Jordan Peele Biography

Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for starring in the Comedy Central sketch series Key & Peele and for his five seasons as a cast member on MADtv. In 2014, he also had a recurring role in the first season of the FX anthology series Fargo. His directorial debut, the horror film Get Out, was released in 2017 to critical acclaim and box-office success.

Early life and education

Peele was born in New York City, New York, and raised by his single mother, Lucinda Williams, on Manhattan's Upper West Side. His mother is white and his absentee father is black. He attended P.S. 87 in Manhattan and went on to Sarah Lawrence College before dropping out after two years to form a comedy duo with his college roommate and future Key & Peele comedy writer Rebecca Drysdale.

Career

Peele regularly performed at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam and The Second City in Chicago. He and Nicole Parker were well known for their musical duets at Boom Chicago. He portrayed a popular character called "Danish Supermodel Ute" during his time at Boom Chicago and hosted MTV's Comedy Weekend in 2002.

Peele appeared on the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast as disqualified American Idol singer Jermaine Jones alongside Gillian Jacobs of Community.

MADtv

In 2003, Peele joined the cast of MADtv for its ninth season. Around the time Keegan-Michael Key joined the cast as a featured performer, it was assumed that Key would be chosen over Peele. The two of them ultimately were cast together after showing great comedic chemistry. Peele performed celebrity impersonations, which included favorites Caroll Spinney (as the voice of Big Bird), Ja Rule, James Brown, Flavor Flav, Justin Guarini, Montel Williams, Morgan Freeman, and Forest Whitaker.

Peele was absent from the first four episodes of his second season on MADtv. He made a cameo in "Weird Al" Yankovic's video "White & Nerdy" with MADtv co-star Keegan-Michael Key.

Peele was nominated for a 2008 Emmy for his song "Sad Fitty Cent", a music video parody about 50 Cent lamenting over his rivalry with Kanye West. The lyrics were, according to the music video, written by Peele, and he was involved in arranging its music. In 2009 he appeared in Little Fockers.

Peele appeared in a viral video titled "Hillary vs Obama" (which was shown as a MADtv sketch) where he and a Hillary Clinton supporter (played by short-term cast member Lisa Donovan) argue over whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would make a better president, only to get upstaged by a Rudy Giuliani supporter (played by Donovan's brother, Ben). Peele auditioned to be a castmember for Saturday Night Live when SNL producers were looking for someone to play Barack Obama (around the time when SNL and MADtv — and other scripted shows — were put on hiatus due to the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike). Peele remained at MADtv, and the role went to Fred Armisen until September 2012, when Jay Pharoah took over the role.

After five seasons on MADtv, Peele left the cast at the end of the 13th season.

Career after MADtv

In 2010, Peele co-starred in the FOX comedy pilot The Station, and appeared with a recurring role in the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital. He had a supporting role in the David Wain-directed comedy Wanderlust, which was released in 2012.

Peele and his former MADtv castmate and friend Keegan-Michael Key starred in their own Comedy Central sketch series Key & Peele, from 2012 to 2015. In 2016, the pair starred in and produced their first film Keanu.

Peele and Key have starred in two episodes of Epic Rap Battles of History. The first featured Peele as Martin Luther King Jr and Key as Mahatma Gandhi, while the second featured Peele as Muhammad Ali and Key as Michael Jordan.

Peele also appeared in a parody music video with Jane Lynch for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, playing the role of "state" in the process of breaking up with Lynch's "church". Together with Key, he played an FBI agent in a recurring role in the 2014 FX crime drama Fargo. In an interview with People magazine, Peele stated that he wanted both his and Key's roles to add comic relief to the show.

Key and Peele will be working with Judd Apatow on a feature-length film for Universal Pictures.

In February 2017, Peele's first film as director, Get Out, was released to favorable reviews, and grossed over $250 million on a budget of $4.5 million. Peele will produce the HBO series Lovecraft Country written by Underground co-creator Misha Green, which will be shown through the lens of supernatural horror.

Personal life

Peele began dating Chelsea Peretti in 2013. They became engaged in November 2015, and, in April 2016, Peretti announced that she and Peele had eloped at an unspecified date.

On July 1, 2017, Peretti gave birth to their first child, Beaumont Gino Peele.

