Tracy Morgan | |
|---|---|
 Morgan in 2009 | |
| Born | (1968-11-10)November 10, 1968 (age 57) Brooklyn,New York City, U.S. |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Nas (third cousin) |
| Comedy career | |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Medium | Stand-up, television, film |
| Genres | |
| Subjects |
|
Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968)[1] is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He was a cast member on theNBCsketch comedy television seriesSaturday Night Live from 1996 to 2003 and playedTracy Jordan on the NBC sitcom30 Rock from 2006 to 2013, both of which earned him aPrimetime Emmy Award nomination. He also starred as Tray Barker on theTBS comedyThe Last O.G.
Morgan was born on November 10, 1968, inBrooklyn[2] and raised in Brooklyn'sMarlboro Houses andTompkins Houses in itsBedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood.[3] He is the second of five children[3] of a homemaker, Alicia (née Warden),[1] and James Morgan Jr IV, a musician who left the family when Morgan was six years old.[3][4]
His father named him Tracy in honor of a platoon mate and friend who shipped off toVietnam with him and was killed in action days later.[5]
The target of bullies as a child,[6] Morgan attendedDeWitt Clinton High School.[3] In 1985, during his senior year, he learned that his father had contracted HIV from hypodermic needle use.[7] His father died in January 1987, aged 38.[3]
Morgan married his girlfriend Sabina that year and dropped out of high school just four credits short of his diploma to care for his ailing father.[3] Living on welfare, Morgan soldcrack cocaine with limited success,[8] but began earning money performing comedy on the streets[3] after his best friend was murdered. He said in 2009: "He would say to me, 'Yo, Tracy, man, you should be doing comedy.' A week later, he was murdered. And that for me, that was like my Vietnam. I had my survival guilt when I started to achieve success. Why I made it out and some guys didn't."[8]
Morgan embarked on a stand-up comedy career, successfully enough that he "finally moved to a nice community in [The Bronx neighborhood of]Riverdale, from a run-down apartment next toYankee Stadium in the Bronx."[8]
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Morgan made his screen debut playing Hustle Man on the sitcomMartin. The character sold various items from the "hood", always greeting people with his trademark "What's happ'n, chief?," and had a pet dog he dressed as a rapper. (Later, in the 2003Chris Rock filmHead of State, Morgan appeared as a man watching television, often questioning why they are not watchingMartin.)
Morgan was also a regular cast member onUptown Comedy Club, a sketch-comedy show filmed inHarlem that aired for two seasons, from 1992 to 1994.
Morgan joined the cast of the comedy seriesSaturday Night Live in 1996, and performed as a regular until 2003. ProducerLorne Michaels chose him overStephen Colbert in the final round of auditions. Morgan's regular characters included the kindly but deluded vagrant Woodrow; outspoken apartment maintenance man Dominican Lou; lusty Astronaut Jones whose shorts skits ended with blunt sexual propositions towards beautiful extraterrestrial ladies; andSafari Planet host Brian Fellow who was enthusiastic but deeply ignorant about animals.
After leaving the cast ofSNL in 2003, Morgan starred in his own sitcom,The Tracy Morgan Show, debuting in 2003. The show was subsequently canceled after one season.[9] During the same year, he was featured on an episode ofPunk'd in which his car was towed fromvalet parking.
From 2006 to 2013, Morgan was a cast member of the television series30 Rock. He played the characterTracy Jordan, a caricature of himself. His work on30 Rock was well-received, and he was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the2009Emmy Awards.[10] He returned to the role in July 2020 for areunion episode during theCOVID-19 pandemic that was anupfront special forNBCUniversal.[11] After30 Rock, beginning in 2018, Morgan began starring in theTBS seriesThe Last O.G.[12] It ran for four seasons until 2021.[13]
Morgan also returned to hostSNL on March 14, 2009, and reprised his roles as Brian Fellow and Astronaut Jones. He later made a guest appearance on the 2011 Christmas show, hosted byJimmy Fallon, and again hosted the show on October 17, 2015.
In addition to his television and comedy career, Morgan has acted in several comedy movies, alongsideAdam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, andWill Ferrell. In Adam Sandler's filmThe Longest Yard, he plays a transgender inmate.[14] He has also taken on a number of voice acting roles. He plays Spoonie Luv on the Comedy Central programCrank Yankers and as Woof in the animated seriesWhere My Dogs At?. He also was the voice of Luis in the animated filmRio.
