Background

Martin Lawrence was born on April 16, 1965, in Frankfurt, West Germany, to American parents. Lawrence's parents, John and Chlora Lawrence served in the United States military. He was the fourth of the six children in the family and was christened after the famous civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. and President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Once his parents’ service in Germany ended, they came back to the United States, where his father started working as a police officer.

His parents fought quite often, and this often made his mother sad. Martin once said that he had a rare ability to make anybody laugh in any situation and that he often made his mother laugh even in times of sadness. His parents divorced when Martin was 8 years old, and Martin stayed back with his mother. His mother had six children to look after as a single mother had to work many jobs to make ends meet.

Education

While living in Maryland, Lawrence attended Eleanor Roosevelt and Friendly High Schools. In school, Martin was a bright student and was also proactive in a lot of activities. His teachers used to give him the last few minutes of class to make his classmates laugh. He was also interested in sports, especially in boxing. He was so much in love with boxing that he seriously considered making a career out of it. His mother frequently moved from place to place due to her jobs, and as a result, Martin attended four different schools before completing his education. He also developed a keen interest in acting, but boxing remained his first love.

In his teenage years, he was at the peak of his boxing career. He was a Mid-Atlantic Golden Gloves boxing contender. However, he once got his eye badly injured while boxing, which had him rethinking about his career choice. A teacher encouraged Lawrence to attend an open mic night at a local comedy club, and his career as a comic was born. Soon, he decided to give comedy and acting a try and moved to New York.

Career

Shortly after moving to California, Lawrence got a guest spot on the television show What's Happening Now! It was Lawrence’s first regular television work. He also made progress as a stand-up comedian, appearing in Los Angeles comedy clubs and in cable television comedy shows. His stand-up work drew the attention of director Spike Lee, who gave Lawrence a small but significant role in the 1989 movie Do the Right Thing. After Do the Right Thing, Lawrence landed the part of Bilal in House Party and House Party II, both successful black comedies.

Lawrence found the national spotlight in 1992. First, he appeared with Eddie Murphy in the comedy movie Boomerang. The experience of working with Murphy was particularly helpful to Lawrence, who had long admired the established star. Boomerang also reunited Lawrence with Tisha Campbell, an actress he had worked with before on the House Party films. Lawrence and Campbell became the nucleus of a cast for a new situation comedy to be produced by FOX Television.

Lawrence moved into the spotlight with the launch of the Fox sitcom Martin in 1992. Along with starring as disc jockey Martin Payne, Lawrence often appeared as other characters like Mama Payne and the outrageous neighbor Sheneneh Jenkins. Martin was a big hit for Fox, although the final season, which ended in spring 1997, was clouded by accusations of sexual harassment from co-star Tisha Campbell.

Lawrence worked with the producers at FOX to create Martin, a 30-minute weekly comedy about a young Detroit disc jockey, his executive girlfriend, and his buddies. The show is more than a mere light treatment of the battle between the sexes: in it, Martin must struggle with his dual impulses to be macho and needy, to assert himself with his girlfriend and to depend upon her for emotional support.

Martin first aired in 1992 in the time slot just after FOX’s most successful comedy, The Simpsons. Figures from the A.C. Nielsen television ratings company in 1993 showed that the program ranked in the top five nationally among viewers from ages twelve to seventeen, and even in the top ten among viewers from ages two to eleven. The teen and the young-adult audience is a particularly sought-after one by broadcasters and advertisers. Yet for all its mainstream appeal, Martin has not sacrificed its allegiance to black dialogue and attitude.

Two years into his hit television show, film became a more dominant facet of Lawrence’s acting career. In 1995 Lawrence co-starred with Will Smith in Bad Boys. Lawrence played detective Marcus Burnett, a financially pressed father and partner of Mike Lowry (Smith), a well-to-do bachelor. Bad Boys brought in $15.5 million in sales in its first weekend at the box office.

Five years later, the actor seized the opportunity to shine in Big Momma's House, with audiences responding favorably to his brand of crude but endearing comedy.

Lawrence went on to reprise his roles in Bad Boys II (2003), Big Momma's House 2 (2006) and Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (2011). In early 2020, he readied to rejoin Smith in Bad Boys for Life.