Characters

Character	Sketch	First appearance	Catch Phrase	Notes
Dontel LaMontrose	Inside Looking Out		"Mmm, mmm, mmm" "I love this woman!"	He is married to a white wife who makes racially insensitive remarks.
Funkenstein's Monster	Dr. Funkenstein
Killbrain the Fury	Astroman & Killbrain		"ASStroman!"	The arch enemy of Astroman who has to take on demeaning jobs because his elaborate plans fail.
Larvelle Dupree	Real Mother****ing Talk			He is one of Dollar Bill Montgomery's talk show guests.
Marcus Macleod	Scottish Warlord			He is a Scottish warlord who was violated by the English troops.
Melvin Dufrane	911 Police Report
Noodles	Clownin' and Krumpin		"Krumping!!!"	He is an abusive krump dancer
Stingray	Abercrombie and Fitch	Season 10		He is an African American version of the Abercrombie and Fitch models/salesmen.
Ty Gray	The Superstitious Knights		"Man up!"
Tyrone Conkling	Holly Meadow Estates
Leandro Kezeele	Fashion Surprise

Influences

Peele counts among his influences In Living Color, Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Boner Boyz!	D-Rock Peppers	Short film
2010	Little Fockers	EMT
2010	3B	Rob	Short film
2012	Wanderlust	Rodney
2013	The Sidekick	Sidecar Willy	Short film
2016	Keanu	Rell/Oil Dresden	Also writer and producer
2016	Storks	Beta Wolf (voice)
2017	Get Out	"?	Director, producer and writer
2017	Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie	Melvin Sneedly (voice)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003-2008	MADtv	Various	94 episodes Also writer
2008	Chocolate News	Kelvin Melvin	7 episodes
2009	Reno 911!	Three-Card Monte Guy	Episode: "Extradition to Thailand"
2009	The Station	Joe	TV movie
2009-2010	SuperNews!	Various voices	15 episodes
2010-2015	Childrens Hospital	Dr. Brian	10 episodes
2011	Love Bites	Eli	Episode: "Too Much Information"
2012-2015	Key & Peele	Himself / Various	54 episodes Also co-creator, writer, executive producer
2013	The Mindy Project	Nick	Episode: "Mindy's Minute"
2013	Workaholics	Mark	Episode: "The Worst Generation"
2013	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Tan Fu	Episode: "Andy Samberg Wears a Plaid Shirt & Glasses"
2013	Axe Cop	Super Axe (voice)	Episode: "Super Axe"
2013	Modern Family	Derrick	Episode: "A Fair to Remember"
2013-2014	Kroll Show	Ref Rondy / Various Characters	2 episodes
2014	Bob's Burgers	Fanny / Sandy / Horace / Don (voice)	5 episodes
2014	Fargo	Special Agent Webb Pepper	4 episodes
2014	Drunk History	Percy Julian	Episode: "Montgomery, AL"
2014	Robot Chicken	Various voices	2 episodes
2015-2016	Life in Pieces	Chad	3 episodes: "Pilot", "Prison Baby Golf Picking", "Ponzi Sex Paris Bounce
2015	Rick and Morty	Second Fourth-Dimensional Being (voice)	Episode: "A Rickle in Time"
2015	Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp	Alan	3 episodes
2015	TripTank	Various voices	2 episodes
2015	SuperMansion	Bugula (voice)	Episode: "A Shop in the Dark"
2016	The Muppets	Himself	Episode: "Swine Song"
2016	American Dad!	Street Thug (voice)	Episode: "Criss-Cross Applesauce: The Ballad of Billy Jesusworth"
2017	The Daily Show	Barack Obama	Episode: "Keegan-Michael Key"
2017	Big Mouth	(voice)
2017	The Last O.G.	-	Co-creator and executive producer

Music videos

Year	Title	Role	Artist
2006	"White & Nerdy"	Black gangster	"Weird Al" Yankovic
2006	"I Write Sins Not Tragedies"	Clown	"Panic! At The Disco"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2008	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics	MADtv for "Sad 50 Cent"
2013	Writers Guild of America Award	Best Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) - Series	Key & Peele
	Peabody Award
2014	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Variety - Series or Special
	American Comedy Award	Best Alternative Comedy Series
		Best Comedy Writing - TV
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series
2015	People's Choice Award	Favorite Sketch Comedy TV Show
	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Comedy Series
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
		Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series
		Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special	Key and Peele Super Bowl Special
		Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program	Key & Peele Presents Van and Mike: The Ascension
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Key & Peele
2016	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Comedy Series
		Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
		Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series