Anthony Griffith (actor)
Anthony Griffith is an American comedian, actor, and philanthropist. He was born to a religious family in Chicago, Illinois, where he lived until he went to college in the 1980s. While in college he took up stand up comedy, where he performed wherever he could get a spot, including comedy clubs, colleges, restaurants, hotels, strip clubs, etc. “I performed anywhere and everywhere, in the hopes of learning and mastering the craft.”[1] In the nineties he appeared on programs such as Ed McMahon’s, “Star Search”, “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson”, “HBO” and “Showtime”. Since then he has had over twenty-five national comedy television appearances, including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, “HBO”, “Comedy Central” as well as others. This decade has continued with performances on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.
As an actor, he has had a number of roles, such as “Tales from the Hood”, Mario Van Peebles' “Panther”, “The Curve” and the television drama “Our Father”, as well as a number of others.[2] He received an Emmy for his performance in "Our Father".[3]
In 2003 he participated in "Moth Stories", an acclaimed nonprofit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. To an audience, recorded, and later put on YouTube and used as a radio broadcast, Anthony shared a heartbreaking story about the death of his daughter in 1990.[4]
In more recent years, he became a part of the “Apostles of Comedy” tour,[5] which visits churches throughout the country to perform comedy shorts that he has written and produced. He is joined in this project by fellow comedians Brad Stine and Ron Pearson, and Jeff Allen who is also originally from Chicago.
He resides in Los Angeles, California.