Morgan has had a number of solo stand-up specials produced throughout his career.One Mic was produced and aired onComedy Central in 2002. His other comedy specials includeTracy Morgan: Bona Fide[15] in 2014 andStaying Alive[16] in 2017, released after he was severely injured in a 2014 car accident. Morgan made a surprise appearance at the67th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 20, 2015, and was greeted with a standing ovation. He also hosted the firstSpike Guys' Choice Awards, which aired on June 13, 2007.
Morgan acted in commercials forNFL 2K,NBA 2K, andNHL 2K, co-starring withWarren Sapp,Ben Wallace andJeremy Roenick.
In July 2019, he hosted the ESPYs in Los Angeles.[17]
In 2022, theNew York Friars Club bestowed the Entertainment Icon Award on Morgan at the club's spring gala. Morgan is the ninth recipient of the prestigious comedy award, and the first Black recipient.[18][19]
In May 2025 it was announced that Morgan would star in theTina Fey-produced television seriesThe Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins alongsideDaniel Radcliffe andErika Alexander.[20] In October 2025, the sitcomCrutch starring Morgan was released onParamount+. The show follows Morgan playing a recentwidower who is a devilish yet loving father to two adult children who move back home to Harlem.[21]
On October 20, 2009, Morgan's autobiography,I Am the New Black, was released. The book includes stories about living in Tompkins Projects inBed-Stuy, Brooklyn, to becoming a cast member onSaturday Night Live. Morgan appeared onNational Public Radio'sFresh Air hosted byTerry Gross, at times becoming very emotional about his former life in a New York ghetto.[8]
Morgan has listedCarol Burnett,Lucille Ball,Jackie Gleason,Martin Lawrence,Eddie Murphy, andRichard Pryor as among his primary comedic influences.[22]
In 1987, while in high school, Morgan married his girlfriend Sabina. The pair have three sons together. Morgan filed for divorce in August 2009, after having been separated for approximately eight years.[23] Morgan credits one of his sons with having saved him from his alcoholism.[24] Of his extended family, Morgan said in 2009, "I'm estranged from my own mother and most of my family, and I'm not sure that's going to change much".[8] Morgan dated Tanisha Hall. She donated one of her kidneys to Morgan in December 2010.[25]
In September 2011, on the red carpet at the Emmy Awards, Morgan announced he and model Megan Wollover had become engaged six months earlier in San Francisco.[26] Their first child, a daughter, was born in New York City on July 2, 2013.[27] Morgan and Wollover married on August 23, 2015.[28] Morgan filed for divorce July 2020.[29]
In 2023, on an episode ofFinding Your Roots, Morgan discovered he is third cousins with American rapperNas.[30]
In 1996, Morgan was diagnosed withdiabetes mellitus and for years has been analcoholic. Morgan has conceded that many of his own troubles were incorporated within30 Rock episodes.[31] In early December 2010, Morgan received akidney transplant necessitated by his diabetes and alcohol use.[citation needed]
In August 2023, Morgan responded to a comment about his healthy appearance during an episode ofToday with Hoda & Jenna by disclosing that he was usingsemaglutide.[32] In March 2024, he toldJimmy Fallon that he had "learned to out-eatOzempic" and "gained 40 lbs," but later clarified that he was joking, saying "Ozempic did great by me and I was glad to use it."[33]
On March 17, 2025, while sitting courtside at anNBA basketball game atMadison Square Garden between theNew York Knicks andMiami Heat, Morgan experienced an episode of food poisoning, which caused him to vomit onto the basketball court sideline and suffer a bloody nose. He joked on his Instagram post from the hospital saying, "More importantly, the Knicks are now 1-0 when I throw up on the court so maybe I'll have to break it out again in the playoffs."[34]
During a performance inNashville, Tennessee, on June 3, 2011, Morgan made remarks about homosexuals, reportedly stating that if his son were gay, his son better speak to him like a man or he would "pull out a knife and stab him." Morgan apologized, saying that he had "gone too far."[35] In response, head ofNBC EntertainmentBob Greenblatt and Morgan's coworker on30 Rock,Tina Fey, stated they did not condone the comments made by Morgan, and were happy to see him make a sincere apology.[36]
