Eddie Griffin
Griffin in 2008
Born	Edward Rubin Griffin (1968-07-15)July 15, 1968 (age 57) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Spouses	Carla Griffin ​ ​ (m. 1984; div. 1997)​ Rochelle Griffin ​ ​ (m. 2002; div. 2009)​ Nia Rivers ​ ​ (m. 2011; div. 2012)​ Ko Lee ​ (m. 2017)​
Children	12
Comedy career
Years active	1989–present
Medium	Stand-up, film, television
Genres	Improvisational comedy,observational comedy,blue comedy,satire
Subjects	African-American culture,recreational drug use,human sexuality,race relations,politics,racism,religion,everyday life
Website	eddiegriffin.com

Edward Rubin Griffin (born July 15, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman in the sitcomMalcolm & Eddie, the title character in the 2002 comedy filmUndercover Brother, and Tiberius Jefferson "T.J." Hicks inDeuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999) andDeuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005). He also portrayed Lester Matthews inJohn Q. (2002), Orpheus inScary Movie 3 (2003), Pope Sweet Jesus inNorbit (2007), and voicedRichard Pryor onBlack Dynamite (2012–2015). Griffin was ranked at number 62 onComedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.^[1]

Griffin was born inKansas City, Missouri, and was raised by his single mother, Doris Thomas, a phone company operator.^[2] His family wereJehovah's Witnesses.^[3] In 1984, at 16 years old, he moved toCompton, California, to live with his cousins. He later became a father and enlisted in theU.S. Navy but was discharged within months for using marijuana. After six months in jail on an assault conviction following a fight, he made ends meet dancing and painting houses.

At a comedy club open-mic night in 1989, Griffin hopped onstage on a bet and earned a standing ovation with family stories. He talked his way into stand-up gigs around town and in L.A. One popular bit was his gay version of tough-guy comicAndrew Dice Clay, who later hired Griffin to open for him.^[4]

Once he achieved a fair amount of success in standup, Griffin became known atThe Comedy Store for stopping by to do guest sets on open mic nights and staying up on stage long enough to tire the audience out for the next comedian.

Griffin has appeared in films such asThe Meteor Man (1993),The Walking Dead (1995),David E. Talbert: A Fool & His Money (1997),Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999),Double Take (2001),Undercover Brother (2002),John Q (2002),Scary Movie 3 (2003),Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005),Norbit (2007), andUrban Justice (2007).

Griffin has appeared on television shows such asMalcolm & Eddie (1996–2000) andChappelle's Show in the skit "World Series of Dice" as Grits n' Gravy. Griffin performed on two tracks fromDr. Dre's 1999 album,2001, and the intro track fromThe D.O.C.'s 1996 albumHelter Skelter. He has also appeared on commercials forMiller Beer'sMan Laws.

In 2011, Comedy Central released Griffin's stand-up comedy specialYou Can Tell 'Em I Said It on DVD. In December 2019, his stand-up comedy special,E-Niggma, was released onShowtime.

Griffin and his mother got into an argument at his 20th birthday party when she accused him of stealing jewelry from her, which Griffin denied doing. Afterward, Griffin did not see his mother for four years until he moved back toLos Angeles, California, in March 1992, to be closer with his family when his mother was injured in a car accident.^[5]

Griffin has been married four times. He married his first wife, Carla in 1984 when he was 16 years old. They divorced in 1997.^[6] He married his second wife, Rochelle, in 2002 and divorced in 2009.^[6] On September 8, 2011, he married his third wife, Nia Rivers. However, they filed for divorce after one month of marriage, citingirreconcilable differences. They were officially divorced six months later in 2012.^[7][8] He married his fourth wife, Ko Lee Griffin, on July 27, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[9]

In March 2007,^[10] Griffin participated in a charity race atIrwindale Speedway to promote the filmRedline, using aFerrari Enzo owned by Daniel Sadek. During a practice run, Griffin accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and lost control of the Enzo, crashing hard into a concrete barrier.^[10] He walked away unscratched, but the $1.5 million supercar was badly damaged.^[10] Griffin later criticized reporters who suggested the crash was a publicity stunt.^[11]

During thesexual assault allegations onBill Cosby, Griffin suggested that Cosby was the victim of a conspiracy to destroy his image and claimed, without specification, that several other prominent African-American men had been victims of similar conspiracies.^[12] Griffin has also been called out by the Sikh community for referring to an elderly Sikh man as "Osama Bin Laden" in theaftermath of9/11, despite Osama bin Laden being Muslim and not Sikh. Such comments were believed to have helped fuel the rising hate crime rates against both groups.^[13]

In October 2024, Griffin stated that he would likely vote forDonald Trump in the2024 United States presidential election. He said, referring toKamala Harris, "Everybody I talk to don't like you. Ain't nobody gonna vote for you."^[14]

• 1996 "Intro" (fromThe D.O.C. albumHelter Skelter)
• 1998 "DP Gangsta" (fromSnoop Dogg &C-Murder albumDa Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told)
• 1999 "Bar One" (with Traci Nelson and Ms. Roq) (fromDr. Dre album2001)
• 1999 "Ed-ucation" (fromDr. Dre album2001)
• 2002 "Bitch Ass Niggaz" (fromXzibit albumMan vs. Machine)
• 2003 "I Thought U Knew" (withCrooked I, Eastwood &The Dramatics albumDysfunktional Family) (Various artists)
• 2003 "Dys-Funk-Tional" (fromSpider Loc & Eddie Griffin albumDysfunktional Family) (Various artists)
• 2008 "Take A Ride Skit" & "Feed The Lions Skit" (fromT-Pain albumThr33 Ringz)

Wikiquote has quotations related toEddie Griffin.

• Official website
• Eddie Griffin atIMDb
• Eddie Griffin Going For Broke Official Site @ VH1.com

• 1968 births
• Living people
• Male actors from Kansas City, Missouri
• American male film actors
• African-American film producers
• Film producers from Missouri
• African-American stand-up comedians
• American stand-up comedians
• African-American television producers
• American television producers
• African-American male actors
• American male television actors
• Comedians from Kansas City, Missouri
• 20th-century American comedians
• 21st-century American comedians
• 20th-century African-American people
• 21st-century African-American people
• American people convicted of assault

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