Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence[1] (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor and comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor. He got his start playing Maurice Warfield inWhat's Happening Now!! (1987–1988), and is known for his lead performance in theFox television sitcomMartin, as well as theBad Boys film franchise. His other films includeHouse Party,Boomerang,Life,Blue Streak,Big Momma's House,Open Season, andWild Hogs.
The fourth of six children, Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence was born on April 16, 1965, inFrankfurt,West Germany. His father, John Lawrence, was serving in the U.S. military at the time of his birth.[1] Lawrence's first and middle names were aftercivil rights leaderMartin Luther King Jr. and U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, respectively.[1] When Lawrence was seven, his father left the military, and the family moved from West Germany back to the United States, settling in the Washington D.C. area in the town ofLandover, Maryland. Lawrence's mother had moved herself and her six children into the troubled King Square housing projects where he would attend Dodge Park Elementary.[1] Following his parents' divorce when he was eight years old, Lawrence rarely saw his father, who was a police officer, serving as the Police Chief for the Franklin D. Roosevelt VA Medical Center in Montrose, New York.[2] His mother, Chlora (née Bailey), worked several jobs, including as a sales representative and cashier at various department stores, to support her family.[3][4]Small for his size growing up in the projects, Lawrence often engaged in street fights with other kids. He stated that it was his mother and older brothers who kept him out of jail where most of his childhood friends ended up. During his teen years, Lawrence excelled atboxing.[1] While living inFort Washington, Maryland, Lawrence attendedEleanor Roosevelt High School[1] andFriendly High School, and became a Mid-AtlanticGolden Gloves boxing contender.[5]
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In his early days, Lawrence did comedy shows in the Washington, D.C., area and supported himself through odd jobs. ComedianRitch Shydner saw his act and suggested Lawrence make connections in New York.[6] Lawrence ended up moving to New York City and found his way to the comedy clubThe Improv. Shortly after appearing at The Improv, Lawrence won a performance spot onStar Search.[1] He did well on the show and made it to the final round, but did not win. However, executives atColumbia Pictures Television saw Martin's performance and offered him the role of Maurice Warfield inWhat's Happening Now!!; this was his first acting job.[1] Upon cancellation of that show, Lawrence found bit parts in various films and television series. His breakthrough role was as Cee inDo the Right Thing. Other film roles followed, such asHouse Party,House Party 2,Talkin' Dirty After Dark, and theEddie Murphy vehicleBoomerang. During this period, entertainment mogulRussell Simmons selected him to host the groundbreaking seriesDef Comedy Jam onHBO.Def Comedy Jam gave many comedians (includingChris Tucker,Dave Chappelle,Mike Epps,Eddie Griffin,Bernie Mac andCedric the Entertainer) mainstream exposure.
During his stint withDef Comedy Jam, Lawrence appeared in his own hit series,Martin, which aired onFox.[1] The show ran from 1992 to 1997 and was an enormous success.Martin was the flagship of Fox's Thursday night line-up, which drew millions of viewers away fromNBC's "Must See TV" line-up. He hostedSaturday Night Live on February 19, 1994, where he made crude remarks about women's genitalia and personal hygiene; the offensive portion of the monologue was edited out of NBC reruns andsyndicated versions and Lawrence was banned from NBC for a period of time until he received an apology from the President of NBC at the time Warren Littlefield.[7]Martin's ratings continued to skyrocket so much that Fox became more of a contender against NBC and came closer to being considered among the top television networks. In 1995 he acted alongsideWill Smith inBad Boys with wide success.
AfterMartin ended its run in 1997, Lawrence found work in comedy films. He often starred as the second lead opposite actors includingEddie Murphy,Danny DeVito, andTim Robbins.[1] Many of his films were blockbusters at the box office, includingNothing to Lose,Life,Blue Streak,Big Momma's House, andBad Boys II. He also starred in critical and box office failures, includingBlack Knight andNational Security. Regardless, his salary steadily increased to over $10 million per film role. He continued to work in film, with such films asBig Momma's House 2, which opened at No. 1 at North American box office and grossed almost $28 million its first weekend,[8] andWild Hogs (2007), in which he played a bored suburbanite seeking adventure on the open road in a biker comedy alongsideJohn Travolta,Tim Allen andWilliam H. Macy.
In 2006, Lawrence appeared onInside the Actors Studio, during which Lawrence briefly brought back to life some of the characters he had portrayed onMartin. He also appeared inOpen Season as the voice of Boog, one of the main characters of the film, which also starredAshton Kutcher,Debra Messing, andGary Sinise.
In January 2013, it was announced that Lawrence andKelsey Grammer were considering pairing up to star in a comedy forLionsgate Television.Partners, paired the two actors as Chicago lawyers from "vastly different backgrounds who unexpectedly meet in court on the worst day of their lives." The show premiered on August 4, 2014, but was cancelled after one season after receiving poor reviews.[10]
In 2020, Lawrence reprised his role as Detective Marcus Burnett in the third installment of theBad Boys franchise,Bad Boys for Life, again alongsideWill Smith. The film was considered a financial success, grossing $112 million in its first four days of release.[11]
Lawrence was engaged to actressLark Voorhies in 1993. He marriedMiss Virginia USA,Patricia Southall, in 1995. Lawrence and Southall have a daughter, Jasmine Page (born January 15, 1996). They divorced in 1997, and Lawrence began a relationship with Shamicka Gibbs. The couple married on July 10, 2010, at Lawrence'sBeverly Hills home. ActorsEddie Murphy andDenzel Washington were among the 120 wedding guests;[13] Lawrence and Gibbs have two daughters, Iyanna Faith (born November 9, 2000) and Amara Trinity (born August 20, 2002).[14] On April 25, 2012, Lawrence filed for divorce from Gibbs, citing irreconcilable differences and asking for joint legal and physical custody of the children.[15]
Lawrence owns a farm nearPurcellville, Virginia.[16][17] For several years, he owned a large mansion in theBeverly Park community in Beverly Hills, where he wedded Gibbs. However, following their divorce, the property was available for lease at $200,000 per month in June 2012.[18] In 2013, the property was up for sale for $26.5 million, and eventually he sold it for $17.2 million toBruce Makowsky, buying anEncino, Los Angeles property for $6.63 million.[19]
On May 8, 1996, he became increasingly erratic and was arrested after he brandished apistol in the middle of an intersection onVentura Boulevard in Los Angeles, screaming, "They're trying to kill me!" He was again hospitalized, with his public-relations agent citing exhaustion and dehydration as the reasons for this episode.[1] On July 29, 1996, he tried to take a gun on a flight and received two yearsprobation and a fine.[21]
In January 1997, Lawrence'sMartin co-starTisha Campbell-Martin filed a lawsuit against him, allegingsexual harassment and abuse both on and off set.[22] By April 1997, Campbell had settled the lawsuit, and returned to appear in the last two episodes of the series.[23]
In March 1997, Lawrence was arrested after punching a man in a Hollywood nightclub.[1]
During August 1999, Lawrence slipped into a three-day coma after collapsing from heat exhaustion while jogging in 100 °F (38 °C) heat in preparation forBig Momma's House while wearing heavy clothing and a "plastic suit".[1][24] He recovered in the hospital after entering a near fatal coma due to a body temperature of 107 °F (42 °C), his breathing assisted by a ventilator.[25]
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