Franklyn Ajaye
Ajaye in 1975
Born	(1949-05-13)May 13, 1949 (age 75) New York City,New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, comedian
Years active	1973–present

Franklyn Ajaye (born May 13, 1949) is an Americanstand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He released a series of comedy albums starting in 1973 and has acted in film and television shows from the 1970s through the present, including as a primary character in the 1976 ensemble comedyCar Wash and a supporting role inSam Peckinpah'sConvoy (1978).

Franklyn Ajaye Jr. was born inBrooklyn,New York, but raised inLos Angeles by aSierra Leonean father (Franklin Ajaye Sr.) and an American mother (Quetta Curtis). This makes Ajaye, as he likes to joke, a "true African-American". He has a brother. Ajaye attendedDorsey High School inCrenshaw.^[1]

He has released five comedy albums to date:Franklyn Ajaye, Comedian (1973),I'm a Comedian, Seriously (1974),Don't Smoke Dope, Fry Your Hair (1977),Plaid Pants and Psychopaths (1986), andVagabond Jazz & the Abstract Truth (2004). The last two were recorded in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.^{[citation needed]}

He made his network debut onThe Flip Wilson Show in 1973 and made his first appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson a year later. Ajaye emigrated toMelbourne, Australia, in 1997 but returns to the United States periodically to do work on television. His last American television appearance was onPaul Provenza'sThe Greenroom on Showtime in 2011. He is known in Australia for his appearances onThe Panel andThank God You're Here and for his popular one-man shows "Nothing But The Truth", "Talkin' Vagabond Jazz", and "Vagabond Jazz & The Abstract Truth" at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

He has worked as an actor, appearing in films such asSweet Revenge (1976),Car Wash (1976),Convoy (1978),Stir Crazy (1980), the 1980 version ofThe Jazz Singer,Hysterical (1982),Get Crazy (1983),Fraternity Vacation (1985),Hollywood Shuffle (1987),The Wrong Guys (1988),The 'Burbs (1989), andAmerican Yakuza (1993). He also appeared on an episode ofBarney Miller as police-car thief Wendell Frasier in 1976. He has been seen more recently in the TV showDeadwood asSamuel Fields and reprised that role in 2019'sDeadwood: The Movie. In 2011, Ajaye had a small but memorable role in the box office hitBridesmaids, playing the father of Lillian (played byMaya Rudolph), and in 2013 he played management guru Marvin Hudsfield in the Australian ABC sitcomUtopia. He has been nominated twice forEmmy Awards forOutstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program forIn Living Color (1990) andPolitically Incorrect (1997).^{[2][unreliable source?]} He worked on the hit family comedy series created and executive-produced by Robert Townsend,The Parent 'Hood (January 1995 – July 1999); some of his credits on the show include acting as "executive consultant" with Barry "Berry" Douglas in season 1 episode 9 ("Trial by Jerri") and episode 11 ("Nice Guys Finish Last") and as a co-producer with Douglas for season 2 episode 2 ("A Kiss is Just a Kiss").

Ajaye is the author ofComic Insights: The Art of Standup Comedy (ISBN 978-1-879505-54-4), which contains interviews with Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Bill Maher, Ellen DeGeneres, and other famous stand up comedians offering valuable advice for aspiring comedians.

On his stand-up television showStewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle theBritish comedian used Ajaye's LPI'm a Comedian, Seriously as the basis of a routine.^[3][4]

• Franklyn Ajaye atIMDb
• Franklyn Ajaye discography atDiscogs

• 1949 births
• Living people
• Male actors from Brooklyn
• 20th-century African-American male actors
• American expatriates in Australia
• American male film actors
• American stand-up comedians
• American male television actors
• Comedians from Brooklyn
• 20th-century American male actors
• American people of Sierra Leonean descent
• American male comedians
• 21st-century African-American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• 20th-century American comedians
• 21st-century American comedians
• 20th-century African-American writers
• 21st-century African-American writers
• Susan Miller Dorsey High School alumni

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