In 2007, Lawrence co-starred with Tim Allen, John Travolta, and William H. Macy in the midlife crisis comedy Wild Hogs, which earned lukewarm reviews from critics but grossed more than $250 million globally. He followed with roles in the ensemble comedies Welcome Home Roscoe Jennings (2008) and Death at a Funeral (2010).

By the 2010s, Lawrence was looking to regain the mojo that had once propelled him to the upper rungs of the Hollywood pecking order. A planned sitcom with CBS fell through, and Partners, a legal comedy that co-starred Kelsey Grammer, was canceled after 10 episodes on FX in 2014.

In 2016, Lawrence released his first stand-up special in 14 years with Showtime's Doin' Time: Uncut. Three years later, he returned to the big screen with the role of Captain Wack in the stoner comedy The Beach Bum, starring Matthew McConaughey. In 2020, he returned to reprise his role in Bad Boys for Life, alongside Will Smith.

Achievements

• 

  Comedian Martin Lawrence has been one of the busiest entertainers in show business. As a star of the FOX-TV series Martin and host of Home Box Office’s Def Jam Comedy Hour, Lawrence has found a wide and varied audience for his humor based on the black urban experience.
  
  In January of 1993, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) gave Martin - and Martin Lawrence - its prestigious Image Award for outstanding television series. The award reflects the respect Lawrence is receiving for attempting to field a television comedy about some very serious subjects: being African American, young, and involved in a serious monogamous relationship, as the 1990s progress.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Big Momma's House 2

    (Everyone's favorite bundle of double-barreled excitement ...)

    2006
  • Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat

    (Lawrence trains his sights on such explosive subjects as ...)

    2002
  • Life

    (A fast-talking con-artist (Eddie Murphy) and a conservati...)

    1999
  • Big Momma's House

    (In pursuit of an escaped prisoner, agent Malcolm Turner (...)

    2000
  • Do the Right Thing

    (It is the hottest day of the year on a block in the Bedfo...)

    1989
  • National Security

    (A white ex-cop (Zahn) teams up with the African-American ...)

    2003
  • Boomerang

    (A successful executive and womanizer finds his lifestyle ...)

    1991
  • Blue Streak

    (Things go hysterically awry for a master thief (Martin La...)

    1999
  • Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins

    (Martin Lawrence discovers that going home is no vacation ...)

    2008
  • The Beach Bum

    (The Beach Bum follows the hilarious misadventures of Moon...)

    2019
  • Wild Hogs

    (Four frustrated weekend warriors hit the road for a motor...)

    2007
  • Bad Boys II

    (The action and comedy never stop when superstars Martin L...)

    2003
  • Death At A Funeral

    (Death at a Funeral is a hilarious day in the life of an A...)

    2010
  • Open Season

    (In Sony Pictures Animation's first feature film, the anim...)

    2006
  • Martin Lawrence: You So Crazy

    (The outrageous actor/comedian lets it all hang out in thi...)

    1994
  • Black Knight

    (Martin Lawrence brings the 'hood into the Middle Ages in ...)

    2001
  • House Party 2

    (When Kid's college money is stolen by a crooked music pro...)

    1991
  • Bad Boys

    (Miami cops Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are two loose c...)

    1995
  • Rebound

    (Anger-management problems force a disgraced ex-college-ho...)

    2005
  • A Thin Line Between Love & Hate

    (With Brandi, Darnell finally finds the woman of his dream...)

    1996
  • Watch Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son

    (Big Momma is dragged out of mothballs when FBI man Martin...)

  • What's The Worst That Could Happen?

    (When a professional thief robs a beachfront mansion, he c...)

    2001
  • Martin Lawrence Doin' Time: Uncut

    (Comedy Legend Martin Lawrence returns to the stage in thi...)

    2016
  • College Road Trip

    (A girl and her dad scour the country looking for the perf...)

    2008
  • Talkin' Dirty After Dark

    (Martin Lawrence plays a stand-up comedian in trouble. He'...)

    1991
  • Nothing To Lose

    (Nick has completely bottomed out. His career is a mess, h...)

