John Witherspoon Bio, Age, Net Worth, Family, Career, Movies & TV Shows

John Witherspoon Biography

John Witherspoon was born in January 27, 1942. The American comedian and actor who has performed in many films and television shows.

John Witherspoon

Witherspoon well known for his role as Willie Jones for the Friday series, In 1987, Witherspoon also starred in films such as Hollywood Shuffle , in 1992, Boomerang and Vampire In Brooklyn in 1995. He has featured on television shows such as The Wayans Bros. between 1995 and 1999, The Tracy Morgan Show in 2003, Barnaby Jones in 1973, The Boondocks in 2005, The Five Heartbeats in 1991 and Black Jesus in 2014. He wrote a film, From the Old School, in which he played an elderly working man who tries to prevent a neighborhood convenience store from being developed into a strip club.

John Witherspoon Age

Born on January 27, 1942. Witherspoon is 77 years of age.

John Witherspoon Net Worth

Witherspoon has an estimated net worth of $8 million.

John Witherspoon Personal Life

Witherspoon married Angela Robinson in 1988, thereafter they had two children, John David (“J.D.”) and Alexander. J.D. makes skits and gameplay videos on YouTube, and currently hosts the mobile game show Confetti on Facebook Watch. His sons godfather is David Letterman.

John Witherspoon Early Life

Born in Detroit, Michigan. John Weatherspoon changed his surname to “Witherspoon”. John is one of 11 siblings. An elder brother, William, became a songwriter in Detroit for Motown, who may be best known for the single “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”, which became a hit for Jimmy Ruffin. Among the siblings, is Cato, who was a longtime director of the PBS-TV Network/CH56 in Detroit for almost four decades. The evangelist and the pastor of a Pentecostal church in Detroit Dr. Gertrude Stacks, is their sister. Lamont Dozier a songwriter and record producer is also related to them.
However, John continued his passion for music and learned to play the trumpet and French horn.John Witherspoon Photo

John Witherspoon Career

While still working as a model, Witherspoon began to take a liking towards comedy in the 1960s and 1970s. He started his stand-up comedy career and as a result, he had many friends in the business, including Tim Reid, Robin Williams, Jay Leno, and David Letterman.
Witherspoon has performed in many comedy films, including Friday as well as Hollywood Shuffle, I’m Gonna Get You Sucka, Bird, House Party, and The Meteor Man.
Television
In the 1970s he made his first television appearance on the CBS television show Barnaby Jones, playing a camp counselor for drug addicted youth, one of whom was played by Sean Penn in his first acting job. Subsequent performances were on Good Times, What’s Happening!! and The Incredible Hulk. Witherspoon became a regular on the series The Richard Pryor Show in 1977, an NBC American comedy series. It led to his appearance in WKRP year 1978, In Cincinnati in the fourth season, episode 84. Witherspoon played Detective Davies.
Witherspoon appeared in Hill Street Blues in 1981, an NBC police drama, as a businessman who tries to buy a hotdog from an undercover Detective Belker. He had an appearance on L.A. Law, an NBC legal drama, in the episode “On Your Honor” as Mark Steadman in 1981. He featured in television series including You Again? as Osborne, which was an NBC comedy about women who lived in a majority black apartment complex, and What’s Happening Now!!, the sequel to What’s Happening!!.
In 1988, a year later Witherspoon was in Amen, an American television sitcom that ran on NBC, featuring as the bailiff. The show was known for being one of the shows during the 1980s that featured an almost entirely black cast.
In the House Party, Witherspoon played an irritated neighbor who is repeatedly woken up by the party and became known for his over-the-top characters. In the film Boomerange Witherspoon plays Mr Jackson, the ill-mannered father of Murphy’s best friend with Eddie Murphy. He tells Murphy’s “Marcus” to take the upper hand in his relationship with Robin Givens’s character “Jacqueline” simulating aggressive sex pumping his hips under the dinner table yelling “Bang bang…bang bang bang” during a hilarious dinner scene. During his stand-up routines, the line has become a signature for Witherspoon and is often heard. In 1993, came spots on Townsend Television, Cosmic Slop in 1994, and Murder Was The Case later in 1994 as a drunk.
In 1997, he appeared in Fox’s Living Single episode “Three Men and a Buckeye” as Smoke Eye Howard. In the Wayans Bros. in 1995–1999, he did his largest role in a television series which aired on The WB and starred Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans, who played brothers Shawn and Marlon Williams. Witherspoon played their father, John “Pops” Williams.
The Kids’ WB animation series Waynehead, which was about a young boy growing up poor in the Harlem, New York City also featured Witherspoon. The show based on creator Damon Wayans’ life was aired on Saturday mornings.
Witherspoon made a showing on NBC’s Last Comic Standing in 2003, a reality television show that selected the comedian out of a group and gave him a contract, in the Las Vegas finals. He performed in The Proud Family, an animated series that aired on Disney Channel in 2003, as Oran Jones in the episode “Adventures in Bebe Sitting.” He also performed in Kim Possible, an episode of another Disney Channel’s animated series.
The Tracy Morgan Show the comedy series featured him as Spoon in all 18 episodes of the show.
He was in Pryor Offenses, a television movie and played Willie the Wino in 2004. He was seen in the Comedy Central talk show Weekends at the D.L. in 2005, where he played the character of Michael Johnson. He starred in Aaron McGruder’s animated series The Boondocks as “Robert Jebediah ‘Granddad’ Freeman”;In the same year. The Cartoon Network series ran for four seasons. He performed in a television movie, Thugaboo: A Miracle on D-Roc’s Street, in 2006, which was a story about a group of kids who find the true meaning of Christmas. Witherspoon plays Real Santa, a Christmas singer on the radio. He made an appearance on The Super Rumble Mixshow in 2008. He also appeared in Black Jesus, portraying Lloyd, a homeless man.
He starred in a Final Destination spoof with Shane Dawson on YouTube in 2011. He featured on “Saturday (skit)”, from rapper Logic on his latest mixtape Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever in May 2013.

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Starting my new career as a painter. I call this piece “Bitch knocked the Shit out of Me!”

A post shared by John “POPS” Witherspoon (@johnnywitherspoon) on Jul 6, 2014 at 7:28pm PDT

Note: This biography is based on the available information as of 2023, and real-time updates or developments are being updated by our editorial team.