Celebrities
Veteran funnyman’s acting credits went far beyond ‘Friday’
John Witherspoon’s career spanned decades, ranging from ‘Good Times’ to ‘Black-ish’
John Witherspoon leaves a taping of "The Late Show with David Letterman" in December 2009 in New York. Witherspoon's manager Alex Goodman confirmed late Tuesday that Witherspoon had died in Los Angeles.
John Witherspoon made you laugh in one movie or another.
Before his death Tuesday at age 77, the comedic actor was best known for his breakout role in the movie “Friday” in which he played Willie Jones, the quirky father of Ice Cube’s character, Craig. But the veteran funnyman played a role in numerous other films and TV shows since the late 1970s.
»RELATED: John Witherspoon, 'Friday' actor-comedian, dead at age 77, family says
Older viewers may remember him from appearances on “The Richard Pryor Show,” “Good Times” or “What's Happening!” More recently he made appearances on “The Tracy Morgan Show,” “The Boondocks” and “The Wayans Bros.” His career credits from hit films and television include:
- "The Incredible Hulk" (1978)
- "Good Times" (1979)
- "Barnaby Jones" (1979)
- "The Jazz Singer" (1980)
- "WKRP In Cincinnati" (1982)
- "Hill Street Blues" (1982)
- "Ratboy" (1986)
- "Hollywood Shuffle" (1987)
- "227" (1987)
- "What's Happening Now!!" (1987)
- "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka" (1988)
- "Bird" (1988)
- "Amen" (1988)
- "House Party" (1990)
- "The Five Heartbeats" (1991)
- "Boomerang" (1992)
- "Martin" (1993)
- "The Meteor Man" (1993)
- "Fatal Instinct" (1993)
- "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1994)
- "Friday" (1995)
- "The Wayans Bros" (1995-1999)
- "Vampire in Brooklyn" (1995)
- "Living Single" (1997)
- "Bulworth" (1998)
- "Next Friday" (2000)
- "Little Nicky" (2000)
- "The Ladies Man" (2000)
- "Dr. Dolittle 2" (2001)
- "Friday After Next" (2002)
- "The Tracy Morgan Show" (2003-2004)
- "Soul Plane" (2004)
- "The Boondocks" (2005-2014)
- "Chick Magnet" (2011)
- "A Thousand Words" (2012)
- "Black Jesus" (2014-2019)
- "Black-ish" (2016)
- "I Got the Hook Up 2" (2019)