    1997

• music

  • Live: Talkin Shit 1993
  • Funk It 1995

• TV series

  • Martin: The Complete Five Seasons

Religion

Martin Lawrence is religious. Lawrence is fond of thanking God and calling himself God-blessed and God-inspired in interviews. He is particularly thankful to the Almighty for helping him get back on his feet after some anger issues and legal troubles. He said: "I’m most proud of the blessings that God has bestowed upon me, in my life. He’s given me the vision to truly see that you can fall down, but you can still get back up. Hopefully, I’ll learn from my mistakes and have the opportunity to strengthen and improve the next thing I do."

Politics

Lawrence is mostly non-political, except for his support for Barack Obama. He put a little Obama segment in the stand-up routine he toured within 2011. He said: "I want to take the time to say how proud I am we got a black president, y’all. Boy that shit’s cool, ain’t it? He’s a bad motherfucker too, he just caught Bin Laden and shit."

Views

Martin Lawrence has done charity work for Marie Curie Cancer Care and Micah's Voice, charities supporting people with cancer and autism.

Quotations: "No one is immune to the trials and tribulations of life."

"You can be cool and at the same time respect your woman, who will hopefully become your wife, who will hopefully become the mother of your kids. America needs to get back to family values."

"I don't really judge. To each his own. You like what you like."

Personality

After hosting Saturday Night Live in 1994, where he made crude remarks about women’s genitalia and personal hygiene; the monologue was completely edited out of NBC reruns and syndicated versions, and Lawrence was banned from the show for life. The ban was overturned several years later. However, Lawrence is still not allowed to appear on the show.

On July 29, 1996, Lawrence attempted to walk through a metal detector at a Phoenix airport with a concealed 9mm gun. He eventually received two years probation and his family sent him to a drug rehabilitation center. He soon checked himself out and returned home. A few months later, Lawrence’s instability and alleged abuse prompted his wife of less than two years to file for a divorce.

Tisha Campbell, the co-star on Martin, left the show citing an unreasonable and unsafe working environment which she attributed to Lawrence’s frequent outbursts and alleged sexual harassment. Competing lawsuits were settled out of court and she agreed to finish the season provided that Lawrence was not present when she was being filmed, a difficult feat for the show’s writers as Campbell and Lawrence played an intimately married couple. Campbell’s decision, nonetheless, brought the five year hit series to a premature end and had in excess of $65 million in syndication sales.

Later in 1997, Lawrence was charged with battery after allegedly punching a man in a nightclub. According to Jet, the two men had gotten into a scuffle on the dance floor. Lawrence pleaded no contest and was sentenced to two years probation, 240 hours of community service, and to hold a fund-raising show in which he raised over $10,000 for two nonprofit organizations in July of 1998.

Physical Characteristics: In August 1999, Martin was rushed to hospital after collapsing during the shoot of Big Momma’s House. Lawrence slipped into a three-day coma after collapsing while jogging. He had an extremely high fever due to heat exhaustion and he narrowly escaped death.

Interests

• Politicians

  Barack Obama

• Sport & Clubs

  boxing, baseball, basketball

• Athletes

  Muhammad Ali

• Music & Bands

  The Notorious B.I.G.

Connections

Martin Lawrence dated actress Lark Voorhies in the early 1990s and got engaged to her in 1993. However, the relationship ended soon. In 1995, he married former Miss Virginia USA, Patricia Southall. The couple had a daughter in 1996. However, they divorced the next year.

In 1997, Martin started dating Shamicka Gibbs, and eventually got married to her in 2010. Martin’s close friends Eddie Murphy and Denzel Washington were among the guests at his wedding. The couple then had two daughters, Iyanna Faith and Amara Trinity. However, two years into the marriage, the couple started having issues, and in 2012, Martin filed for divorce.

Father:

John Lawrence

Mother:

Chlora Lawrence

colleague:

Octavia Spencer

ex-girlfriend:

Lark Voorhies

ex-spouse:

Patricia Southall

ex-spouse:

Shamicka Gibbs

Daughter:

Iyanna Faith Lawrence

Daughter:

Amara Trinity Lawrence

colleague:

Chloë Moretz

colleague:

Will Smith

colleague:

Brenda Song

colleague:

Danny Glover

colleague:

Vanessa Hudgens

Friend:

Denzel Washington

Friend:

Eddie Murphy

References

• Martin Lawrence on Twitter
• Martin Lawrence on Instagram
• Martin Lawrence on Facebook