He appeared in other television series including You Again? as Osborne, 227, which was an NBC comedy about women who lived in a majority black apartment complex, and What’s Happening Now!!, the sequel to What’s Happening!!.Ī year later Witherspoon was in Amen (1988), an American television sitcom that ran on NBC, as the bailiff. Law, an NBC legal drama, in the episode “On Your Honor” as Mark Steadman. In 1981, he appeared in Hill Street Blues, an NBC police drama, as a businessman who tries to buy a hotdog from an undercover Detective Belker. This then led to his appearance in WKRP In Cincinnati in 1978 in the fourth season, episode 84. In 1977, he became a regular on the series The Richard Pryor Show, an NBC American comedy series. Subsequent performances were on Good Times, What’s Happening!! and The Incredible Hulk. His first television appearance was on the 1970s CBS television show Barnaby Jones, playing a camp counselor for drug addicted youth, one of whom was played by Sean Penn in his first acting job. The line had become a signature for Witherspoon and was often heard during his stand-up routines. During a hilarious dinner scene, he tells Murphy’s “Marcus” to take the upper hand in his relationship with Robin Givens‘s character “Jacqueline” simulating aggressive sex pumping his hips under the dinner table yelling “Bang bang…bang bang bang”. In the film Boomerang with Eddie Murphy where he plays Mr Jackson, the ill-mannered father of Murphy’s best friend. Witherspoon was also known for his over-the-top characters in films like House Party, in which he played an irritated neighbor who is repeatedly woken up by the party. Witherspoon continued his passion for music and learned to play the trumpet and French horn. The family is also related to songwriter and record producer Lamont Dozier. Gertrude Stacks, is a evangelist and the pastor of a Pentecostal church in Detroit. Another sibling, Cato, was a longtime director of the PBS-TV Network/CH56 in Detroit for almost four decades. An elder brother, William, became a songwriter in Detroit for Motown, who may be best known for the single “ What Becomes of the Brokenhearted“, which became a hit for Jimmy Ruffin. He later changed his surname to “Witherspoon”. John Weatherspoon was born in Detroit, Michigan. He wrote a film, From the Old School, in which he played an elderly working man who tries to prevent a neighborhood convenience store from being developed into a strip club. He has also made appearances on television shows such as The Wayans Bros. (1995–99), The Tracy Morgan Show (2003), Barnaby Jones (1973), The Boondocks (2005–present), The Five Heartbeats (1991) and Black Jesus (2014). John Witherspoon (born John Weatherspoon Janu– October 29, 2019) was an American actor and comedian who performed in dozens of television shows and films.īest known for his role as Willie Jones for the Friday series, Witherspoon also starred in films such as Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Boomerang (1992) and Vampire In Brooklyn (1995).
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