On June 7, 2014, Morgan was a passenger in aMercedes Sprinterminibus involved in a six-vehicle crash in New Jersey inNew Jersey Turnpike nearCranbury when it was struck from behind by aWalmart tractor-trailer,[37] causing achain reaction crash.[38] Morgan and three other comedians, includingHarris Stanton, along with Morgan's assistant and two limousine company employees, who were traveling on Morgan's "Turn it Funny" stand-up comedy tour.[39] The crash killed Morgan's friend and collaborator, 62-year-old comedianJames McNair (Jimmy Mack).[37] Morgan was taken to the hospital with a broken femur, broken nose, atraumatic brain injury, and several broken ribs, and underwent surgery on his leg on June 8.[40] From June 20 until July 12, 2014 Morgan stayed in a rehabilitation facility to recover from the injuries sustained during the crash.[41]
The driver of the truck which caused the accident pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, and an early investigation byNational Transportation Safety Board found the driver had been on the road for nearly as many hours as the legal limit.[42][43] Morgan also sued for Walmart for negligence, settling in 2015 for an estimated $90 million USD.[44][45]
On June 1, 2015, Morgan made his first public appearance since the crash, in an interview withMatt Lauer onToday, stating he still suffered from symptoms of his injuries. On the November 3, 2016 episode ofConan, Morgan said that he was no longer angry about the collision and had forgiven Roper.[46] Morgan's 2017Netflix standup specialStaying Alive joked about Walmart and the lawsuit, while detailing his hospitalization, rehab and recovery.[47]
In June 2019, Morgan was involved in a minor collision in his newly purchasedBugatti Veyron, and he was captured on video slamming on the other driver's window and yelling, "Bitch, get out of the car".[48][49][50][51] According toMercury News, the other driver was traumatized by Morgan's conduct.[49] A CBS News reporter visited Morgan to get his side of the story and Morgan allowed the reporter through his gate, answered the door himself, but refused to talk.[52]
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992–1994 | Uptown Comedy Club | Various | |
| 1994–1996 | Martin | Hustle Man | 7 episodes |
| 1996–2003 | Saturday Night Live | Various roles | 128 episodes |
| 2000 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Tracy Morgan | Episode: "Dick'll Take Manhattan: Part 1" |
| 2002 | Tracy Morgan: One Mic | Himself | Stand-up special |
| 2002–2005, 2019–2021 | Crank Yankers | Spoonie Luv | Voice |
| 2003–2004 | The Tracy Morgan Show | Tracy Mitchell | 18 episodes; also producer |
| 2006 | Mind of Mencia | Captain Black Cawk | Episode: "Stereotype Olympics" |
| Where My Dogs At? | Woof | Voice; 8 episodes | |
| VH1's Totally Awesome | Darnell | TV movie | |
| 2006–2013, 2020 | 30 Rock | Tracy Jordan | 137 episodes |
| 2008 | Human Giant | The Invisible Man | Voice; Episode: "I Want More Corn Chowder" |
| 2008–2013 | Scare Tactics | Himself (host) | 20 episodes |
| 2009 | Saturday Night Live | Episode: "Tracy Morgan/Kelly Clarkson" | |
| 2010 | Tracy Morgan: Black and Blue | Himself | Stand-up special; also executive producer |
| 2014 | Tracy Morgan: Bona Fide | Stand-up special;[58] also executive producer | |
| Mr. Pickles | Skids | Voice; Episode: "Dead Man's Curve" | |
| 2015 | Saturday Night Live | Himself (host) | Episode: "Tracy Morgan/Demi Lovato" |
| 2017 | Tracy Morgan: Staying Alive | Himself | Stand-up special |
| 2018 | Somebody Feed Phil | Episode: "New York City"[59] | |
| The Raw Word | Episode #1.15 | ||
| The Simpsons | Himself, Tow Truck Driver | Voice; 2 episodes | |
| Animals | Toaster | Voice; Episode: "Stuff" | |
| 2018–2021 | The Last O.G. | Tray Barker | Main cast; also executive producer |
| 2019 | The Twilight Zone | J.C. Wheeler | Episode: "The Comedian" |
| Green Eggs and Ham | Michael the Fox | Voice; 2 episodes | |
| Bubble Guppies | Dr. Bigmouth Bass | Voice; Episode: "Secret Agent Nonny!" | |
| 2021 | Squidbillies | Early Cuyler | Voice, season 13[60] |
| 2022, 2025 | The Neighborhood | Curtis Butler / Francois "Crutch" Crutchfield | Episodes: "Welcome to Bro Money, Bro Problems", "Welcome to Family Value" |
| 2023 | Tracy Morgan: Takin' It Too Far | Himself | Stand-up special |
| The Santa Clauses | Easter Bunny | Episode: "Chapter Nine: No Magic at the Dinner Table!"[61] | |
| 2025 | Octopus! | Himself | 2 episodes[62] |
| Crutch | Francois "Crutch" Crutchfield | Main cast; also executive producer | |
| 2026 | The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins | Reggie Dinkins | Upcoming series; also executive producer |
Yeah, I was born in Brooklyn
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| Preceded by | Voice of Captain Caveman 2020 filmScoob! | Succeeded by |
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