2008 | Last Call with Carson Daly Last Call with Carson Daly Last Call with Carson Daly is an American late night talk show that is broadcast on NBC. The show is hosted by Carson Daly, the half-hour show featuring celebrity interviews, documentary-style coverage of a topic, and musical performances. Last Call airs weeknights at 1:35 a.m. Eastern / 12:35 a.m.... |
Himself | |
| 2008 | Comics Without Borders | Himself | |
| 2008 | Comics Unleashed Comics Unleashed Comics Unleashed is a half-hour comedic talk show produced by the Entertainment Studios production company and hosted by Byron Allen, with John Cramer as announcer and ' providing music support. The show features a panel of four guest comedians performing their standup bits thinly disguised as a... |
Himself - Comedian | |
| 2009 | Souled Out Comedy | Himself | |
| 2009 | Black to the Future Black to the Future Black to the Future is a 2009 television mini-series produced by VH1, that talks about history of events and trends about black people, for Black History Month... |
Himself | |