{{Short description|American comedian, actor and musician (born 1970)}} {{about|the stand-up comedian and actor||Dean Edwards (disambiguation)}} {{BLP sources|date=May 2024}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox comedian |name=Dean Edwards |image=Dean Edwards2.jpeg |alt= |caption=Edwards in 2007 |birth_name= |birth_date={{birth date and age|1970|7|30}} |birth_place=New York City, U.S. |death_date= |death_place= |death_cause= |body_discovered= |resting_place= |height= |alma_mater= |medium=[[Stand-up comedy|Stand-up]], [[film]], [[television]] |active=1990{{ndash}}present |genre=[[Comedy]], [[sketch comedy]] |subject= |spouse=Tracy Walters |children=3 |othername= |notable_work=''[[Saturday Night Live]]''<br />[[Donkey (Shrek)|Donkey]] on ''[[Scared Shrekless]]'' |signature= |website={{URL|deanedwards.net}} }}
'''Dean Edwards''' (born July 30, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and singer.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 18, 2022 |title=Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 24–30 |url=https://wtop.com/music/2022/07/celebrity-birthdays-for-the-week-of-july-24-30/ |access-date=July 28, 2022 |website=WTOP News |language=en}}</ref> His work as a voice actor includes [[Scottie Pippen]] and [[Spike Lee]] in ''[[Celebrity Deathmatch]]'', a robot in ''[[Robotomy]]'' and [[Donkey (Shrek)|Donkey]] in ''[[Scared Shrekless]]'' after [[Eddie Murphy]] was unable to reprise the role (Edwards had impersonated Murphy on stage), along with a couple of other projects. He also appeared in ''Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Halftime Special'' as [[Savion Glover]] and [[Don Cheadle]], in ''[[Tony n' Tina's Wedding#Film adaptation|Tony n' Tina's Wedding]]'' as Father Mark, and ''[[The Sopranos]]''.
Edwards has a [[YouTube]] channel, "deanedwardscomedy". He was also the host of the critically acclaimed TV show "Vidiots" on TVone.
==Career==
Dean Edwards developed a reputation for working clean{{Clarify|date=January 2009}} and taught classes in [[Stand-up comedy|stand-up]] [[comedy technique]]. Edwards is also a [[Voice acting|voice artist]], having done voice work for ''[[Celebrity Deathmatch]]'' and ''[[Robotomy]]''. He also did voice work for the [[audiobook]] version of [[Max Brooks]]' ''[[World War Z]]: An Oral History of the Zombie War''.
In the 2010 Halloween special ''[[Scared Shrekless]]'', he provided the voice of [[Donkey (Shrek)|Donkey]] after [[Eddie Murphy]] couldn’t return. Murphy returned to play Donkey in the 2010 Christmas special ''[[Donkey's Christmas Shrektacular]]''. Edwards was hired as a staff writer for Daily Comedy, a website where professional and amateur stand-up comedians would post new jokes frequently.<ref>[http://www.dailycomedy.com Daily Comedy]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328044900/http://www.dailycomedy.com/ |date=March 28, 2014}}</ref> Edwards has also appeared in commercials for [[Snickers]] and [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]].
===''Saturday Night Live''=== Edwards joined the cast of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' in 2001. He developed several [[impressionism|impressions]], including [[Michael Jackson]], [[Wayne Brady]], [[Chris Tucker]], [[Don Cheadle]], [[Colin Powell]], [[Serena Williams]], [[Nipsey Russell]], [[Grace Jones]], [[Randy Jackson]], [[Redman (rapper)|Redman]], [[Denzel Washington]] and [[Billy Ocean]].<ref>[http://snl.jt.org/cast.php?i=DeEd SNL Archives | Cast<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310010951/http://snl.jt.org/cast.php?i=DeEd |date=March 10, 2007 }}</ref> Despite his penchant for impressions, Edwards didn't get much screen time in his brief tenure on the show. He left after the show's [[List of Saturday Night Live episodes (seasons 16–30)#Season 28 (2002–03)|28th season]] (2003), citing creative differences.
In ''Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Halftime Special'', he did his impressions of [[Savion Glover]] and [[Don Cheadle]].
