robert townsend five heartbeat one two three full movie

Īfter high school, Townsend enrolled at Illinois State University, studied a year and later moved to New York to study at the Negro Ensemble Company. Townsend had a brief uncredited role in the 1975 movie Cooley High, but says the film 'changed his life' for what he perceived as it's true-to-life portrayal of people like him. Townsend later auditioned for parts at Chicago's Experimental Black Actors' Guild and performed in local plays studying at the famed Second City comedy workshop for improvisation in 1974. During a reading of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex in high school, Townsend captured the attention of Chicago’s X Bag Theatre, The Experimental Black Actors Guild. He became interested in acting as a teenager. Growing up on the city's west side, Townsend attended Austin High School graduating in 1975. His mother ended up raising him and his three siblings as a single parent. Townsend was born in Chicago, Illinois, the second of four children to Shirley ( née Jenkins) and Ed Townsend. Townsend has worked with talent including Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Chris Tucker, Beyoncé, Denzel Washington and many more.

During the 1980s and early–1990s, Townsend gained national exposure through his stand-up comedy routines and appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Townsend is also known for his production company Townsend Entertainment which has produced films Playin' for Love, In the Hive and more.

He later wrote, directed and produced Making The Five Heartbeats (2018), a documentary film about the production process and behind the scenes insight into creating the film. Townsend is also known for his role as Donald 'Duck' Matthews in his 1991 film The Five Heartbeats. He is especially known for his eponymous self-titled character, Robert Peterson as the starring role as on The WB sitcom The Parent 'Hood (1995–1999), a series which he created and of which directed select episodes. Townsend is best known for directing the films Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Eddie Murphy Raw (1987), The Meteor Man (1993), The Five Heartbeats (1991) and various other films and stand-up specials. Robert Townsend (born February 6, 1957) is an American actor, director, comedian, and writer.

Robert townsend five heartbeat one two three full movie