Kenya Barris
Kenya Barris | |
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File:Kenya Barris, the Series Creator and Executive Producer of "Blackish.", May 2016.jpg
Barris in 2016
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Born | Inglewood, California, U.S. |
August 9, 1973
Other names | Kenya 'Yee' Barris |
Alma mater | Clark Atlanta University |
Occupation |
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Years active | 1997–present |
Spouse(s) | Rainbow Edwards Barris (m. 1999) |
Children | 6 |
Kenya Barris (born August 9, 1973) is an American film and television writer, producer, director, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the ABC sitcom black-ish (2014–2022).
Contents
Early life
Barris was born in Inglewood, California, the second of five children. He was named after Kenya due to his father visiting the country.[1] Barris' parents divorced when he was five years old.[2] He is an alumnus of Clark Atlanta University.[3][4]
Career
Barris has created numerous television shows, including the critically acclaimed Black-ish. The award-winning series also has two spin-offs, Grown-ish and Mixed-ish,[5] and a third potential spin-off Old-ish.[6] He was a writer for The Game, Girlfriends, and Soul Food.[5][4][7] Barris co-created and produced America's Next Top Model with Tyra Banks.[8] He penned the film Girls Trip. He co-produced the 2019 film Little[9] and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2019 theatrical release Shaft.
In 2020, Barris made his acting debut in #BlackAF, a series he developed for Netflix, co-starring Rashida Jones and Iman Benson.[10][11][12] In October 2020, Barris announced that he will write, produce and direct a biopic on comedian Richard Pryor for MGM.[13] His Khalabo Ink Society company is currently eyeing a deal with ViacomCBS.[14] In August 2022 it was announced that Barris would write and direct a modern remake of The Wizard of Oz.[15]
Barris has been working on a possible TV series Brown-ish with Eva Longoria.[10]
Personal life
Barris married anesthesiologist Dr. Rania "Rainbow" Edwards Barris in 1999. They have six children.[16] He filed for divorce from her in 2022—having filed for divorce twice before and then withdrawn those filings.[17][18][19][20]
Filmography
Films
Television series
Title | Year | Credited as | Network | Notes | ||||
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Actor | Creator | Director | Writer | Executive producer |
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Girlfriends | 2000–2008 | No | No | No | Yes | No | UPN/The CW | |
America's Next Top Model | 2003–2018 | No | Yes | No | No | No | UPN/The CW/VH1 | |
Soul Food | 2002–2004 | No | No | No | Yes | No | Showtime | |
Listen Up! | 2004–2005 | No | No | No | Yes | No | CBS | |
The Game | 2006–2014 | No | No | No | Yes | No | The CW/BET | |
Are We There Yet? | 2011–2012 | No | No | No | Yes | No | TBS | |
I Hate My Teenage Daughter | 2012–2013 | No | No | No | Yes | No | Fox | |
Black-ish | 2014–2022 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ABC | |
Grown-ish | 2018–present | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Freeform | |
Mixed-ish | 2019–2021 | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ABC | |
Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show | 2019 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Netflix | |
BlackAF | 2020 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Character: Kenya Barris | |
We the People | 2021 | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
Entergalactic | 2022 | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
The Vince Staples Show[22] | 2023 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Pre-production |
Awards
In 2019, Black-ish won several NAACP Image Awards. It was named best comedy series and Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson took acting honors. Black-ish was the winner of the Entertainment and Children's Peabody Award in 2016.[23] Barris and Black-ish also won the 2017 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.[24] Barris was nominated for the same award in 2018. He was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021, and a PGA Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy for Black-ish in 2014.[25] In 2016, Barris won the Rod Serling Award for Advancing Social Justice Through Popular Media.[26]
In 2018, he donated $1 million to Clark Atlanta University, and was granted an honorary doctorate in humane letters.[27]
References
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- ↑ 'Soul' Filmmakers on Alternate Endings and the Meryl Streep Movie That Influenced the Story
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External links
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- Articles with short description
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- 1974 births
- American television writers
- Television producers from California
- Living people
- African-American screenwriters
- Screenwriters from California
- America's Next Top Model
- People from Inglewood, California
- Clark Atlanta University alumni
- Black-ish