==Filmography== {{cleanup reorganize|reason=separate into film credits and TV credits|date=October 2021}}
=== Film === {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |2003 |''[[Marci X]]'' |Audience Member | |- |2004 |''[[Tony n' Tina's Wedding#Film adaptation|Tony n' Tina's Wedding]]'' |Father Mark | |- |2006 |''[[A New Wave]]'' |Rupert | |- | rowspan="2" |2007 |''Universal Remote'' |Serious Black Man | |- |''[[Spider-Man 3]]'' |Newsstand Patron | |- |2008 |''[[Goyband]]'' |Ty | |- |2010 |''April's Fools'' |Now Later | |- | rowspan="2" |2011 |''Swap'' |Bartender |Short film |- |''[[Shrek (franchise)#Thriller Night (2011)|Thriller Night]]'' |[[Donkey (Shrek)|Donkey]] |Voice; short film |- |2014 |''[[Top Five]]'' |Himself | |- |2020 |''Write It Black'' |Morris "Punchline" Blackmon | |- |2024 |''Con Job'' |Tim | |}
=== Television === {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
|- |1996 |''[[Melrose Place]]'' |Process Server |Episode: "Sole Sister" |- |1998 |''[[Celebrity Deathmatch]]'' |[[Scottie Pippen]] / [[Spike Lee]] |Voice; 2 episodes |- |2001–2003 |''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' |Various |Main cast; 40 episode |- |2003 |''Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Halftime Special'' |[[Savion Glover]] / [[Don Cheadle]] |TV special |- |2004 |''[[The Sopranos]]'' |Charles |Episode: "[[Where's Johnny?]]" |- |2005 |''[[Weekends at the D.L.]]'' |Sweetmouth |Episode: "1.24" |- |2006 |''[[Where My Dogs At?]]'' |Various Celebrities |Voice; 8 episodes |- | rowspan="2" |2010 |''[[Scared Shrekless]]'' |Donkey |Voice; TV special |- |''[[Robotomy]]'' |Robot |Voice; episode: "Mean Green" |- |2014 |''[[Deadbeat (TV series)|Deadbeat]]'' |Gucci Man |Episode: "The Knockoff" |- |2019–2020 |''[[Our Cartoon President]]'' |[[Cory Booker]] / Various |Voice; 8 episodes |- |2021 |''[[Let's Be Real]]'' |[[O. J. Simpson]] / [[Stephen A. Smith]] |Voice; 3 episodes |- |2025 |''[[Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special]]'' |Himself |TV special |}
===Video games=== {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |2023 |''[[DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing]]'' |Donkey |<ref name="btva">{{cite web|title=Dean Edwards (visual voices guide)|url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Dean-Edwards/|website=Behind The Voice Actors |type= A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information}}</ref> |}
=== As himself === {| class="wikitable" ! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Himself |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |2003 |''Heroes of Comedy: Women on Top'' |Himself | |- | rowspan="3" |2007 |''Comedy Colosseum'' |Himself - Host | |- |''P. Diddy Presents the Bad Boys of Comedy'' |Himself - Comedian |Also writer |- |''[[The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson]]'' |Himself / Himself - Guest | |- | rowspan="5" |2008 |''Clean Mic: Laughing Until It Hurts'' |Himself | |- |''The Movie Preview Awards'' |Himself - Presenter | |- |''[[Last Call with Carson Daly]]'' |Himself | |- |''Comics Without Borders'' |Himself | |- |''[[Comics Unleashed]]'' |Himself - Comedian | |- | rowspan="2" |2009 |''Souled Out Comedy'' |Himself | |- |''[[Black to the Future (TV series)|Black to the Future]]'' |Himself | |- |2020 |''[[Funny You Should Ask (2017 game show)|Funny You Should Ask]]'' |Himself - Panelist | |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://deanedwards.net/wp/ Official website] * {{IMDb name|0249931}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Dean}} [[Category:1970 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American stand-up comedians]] [[Category:American male writers]] [[Category:American male voice actors]] [[Category:American male film actors]] [[Category:American male television actors]] [[Category:United States Army soldiers]] [[Category:American Internet celebrities]] [[Category:American television personalities]] [[Category:American impressionists (entertainers)]] [[Category:African-American male actors]] [[Category:American sketch comedians]] [[Category:21st-century American singers]] [[Category:21st-century American comedians]] [[Category:21st-century American male singers]] [[Category:20th-century African-American male singers]] [[Category:20th-century American male singers]] [[Category:20th-century American singers]] [[Category:21st-century African-American male singers]] [[Category:Comedians from the Bronx]] [[Category:Male actors from the Bronx]]